The dreams of a generation of Indians came true on Saturday.

As India won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, an entire generation of Indians got its very own World Champions moment. That it also happened to be Sachin Tendulkar's first World Cup was not forgotten when Mumbai broke in to delirious celebrations.

In the biggest celebrations since perhaps 1983, Mumbai came together to salute not just their national team but also its favourite son, Sachin Tendulkar. Fans and the team both dedicated the title to the little master, who has given the nation so much to rejoice about in a career spanning over two decades. Even the police managed to strike the balance right between strictness and leniency.

On foot and on top of moving cars and bikes chants of India broke out and every chant was followed by a chant for Sachin.

Undoubtedly, there were two reasons for celebrations. For anyone born after 1983, this is truly their first World Cup moment. The second was that this generation also got to see Sachin's perfect career get the biggest addition of them all, a World Cup winners' medal.

The celebrations matched the importance of the event. For close to six hours and deep into the night/early morning people cheered and celebrated only to wake up with sore throats. In the midst of such scenes, cars could hardly move. Even yesteryears' star Clive Lloyd had to make his way through on foot.

The morning after was even better. With the feeling of World Champions sinking in, one also realised that amongst the many records and trivia floating around, India is now the number one cricket team in both Test and ODI cricket.

The adrenalin packed celebrations might be over, but India's win in the 2011 Cricket World Cup would be celebrated for lot more time to come.

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