Hi Rajeev I agree with you...and after reading your article I felt disappointed...in population of over 1 billion we are expecting 1 bronze OR 1 silver...really s'thing is wrong...we can not blame anyone but each Individual is responsible.
All: During a recent conference in MI., USA I came across a guy from New Zealand. Our discussion reached a dead end and we were looking for some more points before we say goodbye to each other. Though not a cricket enthusiast any longer, I broached cricket. Pat came the reply from this Zealander: Oh! cricket is a colonial game, I do not watch cricket.
Now compare this with Indians: for them everything foreign and white is pristine glory.
It is ironic that the author chooses to condemn cricket, almost as if that were a valid excuse for the continued failure of all other sports in India. India's cricketers are world beaters, they are the second best in the sport, and in a cricket crazy country it is not easy to be one of those eleven that wear the India cap. Why the author would rather discount that baffles me, and also hints at a writer bereft of valid arguments or proper ideas. More so, when he considers that India's cricket team does not turn up to participate but to win, an attitude he seems to find lacking in all other sports. If India does not win at sports, it is not because of cricket. It is because other sports have failed to emulate cricket by finding young and promising sportspersons and setting up academies like the MRF Pace Academy or the National Cricket Academy, to nurture and grow those talents. If they had not been around, Indian cricket would not be where it is. If other sports are to succeed those sports associations need to find ways to provide players a genuine career through a combination of financial assurance, stability and recognition instead of trying to make sure that for every one Indian athlete at the Olympics, they do not send two "officials" who are in it merely for a free foreign trip. If cricket can bring in John Wright, Greg Chappell and Gary Kirsten and hold them accountable why can't Indian hockey do something similar? Criticising cricket is convenient but stupid.
The majority of Indians do not care. The ones that do, can only talk about it - they do not have the ability to do anything about it, and they are in a miniscule minority who seem to think that it is important that we do well in sports.
Don't blame cricket. Indians love cricket and our team is borderline good - meaning they win just enough times to keep the fans interested. So Indians watch TV intently when Indian cricket is on display, generating the good monies involved that all in cricket benefit from.
Whereas for other sports, Indians simply do not care. So write your article Rajeevji, and join the league of the angst-ridden sport lover - many have come before you, many will come after you. But Indian sport will never do well at the Olympics,
I agree, with your statement on " We always tell participation is important than winning" there itself, we give all our players a consolation price.
The energy and spirit of winning is not there. As every sports person should understand that they have been qualified or given a wild card to participate to play in olympics to show the best performance and win the battle. though its a sport, there needs to be a balance in winning and loosing.
Every Olympics, comes after 4 years. Chinese train their sports personalities by telling them that win. its your 4 years of hard work.
We say participate thats a big thing. shame! Enjoyed your article.keep writing.
RE:India
by drunken monk on Aug 04, 2008 08:10 PM Permalink
Athens 2004 Medals Table Country Gold Silver Bronze USA 35 39 29 China 32 17 14 Russia 27 27 38 Australia 17 16 16 Japan 16 9 12 Germany 14 16 18 France 11 9 13 Italy 10 11 11 South Korea 9 12 9 Great Britain 9 9 12
Having read some of your stuff on Rediff before, I must confess I’m pretty disappointed this time around. What exactly was the point of the article? It just states patently obvious facts and repeats the hackneyed “why can’t a nation of 1 billion produce one Olympic medal” question that people has been asking for ages. Firstly, your basic premise is rooted in some misplace notion of nationalism or patriotism. Who really gives a shit if the country of India does not get a gold medal at the Olympics? My thoughts below:
1. Firstly, why is this even a “problem” to begin with? OK, so the nation of India sucks at sports. Is that so hard to digest? Frankly, if I were a “patriotic” Indian citizen, I’d be more concerned if Indian soldiers were strong enough to fight – whether Indians win some medals in a sporting contest if of marginal importance. On the military front, Indians have proved themselves to be reasonably competitive. 2. Anyway, since you deem it to be a problem, how about suggesting some real solutions? “Strategic intent” and “lack of leadership” – surely you can come up with some more practical “solutions” to this “problem”, then coming up with some B-school buzzwords. 3. Comparisons can be odious – especially with China. How on earth can you compare a communist country or other former soviet-era east block countries and their regimented (ruthless) training regimen with the state of affairs in India? Its worth noting that even the communist states of Kerala and
RE:What is the point here?
by drunken monk on Aug 04, 2008 08:00 PM Permalink
Rangarajan uncle. It does not affect patriotism in us. Its a good article which appeals to everyone here speaks the truth. Its hard to digest, but thats the truth.
RE:What is the point here?
by Abhijit Bhattacharya on Aug 04, 2008 07:27 PM Permalink
True. Very very true. In India we want cheap advertisement material not substance and hence sania who is good for nothing is praised and not PT Usha who was a super Indian athelete
RE:What is the point here?
by anoop joshi on Aug 04, 2008 07:41 PM Permalink
abhijit have u ever hold a tennis racket...forget about tht do u know PT Usha is regarded at the highest level...from the text books to national awards to the public eyes....do u know she runs a organisation funded by various ppl and corporates of the Country. We Indians appriciate winning and we feel bad when we lose provided we fight and dont give up. And ofcourse hate when we loose.
So Stop creeping and suggest some thing counstructive.
RE:What is the point here?
by S Narain on Aug 04, 2008 08:15 PM Permalink
From the comments of Rangarajan ,it appears that like so many Indians ,he doesn not care even if India does pathetic display in Olympics decades after decades... India has in recent years shown some promise in many areas like IT,industry ,growing economy which make it a potential contender for aspiring super power by 2020,however it can not reach such goal if it has educated masses who do not care for sports ( except politicised & insanely hyped cricket) and good proper governance as well as internal& external security which again is total mess . Indians lack in manys such areas and have to learn to think like a country and learn to take pride as an Indian which also means getting reasonable nos of medal in Olumpics and not have couldn't care less attitude towards issues realted to security and well being of country!!!!! Untill this happens we would remain a developing country in the eyes of the world with a tag of soft country!!!!!!!!!Lacing in self pride and patriotism .
Indeed, we suffer from lack of basic opportunities and infra for promoting sports in out country. Case in point being the NRAI, the body controlling shooting sports in India, is governed by rich fat-ass old men and the want you to pay 21,000 rupess to just become a member.
Long time, no see Rajeev.. I was pretty sure that you will poke the communists somewhere in this article .. and there you are before signing off... Anyways a nice article....
