Monday, August 11, 2008

The Gold Rush

Abhinav Bindra wins India's first ever individual gold at the Olympics. Well done and Congrats!!

Now that that's done, lets come down to earth shall we? Abhinav Bindra is the reigning world champion in 10m Air Rifle event. Abhinav Bindra owns "an air-conditioned shooting range with a totally computerised Target Transportation System of international standards". Let me repeat, he owns it. He does not live near it, does not practice in it or any of the ilk. He owns it. Given all this, if he had returned with anything less than a medal, it should have been a national shame.

I know I am being harsh on the guy and given the fact that he had suffered a career threatening back injury some time back, he has done extremely well to make the comeback but once having made that comeback, he was always expected to win.

Now this brings me to the brass tracks so to speak. The point of this blog post. With all the praises raining from all kinds of politicians right from Prime Minister to President to Railway Minister, one would be forgiven for thinking that Bindra has done something impossible. Maybe made a return journey to The Sun. Or maybe first man to fly with using his own limbs. Or maybe he breached the speed of light while traveling on his Hero Cycle. I don't know. But it sure sounds like that.

For the uninitiated, getting a gold medal in Olympics is very very easy. A country like Ethiopia has 14 Gold Medals to its credit and most have been won in long distance running and are individual in nature. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing but respect for Ethiopia and Ethiopians but surely a country of a billion which is a supposed upcoming superpower should do better? But what do we have? A whole nation going gaga over a medal which in reality should have been almost a certainty.

Now that we know there is a problem, lets try and analyse it shall we?

Indians have traditionally done well in sports of skill and intellect. Hockey (when it was about skill and not about stamina and power), Chess etc. And now comes shooting. I agree that holding that rifle and shooting is no mean feat but it comes under the purview of skill sport rather than one based on power and stamina IMHO. Why does this happen? Why are we good only at skill and not at the physical aspect of sports? Reason is very simple. Skill is something you are born with. You can hone it and improve it by practice and coaching but being born with it is something very essential, at least in my view.

To take a very simplistic statistical view, In a nation of a billion, even if .001% are born to be world beaters, we will have 10000 of us who are potential medal winners. What is missing you ask? The answer is twofold. At first level, the will is missing from the politicians who also masquerade as sports administrators and due to this lack of will, there is a lack of infrastructure. So what we have is a lot of un-honed talent which is wasting away in some chai shop or at a construction site. We dont have infrastructure and good quality academies which will take these potential world beaters and turn them into world beaters.

We need some professional administrators who are not doing it as a part time job but are paid for doing it full time. We need people to look beyond a game played by 11 highly talented jokers (read cricket) whose fortunes will put a sinusoidal wave to shame and look at other sports like football, hockey, athletics to name a few. We need money coming in via sports budget and sponsorships and we need people capable enough to manage this money without filling it into their personal lockers.

We need a change in attitude, a change in mindset and a lot of such things and if I take them all up, this post will be even bigger than what it already is. But we surely need something that will change the whole scene of sports in India. Where will it come from and who will it come from is something I don't know and can't even begin to think. We can only hope that a day will come when rather than being ecstatic at a gold medal won after generations, we will be sad at a silver medal- for it would mean a lost gold....

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Randomness

Dark lonely night
Little chill in the air
Thoughts unread
Truths untold
Eyes wide open
Mind shut
Reading but not registering
Seeing but not watching
Listening
Is that a sound?
Or a noise?
Sitting here
but roaming far and wide
Thinking, but what is it that I think?
Maybe its a lull before the storm
Or maybe, its the darkness before the light
Will I ever know?
Maybe; maybe not.
But then, will I know that I know?
Who will tell me that?
Or is it a sign that I have to await?
I am in the dark
Literally and figuratively
Maybe the dawn is not far
Or maybe, its just the beginning
Will it get worse before it gets better?
Or is this as bad as it can get
I will get an answer perhaps
So I wait..........

Saturday, August 2, 2008

You and me...

An erratic poem at an ungodly hour... being me is weird and quirky. Anyway, here goes nothing...

A simple look,
A sweet smile,
I try to take it all in,
For it will be a while.
Till I see you again,
Or feel your touch
I try to say it all
But say nothing much.
How will I live
Without your fragrance
Those innocent eyes,
That naughty glance.
I think of you
And your are here with me
I think of you
And about you and me.
Though there is distance between us,
And time doesnt seem to go,
I wait with baited breath
'Cos I love you so...