'Gold'en India???

This was going in my mind since Abhinav Bindra won the Gold for India. Bharat actually wrote exactly what I had in mind. Just adding on to him..
It is a major major feat that the young lad has achieved.. The headline in China Daily read “One day in the life of 1.1 Billion people”. No doubt The G-Talk statuses were changed.. you tube videos were shared.. news clipping links were mailed across.
There was some difference of opinions among my roomies here. Some, including me, felt there was that hint of sarcasm especially when the article said, “The ace shooter became the first Indian - from 1.1 billion people - to win an individual gold at the Olympics”. The others felt it was a matter of pride for Indians. The arguments in a ‘MBA Household’ are bound to happen. But the important thing is to sit back and think if we should be really proud of India or Indians? What contribution did India or being an Indian really had in this feat? Infrastructure? Financial motivation? Physiological support? Incentive to play for the nation?
Considering it from the player’s perspective. Do they really feel like they are fighting it out for the nation? Do they have that strong feeling of patriotism? Doesn’t seem like this being the case when you see the face of Indian Tennis – Sania Mirza walking in a bloody tracking suit in one of the grandest event of the world!! OK. It’s alright being non-patriotic; it’s alright playing for your self – for the sake of a medal. But still doesn’t one connect to the country when you see the national flag up there. Such a faux pas is a sin, especially when you have done so many ads and TV/public appearances.
Strange the ways are, we have a habit of showering every praise, penny and (railway) pass at the winners! I guess the people responsible need to learn some lessons in finance where we have a concept called Investment. Like many times in stock market, it’s the sentiments that rule here. Once a stock becomes popular, it’s the sentiments that take its price to unrealistic levels. Not surprisingly, the same stock soon crashes because it was never valued correctly. A smart person always does his valuations properly when he invests – hence the need for good investments.

All said and done, I sincerely (but pessimistically) hope that Bindra’s Gold winning shot was the one that Sports in India need it in their arm and the kids who are on a gun buying spree in Punjab for the past couple of days don’t regret their decision few years down the line.

Becoming Part of History..

So India has made up for the loss of World Cup early in this year with a great 20 - 20 World Cup victory... The match was awesome similar to the previous India - Pakistan tied match.
And we all go down in the history books as a rare species who have witnessed India win a World Cup.... though I am sure the number of people in this rare species will run into millions..
Well Done India...
(though I must say the last over by Joginder Sharma was pathetic.... the ball on which 10th wicket fell was a full toss and could have been easily tossed over the boundary had the batsman not tried to act extra smart.)
Anyways all's well that ends well!!!

Applaud him...

There was a passing mention of this news in the papers
There were no big, half page photos of him in national dailies.
Even on the NDTV site there is a smallest ever article regarding his achievement.

I was about to write another post on cricket yesterday but Fleiger’s post prompted me to pay attention to other good happening in Indian Sports.
Oh! Those of you who have still not guessed what I am talking about – it’s not your fault. As I said, the achievement of Viswanathan Anand becoming the 1st Indian to become No. 1 Chess Player in the world hardly got the attention of Indian Media which has been so busy finding out why India crashed out of WC.
If Dhoni making it to the Top 10 ODI batsman can make a headline on Sports Page, then Anand’s life long efforts, commitment, hard work to reach where no Indian has, surely deserves much more!
It’s strange. We feel so proud of achievers who have roots in India but are actually foreigners now but we forget the true Indians.
When Monty Panesar wrecks Australia, we proudly call him India’s Son. Bob Woolmer dies and we have prayers for him in Kanpur (where he was born). Bull Shit!!

For me, even if India wins all cricket matches of this year the fact that Anand became world no. 1 in chess will be a bigger news. But sadly, it will not be so for the Great Indian Media.

Win Us the Cup

Here is a video - I made it.. with help of some photos I had and some from eclectic sources on net.
The background score is courtesy Mr A. R Rehman.
Enjoy the video and Pray for our cricket team!!
With all the hope in heart - All the Best India!!