Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A sportin' shame

Amid all the fanfare over Abhinav Bindra winning India's first Individual Gold ever, I was wondering if the officials of Indian sport would dare take any credit for it. But i think even they would realise here, that they really have no reason to. Abhinav may have been talented, but because of his affluent background, he was able to command himself the best facilities around. He could train in Germany, and even have a shooting range constructed at his home, by his wealthy dad. It seems that his personal range was much better than the national facility available to our shooters. And there lies the basis of India's sad show at sporting events such as the Olympics. There may be many others who could reach the heights, but because of the gross national negligence we afford them, they fade away. I remember when Jaspal Rana shot his way to a world record once. However, lack of funds and sponshorship resulted in him fading away. There was even the embarassing situation, where, at a major championship, the gun provided by our sports body, was defective. He left the field in tears.

But then again, whose fault is this sorry state of affairs in Indian sports? I've come across a lot of people blaming cricket and cricketers for the neglect bestowed on other sports in India. This, i feel, is a very feeble and shallow excuse. Cricket is in the position it is today because the people running the game knew how to preserve it for the future and popularise it. There was a time when India ruled the roost in Hockey. Winning a Gold in the Olympics in Hockey seemed always a foregone conclusion. Until, one day it snapped. What happened? Similar to what happened to the West Indies and cricket, the wise men in charge just did not plan ahead. They figured the golden goose will keep laying eggs, when, in reality, the game moved forward and India got left behind. Astro turf became the norm, and India just did not seem to know how to cope.

India was not too bad at football either, atleast on an Asian level. They had even managed to qualify for the World Cup held in Brazil in 1950, where they had to decline, because, as always, of a lack of funds. Again, today, football in India is in a sorry state. A sad thing when you consider that India, with its billion people, and millions under the poverty line, would be an ideal place where the simplest and most beautiful game can take hold, if really given a push.

If you look at cricket, last year, after the 50 over world cup debacle, when India were disgraced, there was a fear that cricket would go hockey's way, with many saying that the Indians will not be able to cope with the new kind of power play that teams like Australia were plying. Well, thankfully, that fear has proved unfounded atleast uptil now. The selectors put together a brilliant and young new team with a charismatic captain (M.S Dhoni) and sent the team to the T20 world cup, where hardly anyone gave them a chance. And we all know what happened next.

My point being that, you can hardly blame cricket and cricketers for hogging the limelight. They have toiled and planned for it, and probably deserve their success.

But what about the other sports? Well, probably the whole system would need an overhaul. We would definitely need some fresh faces at the top of the boards, and some strict timelines set for their stints and re elections, so that they would be forced to think out of the box and improve the state of affairs. Lets face it. Given a chance, this country and its teeming millions can definitely throw up atleast a couple of world champions with some regularity.

By the way, isn't hockey supposed to be our national game? Funny how I've never played it or even seen it being played in any school... And that, i guess, is where it all starts...

Saturday, August 09, 2008

The grass is greener...

Just finished reading Karan Bajaj's 'Keep off the Grass'. The grass here, of course, is not a reference to the harmless variety we find in our fields, but is the marijuana that college students invariably seem to get into. I usually dont like the books by bussinessmen or IITians turned authors ( I like to call them pop authors, making crass novels for popular acclaim.). Chetan Bhagat is a name which comes to mind. Didn't like his first two books too much and haven't bothered reading the third one.


However, this book, by Karan Bajaj (alumni of IIM Bangalore) is definitely a good read. Although it does get a bit pretentious at times, with its comparison of how Indians are different from the Americans. Despite this, its a charming book, with its simple language, delicious wit and at times, genuinely philosophical discussions. Anybody who has experienced the familiar high of getting drunk or stoned during their student years, will understand the deep discussions on life, love and virtually everything that can come up between guys.


The story is basically about another confused desi, Samrat Ratan. All of 25 years old, and already earning half a million bucks as a hotshot investment banker on Wall Street, he suddenly feels that he is living out someone else's life. He decides to quit and go to India to 'find' himself. For this, he decides to enroll in the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore for the MBA. He figures it wouldn't be too difficult for him. However, once he reaches, he realises that the pressure of the IIM is getting to him.


Despite this, he makes some great friends there. There is Shine Sarkar, the pot smoking, perpetually high IItian, who effortlessly gets to the top of the class, and who is Samrat's chief partner in crime. Then there is Vinod, who has been scarred by his experiences, fighting in Kargil. The trio embark on a mulltitude of adventures, some downright crazy. Soon Samrat is doing things he never imagined he would be. But would he be able to keep his wits and graduate?


The book will deifinetely make you, in parts, laugh, think and retrospect. Go get it!

Thursday, August 07, 2008

The Math of it all...

I recently came across a funny pseudo philosophical explanation of God. As i am something of an agnostic, the whole concept of God and His doings remain a perpetual mystery to me. Is He there? If He is there, then why does so much sh*t keep happening around us and everywhere? If He just allows good and bad things to happen, does that then make him any better than a dictator, to whom we have to keep showing our reverence by praising and worshipping him? That aspect of things has never appealed to me anyways. After all, i dont think true faith is something to be made of as a friggin public display.

Anyways, this funny book i was reading. One of the protagonists comes up with his own explanation of God and why so much Sh*t happens. It seems he created all life, and left everything to be governed as a mathematical equation. Like how both sides of the equation should be equal always. Pain and suffering to equal joy. Poverty in equal measure as wealth. Love and hate. So basically, everything plays out to an equation. If there is a poor labourer here who struggles for his livelihood every meal, there will be a fat rich corporate on the other side of the world, as well as everyone caught in between. If there is pain at one time, there will be limitless joy another time. And this goes for the soul also it seems. Depending on this life, the next one may balance it out!

Well, i dunno about how seriously you can take that, but in its own way, i felt that it was a funny but inventive way of looking at things! Especially for the skeptics (including me) who may always be wondering...