Sprtsmanship!

Hurrah! Abhinav Bindra did the trick. He got that all elusive individual Olympic gold for India. Now, virtually all of India is going ga-ga over it. Well, the guy deserves every bit of praise that's going to come his way, not to forget the rewards (which won't matter to him - he's super rich!). Hold on, I am not going to join the bandwagon and write a testimonial for Bindra here!

It's the other side of this medal which also is going to come into limelight (for a few days, at least), for the umpteenth time and then fade away. You see, public memory is short. And with Indian public it is even shorter, perhaps. Along with the golden moment, we are going to discuss - with an equal fervour - why India has to always look for and be satisfied with this one odd medal? why are we always lagging behind in sports which demand athletic abilities? These discussions will blame the government for not providing world-class facilities to athletes, various sporting bodies for not being able to utilise properly the funds they get, occasionally the athletes for lacking in effort and so on. But the most important factor will yet again remain uncovered (perhaps, knowingly?) - people's support.

As with any other matter, it is very easy to put the blame on the other party in this case too. In reality, we have to ask these questions to ourselves and we will know that the answer lies with us. How many Indians know all the sporting events included in Olympics? How many of us follow any of them closely? Most important, how many parents would want/like their kids to take up any of these and excel? The answers - few, still fewer and very rare - in that order! When that's the case, what right do we have to question the efforts of all those athletes who have failed to make an impact as significant as Bindra. The hard fact remains that the only sport Indian parents would like their kids to take up is Cricket (for obvious reasons), except those rare exceptions like Saina Nehwal's parents. After all, if your kid wants to be a professional athlete he/she stands a better chance with Cricket, isn't it?

Saina got the backing of her parents and of sponsors at a crucial juncture, Sania Mirza and Abhinav Bindra had parental support as well as a sound financial background, but is that the end of India's potential? Certainly not. But to unearth it will need a change in the Indian mindset. There is change in the air, but not enough. Indian parents still find it hard to digest that sports can earn someone a "roji-roti" and more. It would be great if Bindra's gold can contribute to change it and even better if Saina can clinch tomorrow's rubber, for that could be the real shot in the arm as she comes from the typical Indian middle-class background.

Well, I am writing these things here, perfectly aware of what I have written. Because time is going to pose the same question to me somewhere down the line. What stand am I going to take?

Time will tell!!!