At last, an Olympic triumph for India

At long last, something that we all have been waiting for so long – Abhinav Bindra brings home the first ever individual Olympic Gold medal for India. Its been a very long wait indeed, but finally, we have managed to grab the elusive gold medal in the Games which is unique in its rich history and ethos, where recognition of being the best in one’s individual discipline is the reward, rather than the size of the prize money. Well done, Abhinav Bindra !!

The Olympics have a special place among all sporting events of the world, overcoming time and history, to carry on a tradition that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit. What started off in one of the world’s greatest civilizations, Greece, eluded another equally great civilization,India, for so long. Yes, we did win the gold in Hockey for a few years, but never in history did we win an individual Gold. We came close, but never quite have the golden finish.

Ironically, this was the first ever Olympics when India did not qualify for Hockey, a game where we were gold medalist, but which is now fast losing its grip on the nation’s sporting interest. Needless to say, cricket is a national obsession and while it captures the attention of the entire spectrum of Indian society, there were these individuals who were determined to go off the beaten track and take a shot at some other sports. As the spaghetti top clad Mandira Bedi tutored the layman on events in/off and around the cricket field and ex-cricketers addressed the purist viewers at the other end of the spectrum, cricketers themselves became demi gods with temples sprouting up in nooks and corners of the country hosting a few demented minds with fertile imagination. Money rolled in and surely as the bees followed honey, cricket attracted the politicians and business men and we had people like Sharad Pawar or Jagmon Dalmiya at the helm of affairs, all wanting to have a bite of the money pie. And yet, there were a few individuals who defied the popular hype and carved their own path. Tennis – Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza. Badminton – Prakash Padukone, Golf – Jeev Milka Sing. Athletics – Milka Singh. Just to name a few. And Rajyvardhan Singh Rathore proved in Athens’04 that we can make it to the podium in the Olympics as well. Abhinav Bindra followed this and went a step further to claim the Gold medal. The tiranga flew proudly and the strains of Jana Gana Mana rippled as the whole of India sat up to take notice of this young man who was never heard of before.

China proved to the western world that the silk route will definitely be a major highway for economic activities in the years to come. It announced its arrival as a major super-power, especially to the western world who hold a patronizing view of the east as remnants of a colonial past. Tibet was on everybody’s mind, except perhaps Larky Sarky ( the French President, who wanted to be away from the hassles of Presidential duties at the opening ceremony and be with his wife in a Med beach), yet the political stances bowed down to commerce and everybody was in attendance as the Games opened in Beijing. India too is on her way to claim the rightful place in history and what better way to knock on destiny’s door than winning a gold at this historical event ? For long have we suffered the humiliation of being one of the most populous country of the world, but not winning a single individual medal.

But will this win actually encourage youngsters to develop interest in non-cricketing sports ? Will other sports even survive the onslaught of cricket in the domain of public interest ? Will we, as a nation of cricket lovers, merely look at this win as an interruption from normal cricket frenzy ? An interesting piece of news in Mid-day indicates how deep the cricket malaise is.Read more. The fact the BCCI has applauded Abhinav Bindra is as relevant as Mimoh mentioning that he wanted to be a NASA scientist before deciding to follow in his father’s dancing footsteps Read here..

Abhinav Bindra proved the triumph of an individual and we, as individuals, should also encourage, motivate and develop interests in other sports. Only then, can we hope for better medal tally at events like the Olympics and celebrate the success of our nation at such events.
Maybe then, the world too will also recognize us as a nation bound together by a sense of national pride and our President and Prime Minister are invited to attend the opening ceremony and not Mrs. Sonia Gandhi as this time in Beijing. She does not represent our nation. The President or the Prime Minister does. Surprised - read here, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/LEADER_ARTICLE_Sending_A_Wrong_Signal/articleshow/3349289.cms