Olympian Thanks - to one and all

Our one in a billion golden boy arrived back to the country today and the media coverage went a bit frenzy, justifiably so, in making up for ignoring Abhinav Bindra and his likes before their sterling achievements demanded the bytes to be diverted away from cricket. At this moment, which comes but rarely in history, we must pause to thank all those who made this historic moment possible for us.

Firstly, Suresh Kalmadi , President of the Indian Olympic Association ( hence, obviously a member of the tribe of politicians), who was ‘honoured for his contribution towards the Olympic movement and for promoting Olympic sports in India’ much before Abhinav Bindra even started his Olympic journey. As part of his contribution, he and his fellow Babus ensured that the Indian shooters overcome insurmountable odds to perfect their game. A basic requirement for shooters is that they need ammunition to practice and our efficient bureaucracy saw to it that this was denied to them, so the shooters had to fire blank shots. What And of course, when the real bullets were given, Abhinav hit the bulls eye. Thanks Mr Kalmadi,and the all the Babus who contributed in ways beyond the comprehension of a layman like me.

Thanks should also go to the vast contingent of officials who accompany the sportspersons in every Olmpic games. Cynics like me think that its just a nice jaunty rewarded for the IOA votes and funded by the taxpayers. But no, you all ensure that every sportsperson has to fight for getting an opportunity to play in the game. If the numbers don’t add up since the Chinese were strict with their official passes, knock out a sportsperson on some pretext or the other. Monika Devi, falsely accused of doping for failing a drug test that is not even considered meeting standard requirements, surely made the way for some Mr. Joshi’s wife to go along as Vegetarian food advisor for the athletes.

Thanks to Sachin Tendulkar, Mahi, Dada, Harbhajan Singh who slaps a few mates once in a while, Sreesanth who dances and cries equally randomly and other sporting heroes who grab the attention of the nation and advise them on all aspects of life through numerous ads 24/7, for allowing the reticent Mr Bindra and others like him to quietly concentrate on their game and be the best in the world.

Thanks to Mr Rajnikant, Big B Bachchan and all other celluloid heroes who showed that it is possible to defy normal principles of physics and shoot from impossible angles to hit the targets bang on. A single shot rushing out from the hero’s gun can render many baddies helplessly dead and such images must have sowed the seeds of dreaming to fire such perfect shots in the young and impressionable minds of Abhinav Bindra, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and others. They dared to dream the impossible and hence, today we are celebrating such success.


The Sports Minister, MS Gill has thanked and congratulated himself and all Indians in an interview on NDTV 24x7 ("I congratulate myself and every other Indian."). I accept this unquestioningly. Yes, Mr Gill, thanks to you and us. But why ? Ah well, we will deal with such minor issues at leisure.

Last, but not the least, thanks to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, just because..erm…just because…erm…just because…..