India & Olympics…what a tale!

It has been 28 long years since the Indian national anthem was played in Olympics, the last time being way back in the year 1980 when men’s hockey teamdid this feat. abhinav bindra did make our motherland proud by winning the first solo gold in its Olympic history, others being in team event like hockey. when bindra won the event by scoring perfect 100 in most of the rounds and eventually winning gold medal in 10m rifle category, we were taken in by a huge surprise. well……. notice the sentence before-“taken in by a surprise”. this is the pathetic situation of our country in sports. a country with a billion population earns a gold medal after 28 yrs!! Jamaica, kenya and other countries that are just a speck in comparison with India’s size and population has won many more medals than us.

why? why should we rest in the bottom of all medal statistics undisturbed? china a country of nearly India’s  size and population has come first in Olympics 2008 held in china with a staggering tally of 51 gold medals and  a total medal’s tally more than 100,while we are proud of 1 gold,2 bronze(sushil kumar in wrestling and vijender in boxing).micheal phelps amassed 8 Olympics golds solely in swimming in 2008 Olympics while an entire team of Olympians of india could manage just a gold!

Here is a shameful stats of medals won by india in recent olympics:

1996 ATLANTA OLYMPICS – 1 BRONZE

2000 SYDNEY OLYMPICS – 1 BRONZE

2004 ATHENS OLYMPICS – 1 SILVER

2008 BEIJING  OLYMPICS – 1 GOLD,2 BRONZE

Tiny islands have scored massively leaving us groping in darkness….france,italy,germany,japan which are nowhere in comparison to india’s  populations have amassed several medals while usa and russia are always among the top in almost every sport in every edition of olympics till date. why not us??

My viewpoint is towards the dominance of cricket in india,which is has subduded every other sport in the country.ok we are upto world standards in cricket but it is not the only sport in the universe.And, the funniest part is-cricket is not in olympics!!

Indian hockey  has sunk low as a result failed to even  qualify for olympics,let alone win a medal!

India,before, had won its gold medals in olmpics only in hockey.the present indian hockey is only a mere shadow of what it was during dhyan chand’s dominating reign in hockey during 1920-1940 olympics.

Indian footbal team was a force to reckon with before the early sixties,finishing a fourth in olympics  in 1948 missing a medal by whisker(loss to australia 1-2 in bronze medal match).since then indian football has been diminshing fast. Similarly in swimming,judo,equstarian ,taekwondo,gymnastics,rowing,basketball,athletics,volley ball,tennis which form the bulk of olympics,india has fared miserably except some high points somewhere,sometimes that enabled india to win a bronze in tennis 1996,bronze in weight lifting 2000.

We are a country with more than a bilion citizens……aren’t we ashamed of our shameful stats that are repeated in every olympics ??its high time that more encouragement be given to sports other -than cricket.india must improve its pitiful state in swimming,basket ball,volley ball,foot ball,gymnastics ,athletics and so on.schools  must encorage children to progress in these sports,other than cricket,in order to develop skill and passion for these games at young itself.many children who have potential to make it to the highest level in sports other than cricket,hockey are being shunned down by peer’s and mentors,thanks to the lowly image of other sports in our country.this mindset ought to be changed ,by all means inorder to nurture talent and to make the potential to a glowing reality.good stadiums ,proper management authority,good domestic structure and good coaches who have the ability to spot the talent in people must be made available in other sports.

India has had too few heros in sports other than cricket and hockey which must be changed.good governing bodies like BCCI must emerge for rest of the sports in our country like in other countries like us,russia and china who have brilliant sportsmen in nearly all sports in olympics,and rarely go without medals.first and foremost,passion should be there for a particular sport-then only one can perform and bring laurels.games like gymnastics must gain popularity and that will be a major step towards achieving our goal.

In  Shooting india has  performed reasonably well – the lone gold which was won in shooting in olympics,2008.apart from that , rajyawardhan singh rathore achieved silver in 2004 olympics in athens,samresh jung won a record 6 gold medals in shooting in commonwealth games.india must still improve in shooting and take it to the next level.boxing and wrestling also has been india’s recent succes stories which was unheard of,before . with all these things and the possible surge in athletics and other sports ,india’s olympic preparation  for 2012,london must kick start with hardwork and vigour.India must show the world that it has not only potential,but the ability to make the potential into reality.

Hunger…the evil

                                                                   

Kudos to Ferdinand dimadura for portraying effectively the pity state of children of the hunger stricken area.

The short film “chicken a la carte” inspires one to think and do something good for those who seldom manage one square meal a day, while we gulp down eatables without ceasing. I myself am a die hard eater of any type of food in chicken. Little did I realize or even think of those people who ,in this case feed on the leftovers of the bird.

 In a survey, people of America seldom finish “half of their drinks”-juices, milkshakes and so on. Just imagine the no. of poor and downtrodden who die due of hunger, while we eat “more than” our hearts fill also, wasting them. According to the film, about 25,000 people die everyday of hunger.

Lack of nutritious food leads to various deficiency deseases.The longevity of people takes a heavy downfall.

The economic situation of the country plays a important role for this situation, but how long should people be losing their lives because of hunger ?The time has long arrived that we see into this matter and return with a solution ,an effective one. When we earn, when there is money sufficing for more than our needs, give to those who lose their lives due to poverty and hunger…at least save one life in our life!

Lead India…if we don’t..then who will..?

inspirational videos…

 

India is our right and we, as the children of bharatmata have our tasks cut out to ensure the reawakening our country which was in the past, at the zenith of peace and prosperity. As swami Vivekananda said, the ruthless invasions of mughals and the brits led india into a temporary slumber only to be awakened with rejuvenated vigour…in such a force that the world shall be left stunned……………….

The Onus falls upon us-the present generation to lead by example. Enough of the empty words of criticism of our democratic structure, political system,law…merely mincing of words lead us nowhere BUT making it into an action will empower the nation into a dominating force. Have we ever wondered why our nation which boasts of its unparalleled past, a country whose ethics, morals and culture has had no parallels , to be still spoken of as “developing economy” ,”sleeping tiger”  or “potential ssuperpower”……WHY?  Why not can we be called a superpower still after traversing more than half a century as a free nation…? Japan was, in the early 20^th century a nation with absolutely no resources, demolished  by the killer bombs that struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki and left it gaping in the dark  , but now  the country ranks among the  highest  in per capita income figures. If they can,why not we?

We are being called the potential superpower….the time has long come to turn this potential into truth, a reality. each one of us should imbibe within us the image of a shining India. let us achieve what our forefathers could have only imagined. Last time when the slogan of ‘do’ arised, it was a revolution, the credit for our present freedom can be conferred mainly upon the historic, path breaking “DO or DIE movement”. This time around, we should ignite within ourselves the same passion, courage and determination but with a different attitude, for a different goal….to make the ‘rising India’ rise above any others reach….each one of us has to work towards the prospect of a shining India…India that is looked upon as a developed economy, not an asleep but raging tiger, and a superpower(and not still be called potential!).Our actions should in no way diminish our legacy and culture.world should be awed by our development as well as our cultural heritage.

We are a nation having population of way  more than 100 crores…..even if atleast 1% of people actually DO something,we can acheive what we aspired for. Ofcourse,our country faces the evils such as corruption , bribery which can  hinder the real time development.but how long can we find excuse to escape from our duties…? effective measures should be taken to be keep the evils under check like voting  for a good government .Let us strive together to  make this nation surge ahead than others by actually DOing something…!!