Sports in India

Hi all, I had raised an issue yesterday when i said the following:


How many of us know that Dempo won the Indian equivalent of EPL yesterday? Or for that matter, how many of us can name atleast a single player from Dempo? While we fight it out by naming every game ManU or Chelsea played, how many of us can tell Dempo's winning scoreline yesterday? This is how we kill all sports but cricket in India.
While its true that the administrators of All India Football Federation are to be blamed for this plight, its still an issue worth pondering upon. Though i may sound like a nut to be saying this, i'd still like to raise this issue.


There was another counter issue raised saying that:


If Indian football team or the Hockey team was good, we would follow them the same way as cricket. Their performances are so mediocre that there is no point in trying to follow them. Had they been in the top flight like our cricket team, we'll give them a try.



I wish to state further on the above issue.


Its not about football and hockey alone. Our Hockey team is infact in the Top 10 right now. Do people take notice? Absolutely not. They beat Australia (the World Champions) yesterday. Do people or for that matter media care about it? When i started watching hockey (around 1997), India was ranked 4 or 5 in the world. They won the Asia Cup and Asian Games gold medal then. Indian cricket team around the same time was ranked out of top 6 for sure. But did the hockey team get any attention then?

Chess gets some attention now due to the ongoing World Championship match. Otherwise, its totally ignored. As a person who has followed every single game of Viswanathan Anand since Linares 1996, i can say how indifferent the media has been towards him. Rajdeep Sardesai, in his tweet, has rated Anand above Sachin in the list of Greatest Indian Sportspersons post 1947. Barring THE HINDU, none of the mainstream media has given Anand the coverage that he deserves.

A Spanish Grand Master once remarked, "Had Anand been born in our country, we would've made him the PM for his achievements". Such is the adulation that he enjoys somewhere in Spain. Whereas, in our country, a 2005 Outlook survey revealed that more people knew Irfan Pathan than Vishy Anand. While the whole country gets behind Veselin Topalov in Sofia in the current World Championship match, Anand only has to bank on the support of his training team. All these used to make me sick. Now who is to be blamed for this plight? People? Media? Administrators? Anand's is not a one off case.

There used to be a hockey league on the lines of IPL called the PHL - Premier Hockey League. I doubt if it will be held this year for the last i heard was that it was to be discontinued due to lack of support on the part of fans, sponsors and the media. Who's to be blamed now?

In 2006 or 2007, Bobby Aloysius, a promising high jumper from Kerala quit the sport due to lack of support and for ignoring her for the Arjuna award. She had achieved everything and more one can possibly achieve to get the Arjuna award (including an Asian Championship Gold and an Asian Games Silver). She was a front runner for the award that year but her award was given to a cricketer who certainly deserved it less than her. Similar was the case with boxer M C Marykom. In 2008, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award which should have rightfully been given to her was given to MS Dhoni for leading India to 2007 T20 World Cup Triumph . (People please note that even stalwarts like Rahul Dravid and Mahesh Bhupathi have not won that award). Marykom had to fight her case and threaten to quit before she was given the award in 2009. The sad thing in both these cases is that the media hardly lent a ear to their case and the people cared even less. They were happy 'cause a cricketer has got the award.

If we continue treating our sports heroes this way, in 20 years from now, all the Arjuna and Khel Ratna awardees will be cricketers. No use blaming then that the other sportspersons didn't play well and are substandard.

The problem has deep roots and cannot be solved overnight. All i wish to say to people reading this is that,

Watch and enjoy cricket to the fullest. No qualms about that. But do spend a minute or two to atleast know what's happening in Sports other than Cricket in India. You're not going to spend a lifetime to just have a peek at Dempo's scoreline or who the Goal scorers in India's hockey match were. Do that and try to discuss this just for a minute or two in between discussions and friendly chat with your pals. By doing this small thing, you would certainly contribute to the attention that a particular sport receives. Watching a hockey match once in a while is no sin and trust me, it can be fun too. If everyone contributes in a small way like this, then who knows? You might actually be watching the Indian team fighting it out with the likes of England, Spain and Brazil in the 2034 Football World Cup or the Indian team thrashing Australia and Germany in the 2022 Hockey World Cup (the latter could happen much sooner actually).


PS: I've only mentioned what you as a fan can do to uplift these sports and what the media can do. There is the other major issue concerning the administrators of these sports, which shall be discussed later.

The Last Day of College and a poem

Hi all, am back again. Here's one to the end of college.

The day was 26th March, 2010. It signified the end of college for us. Obviously there was a mixture of emotions written large in our faces. Four years of all the struggles, joy, pain, etc. were coming to an end. People were busy clicking pictures with their digicams. A friend asked me if i could write something.. something like a poem highlighting the days that we spent in college. Well, its been atleast 4 years since i last wrote a poem. In this period, i did not write any as i was enjoying reading some of the best poems from people i knew namely Srividya Ma'am and Shyam. I thoroughly enjoyed their work that i never felt like writing one. I just enjoyed critically analyzing whatever they wrote. But this request from my friend was something that i could not refuse as it was a mere poem that he had requested of me.

So i wrote, just like that. I finished it in an hour. In the end, i didn't know what i had written but i just felt that it was okay. It was nowhere close to what my poetic idols write but it was okay. I could've tried writing like them but it'd have been difficult for everyone to grasp in its inner meaning. So i kept it short and simple with an AA BB rhyme pattern. At the end of it, people liked my work and a classmate took it to the Fine Arts Club staff-in-charge who displayed it in the Fine Arts Club notice board along with some other Tamil Kavidhais. I felt happy that i kept it simple for not all could understand this and i had to explain it to them. They appreciated it.

Looking back, i could've done better but this is all that i could manage in the 45 minutes, keeping the audience in mind. Now reading it, i want to edit some lines but its ok. Let it be.

Also i don't mean everything that has been written in the poem, especially the title (which i'd have reserved for a poem on School days). Its just that i've written all that i could think of at that moment. I could've revealed a lot more of our handiwork over the past 4 years, but considering that some staff members may read it, i've restrained myself.

The Title is inspired by a line in Bryan Adams' Summer of '69 Song.

I'm producing the poem here for you:

THE BEST DAYS OF OUR LIVES


We entered into a world that was new,
To find out that we were the chosen few;
All things around were strange and queer,
But something said that there was nothing to fear.

Time progressed neat and clear
Reminding us that the end was near;
Looking back at the days gone by,
Gives us a reason to cherish and cry.

We struggled hard to give our best
So in peace and calm, we may rest
We wept when the days were bad,
The end of the lull, made us glad.

We enjoyed the way very few knew
With tidy thoughts, that were free from dew;
We met people who made us blush,
Not longer did we realize that we had a crush.

Days and weeks, we sat and listened
Only to realize that nothing glistened;
We longed for the days that were to come
Our hopes clinged onto reasons that were some.

We had our days under the sun
Which were nothing but full of fun.
With every passing day, we near the end,
We long for the past that we could mend.

With hope and despair equally spread,
Its the world outside that we dread;
But like the rosy days that we discuss,
All this could pass without any fuss.

The world we knew was full of high - fives,
Needless to say, those were the best days of our lives.



Yep, i could've done a lot better. Even if i were to rewrite it now, i could come up with something better. But like i said, it is the moment that counts. It gives me a satisfaction that i can still write poems despite being out of touch for 4 to 5 years.

This is dedicated to all my classmates in college. Its strange. The feeling of missing someone/something starts to sink in now. I'd have never imagined it but its true. I'm beginning to miss college, especially my department and my classmates.

@Azpomerz (my classmates): Guys, if you are reading this, then this one's for you.

I also dedicate this to all my illustrious and wonderful college mates who might be reading this.

@All my school mates who might be reading this : You were the real inspiration for more than a line in this poem. So this one's for you too.

This is to you all. Cheers :)

PS: My exams get over on May 4th and i'll start a Blogathon after that i.e. i'll write about all that i wanted to write about ever since i started this blog. Till then, its bye from me. Bbye :)