Thursday, August 21, 2008

Can india produce a phelps or a bolt

Watched the cnn-ibn coverage of sushil's kumar's residence in delhi yesterday.The place was inhuman, with twenty people being crammed into one room with just a bed for each trainee there. There is no gym, no food specialist, no tv nothing even remotely resembling a decent living place let alone a training place for national sportsmen. Contrast that with our cricketers being paid crores for loosing their pants everywhere and playing politics more than cricket. Yes this is an age old complaint but i did not realise the extent of it till now. These guys [the wrestlers,boxers and the others]dont want to be pampered like the cricketers all they want is a decent training facility and they promise to bring glory. Is this too much for our government to provide?Why try to outdo each other in doling out rewards to a medal winner [yes these guys deserve the adualtion they get but then rewarding only the winner and leaving the other thousands in the same old situation leaves me a bit sick] when this money and attention should have been given to the guys long before when they are preparing for these events.

Akhil kumar in his interview after the quaterfinal bout loss,said if one of the two remaining boxers win a medal my pain is nothing. I was really touched by this spirit of sportsmanship and love for the country. Men and women like him have to be cherished and not left to rot in obscurity.I serioulsy hope that some corporate group takes up the baton for indian sports becoz i dont think the babus give a shit about any of this.

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