“For me, life will go on as usual, but I sincerely hope Olympic sports get a leg-up. It’s not a priority back home and I hope more focus is paid to these events…”
These are the words of 25-year-old Abhinav Bhindra who rewrote the history of Indian Olympics on Sunday at Beijing Olympics 2008. The thing which I read loudly was the latter part of the above quote. Isn’t it a shame on our country’s system and management when the winner himself declares the scenario of Indian Olympics at the moment!
Ours is a country where amongst all sports, Cricket is devoted and look after with great interest. C’mon, no body is to blame for that. After all, even cricket is a sport and this very sport has made us proud so many times here-before on international front. My only point is there should be more focus laid on other sports too. We have Hockey, which made us proud last year by winning Asia Hockey Cup. But in spite of that there isn’t much momentum in the game. Instead, people have got to know more about Hockey because of the last year’s Shahrukh Khan starrer Chak De India!
When it comes to sports, somehow I feel that there is a biased attitude towards Cricket in India. They say that people in India love Cricket, play cricket and sing cricket. But why can’t we expect the same towards other games like Football, Hockey, Badminton or Formula One? Every one has a different taste, no doubt, but making cricket as the whole and sole sport truly tells something else! Tomorrow, if some new batsman or bowler enters our Indian Cricket Team, all will know about his entire history by heart! Today Abhinav Bindra has made us proud by his feat. But let me tell you, many…mark my words…many weren’t even aware of the name of this competitive shooter! And suddenly on Sunday morning, I heard many people taking his name, even those who are remotely associated with the word ‘sports’. And when the same winner appeals to give more focus on the coaching of exceptional and enthusiastic candidates from Indian Olympic front, I think, this shouldn’t fall on deaf ears.
And heyy...don't feel I am being a critic here. I can never be a critic. How can I criticise somebody when I am not actively involved in that matter (read sports). Only thing I want to say is that there is a world other than cricket. And we should definitely know this!
And heartiest congratulations to Mr.Bindra!!
“For me, life will go on as usual, but I sincerely hope Olympic sports get a leg-up. It’s not a priority back home and I hope more focus is paid to these events…”
