Spoken words

Its probably not often that India gets to host large international sporting events of this magnitude. And it does not even involve cricket. So I guess the Commonwealth games is a huge occasion for India. Probably a great opportunity to announce its arrival on to the major sporting stage. To show the world that we are more than a nation of businessmen and IT geeks.Ah well... at least that was the dream. I bet the Chinese are just waiting for us to fail and embarrass ourselves here, and they didn't even have to move a finger. We got this great opportunity to show that we can do it "bigger" and "better", and we are very close to flushing it straight down the toilet. To begin with the screw-ups, I don't really know if all the facilities would be ready on time. That given a time of nearly 7 years to prepare, is a rather pitiful accomplishment. Of course at every stage, regular assurances were given that things were right on track. I guess the officials took it ...

So is there anyone untouched by the Indian Premier League. Well I suppose it would touch most Indians, even if they don't like cricket, or to say the least,, hate it. One cant really get a day away without hearing a word about it - either on the news, or listening to the colleagues opinions on how last night's match could  have been won, or a discussion on a public forum, or your friend's status message on facebook. There is just no escaping it. With the advent of T20 format, and the popularity of IPL, its certainly a money tree. A radical fast paced adaptation of a game, that normally used to last for days. A game that used to involve artistically guiding the ball along the ground, with the flick of a wrist, instead of making it fly to the farthest corners of the park. A game which used to be about facing a 100 balls to score 2 runs, has changed to scoring 100 runs of 37 balls. To add to this,  bringing in players who used to swear to be mortal enemies, into the same tea...

Some of you might have heard this story...anyway here it goes.... " In the 1936 Olympics, Helen Stephens won against her bitter rival Stella Walsh, in the 100 meter sprint. Helen won the race in 11.4 seconds. Fans and supporters of Stella Walsh protested that no woman could run that fast.Thus doubting whether Helen was a woman or not. The tests that followed concluded that Helen was indeed a woman. After about 40 years Stella Walsh got shot by a bullet, and her autopsy revealed quite a shock. In fact it turned out that it was Stella Walsh who was not completely female. " In another such case : " German "woman" athlete Dora Ratjen competed in the 1936 Olympics and came fourth. In 1938 she set a world record at the European Championship. Later it was found out that Dora was actually a man, named Hermann Ratjen, forced to do so by the Nazis. He then went back to be a man, and was happy with his original identity. " So down the years, gender testing in majo...

Yes, that is the final medal count of India. None more can be hoped or wished for. Its definitely a lot better than what most of us expected out of this event. Seriously, how many would expected such a result...?? Our aspirations definitely did go up and down during the course of the tournament. We began to expect a possible Gold from every Indian, after a medal was won from a formerly invisible Indian sportsman...! A country of ONE Billion population just managing 3 medals, speaks a lot about us as a sporting nation. But taking nothing away from those chosen few - Abhinav , Sushil and Vijender , who saved us from major blushes, i believe the country should have done a lot lot better. When i see small countries like Jamaica* ( 6G 3S 2B ) whose population is probably just half of that of Chennai**, i cant help but think whats wrong with us? They had such an authority over a particular event that the whole world was amazed. Winning is one thing, but resetting the bar of success is ...

It seems my prayers as well as of the prayers of the one billion population has finally been answered. We have finally a reason to celebrate a sportsman, and that reason is not cricket. An incredible win at the 10m Air Rifle event and it must have taken more than mere prayers for Abhinav Bindra to achieve this. India finally clinches an Olympic gold after 28 years and its first ever in an individual event . Really it came as a pleasant surprise when i happened to see the news on television. At a time when everyone least expected, we have made it to the medals tally on the just the 3rd day of the games...!! For those of you who missed it, here is the points table of the finals of the 10m Air Rifle event. And see how close the competition was...!! Amazing..! 1. Abhinav Bindra (India) 700.5 2. Zhu Qinan (China) 699.7 3. Henri Hakkinen (Finland) 699.4 4. Alin George Moldoveanu (Romania) 698.9 5. Konstantin Prikhodtchenko (Russia) 698.4 6. Peter Sidi (Hungary) 698.4 7. Stevan Pletikosic ...

That is the motto chosen by China for this edition of the Olympics...! And what a truly spectacular opening ceremony the Chinese put up..! Their years of tradition and culture reflecting in their efforts. The whole world was awed by the way they set off one of the most awaited sporting festival of the year...!! The effects, stunts and the fireworks were some of the most incredible stuff that I had ever seen. It was a sign of what they are capable of. It was a sign of even more breathtaking performance by the Chinese athletes...! Fielding one of the largest contingent, they are determined to prove a point to the world...!! They are here to show that they can beat the world, the best of the best. Watch out world : Here come China...!!! It must have been truly spectacular moment for each of the 10,500 athlete to be present in the middle of such fan fare. Being watched by 100,000 at the National Stadium and billions through their TV sets. They were the central focus, and not the world lea...

Just ONE more day for the Olympics - one of the greatest sporting event of the world. To bring glory in Olympics is one of the highest honor that a sportsman or sportswoman can achieve for his/her country. For most of them at least, sports is the only cause for existence. Their commitments and their country's support ensures that they succeed in their attempts. When the right amount of passion is put in to it, scooping a bucketful of medals comes as no surprise. When most big countries eagerly await their countries to top the list, we wait for ours to at least come up on the list.... Anyway, for us Indians, as usual its time just to pray for at least ONE or TWO medals. Even a bronze will do. We will make them a hero, give them a couple of awards, a good government house and job ( unless they already have all that ) and a few days of fame. End of story. And then what? Soon the Olympian will be lost from the memories ( like many have ), till some news comes up that he/she is de...