Gestures worth emulating...

A nation is known best by the people it chooses to remember. Unfortunately in India, we choose to remember the wrong sort of people, or rather, we choose to avoid remembering the most eligible type of people. You have memorials, grandiose and opulent, dedicated to the memories of politicians, who admittedly did a lot for the country, but frankly, could have done a lot more, but chose not to, owing to political considerations, considerations for which this nation has had to pay a rather heavy price.

So, who do I fancy? Well, for one, members of the armed forces. I mean, besides India Gate and a few small cenotaphs scattered here and there, we don't have a single monument dedicated to the brave soldiers who stay awake at nights just so that we may live to see another day. Have we forgotten these men and their trials and tribulations in our zeal to progress? Have we found it fit to turn our back on the past that they represent, not comprehending that in the process, we condemn the present that they have given us? I hope not, and yet I am circumspect.

Another category of forgotten heroes and heroines is sportsmen. When I think of sportsmen, I am NOT referring to cricket. Frankly, I have nothing against it, but in comparison, we have more dignified sports which we could take pride in excelling rather than cricket. That a nation of 1 billion people finds it a matter of great exultation in winning a single silver medal at the Olympics serves to illustrate the level to which we have permitted sheer commercial gilt to overshadow real sportsmanship. In contrast, nations like China, Russia, the U.S., and others (which, perhaps coincidentally, don't happen to be cricket playing nations) simply hog the medal tallies. Perhaps, we could do with taking a little attention away from cricket and its shenanigans, and focusing the same on other disciplines such as athletics, swimming, gymnastics, weight-lifting, etc.

However, this is impossible, at least while companies view cricket as the only source of getting some publicity for themselves. That is where Sabeer Bhatia, the creator of Hotmail, is creating a new trend. His firm, Arzoo.com, has committed itself to sponsoring Mary Thom, three-time world women's pugilist champion and currently resident of rural Manipur, to the tune of Rs. 3 lakh (approx $6,800) for an extendable period of one year. The sum may seem peanuts, but considering the state of affairs in conventional Indian sports organizations, it would go a long way in ensuring that Thom can give competitive sports one more chance.

Another major development along the same lines is the decision of the Tatas to associate themselves with the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy as a financial partner that would cover all the infrastructure related expenditure of the Academy. This support is expected to help the Academy to revive all its major initiatives, including conducting tournaments and sending its wards for training abroad. Link to The Hindu's article. Thanks are due to Aditya for discussing this point.

It would be worthwhile to see whether Mr.Bhatia's and the Tatas' gesture is acknowledged and maybe even emulated by other corporates. The State may have failed to perform its duty in this regard towards society; let us see where the private sector stands in this arena.