With all due credit to Abhinav Bindra, most level-headed Indians realized in a matter of a few hours on Monday that the young shooter's feat in Beijing has embarrassed them more than it has made them proud.
For, Abhinav is a self-made champion. Coming from a wealthy family which has at its disposal the wherewithal to provide him the necessary facilities of the costly sport, he persevered hard, became world champion and consequently won Olympic gold. His father provided the shooting range in the backyard of the house for his training. And there is absolutely no role of the nation in building his sports career. Alas, what help the corruption-ridden Indian sport setup including the notorious Indian Olympics Association could have provided Abhinav ? But, the guardians of Indian sports are extremely professional in taking credit for his feat. It is no surprise even if those at the helm of affairs in Indian sports bodies get promoted/felicitated for their role in Abhinav's feat!
It is a fact universally acknowledged that every Indian citizen in possession of some knowledge must be in need of no more evidence to prove the unprofessionalism most evident in the country's sports setup.
And this has led to a circumstance that any celebration of Bindra's achievement can never be majestic but pathetic. As my friend impulsively pointed out, New York Times' headline - "With India’s First Gold, Suddenly a Billion People Notice the Olympics" - sums up the sports pathos of the country. Other headlines were equally serious/humourous: "Bindra ends India’s wait for individual Olympic gold" (Thaindian.com); "Shooter Bindra wins India's first solo gold medal" (AFP); "India fetes first gold medallist" (BBC). These effectively describe the desperation of a billion people for an Olympic gold.
Not only celebration, the country seems to be finding it difficult even to give a balanced response to what Bindra has achieved. We either foolishly compare his feat with some of the completely unrelated sports glories of the past like cricket world cup (1983) or the recent 20/20 world cup (Sports minister M S Gill spontaneously said it is a bigger win than 20/20 world cup victory) or we immediately get down to business, the monetary worth of and inflow to Abhinav Bindra as the following headlines suggest:
" Tamil Nadu announces Rs. 5 lakhs for Bindra " (The Hindu)
"After Olympic gold, cash rewards flow in for Bindra" (NDTV)
" India's golden Bindra gets lifetime rail pass " (Reuters)
" MP CM announces reward of Rs. 5 lakhs for Bindra " (The Hindu)
" Bindra could command Rs 2 crores per endorsement " (Sify)
" Bihar govt to reward Bindra with Rs 11 lakh " (Economic Times)
" Bindra receives Rs 25 lakh award from Haryana govt " (Business Standard)
" BCCI doles out Rs 25 lakh for Olympic champ Bindra " (Times of India)
" Deshmukh announces Rs 10 lakh cash prize to Bindra " (Hindu)
" Yeddyurappa announces 10 lakh for Abhinav Bindra " (Mangalorean.com)
" Orissa announces Rs.500000 award for Bindra " (SINDH TODAY, Pakistan)
" Bindra's parents on his eligible bachelor label post-win " (IBNLive.com)
" SAIL awards Rs 5 lakh to Bindra " (Moneycontrol.com)
" Punjab government announces award of Rs.1 crore for Bindra " (PunjabNewsline.com)
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