The Slight

It might have been so slight that it went unnoticed. Or may be, people did notice but decided against bothering themselves with it.

The Games, as usual, have their own diplomatic element in full flow. It seems so, at least, on the set of things that are close to India. It started off with the invite for the opening ceremony going to Sonia and Rahul. Reaching out to the power center but a slight of no small dimensions to our sovereign head. Of course, this was extensively chronicled and discussed in the media. More in the Hindi/regional newspapers and with a small mention in the English newspapers.

But this thing with Nepal can become disturbing. Deuba, the newly elected president was to go for the closure ceremony of the Olympics. But as soon as, Prachanda (of the CPN - Maoist) was elected Prime Minister, an invite was forwarded to him for attending the closure ceremony. How does it matter?

Nepal has had a strong dependency on India for a lot of things. From trade to defence, India has had a major (not to the liking of the likes of Prachanda at times) role to play in Nepal's affairs. With this kind of change in the leadership in Nepal, things were to change. It seems that China is trying to precipitate the change. We might have to take appropriate diplomatic steps to keep Chinese 'encroachment' under check. The MEA might want to make some right noises that this point in time.

Bhutan is turning into a democracy. It is a state where we have had a strong (at times, intrusive) role to play. It might be a good idea to play our cards right to ensure this relationship does not go the Nepal way.

And what do we do with the slight? Forget it, not sure if anything can be done on that part. Apart from biding our time and taking the odd chance when Taipei is under discussion.

Hopes Of A Golden Olympic

Twenty four years back, China won her first ever gold medal at the 1984 LA Olympics. It was at a shooting event (50m rifle). Will we be the leaders in the medal tally some 24 years down the line? Sounds wishful, at best.

In the year 1984, China took back another 15 gold medals. Of this an amazing six were bagged by Li Ning. Yes, the guy who flew to light up the torch this year. I guess he was the man for the task. It seems that the Chinese had been training for the 1984 performance for years. It was talent supported with a lot of planning, resources and a belief that national pride is strongly co-related with performance at such events.

In contrast, Abhinav Bindra was a lot of ambition supported by a wealthy father. The three boxers, who have given a lot of hope of taking the medal tally beyond the solitary medallion that we already have, have come out of our own sporting system. But at most other sports, we just suck!

May be the time is ripe for privatisation of sports. At some level it is happening anyway. With the LN Mittal Champions trust supporting Archery, Prakash Padukone's Baddy institute is also flush with funds, Apollo tyres supporting tennis and then Hindujas are supporting shooting. Hopefully, other sports will also see more corporates participating in their development. May be, we will be the generation that will be able to tell the generations to come that it all started with the golden moment of 2008.

We may not be the leader at the 2032 Olympics but we would be a force to reckon with. This is dedicated to the hopes of that Golden Olympic!

इंडिया टीवी जिंदाबाद

The enclosed piece was reported over and over again on India TV. Not sure if it was classified as breaking news or not. But if you go by the past record of India TV when saas ne bahu to chappal se maara has been breaking news, this incredibly hilarious news item would have been a day hogging breaking news as well.

Sit back, relax and enjoy!

May be this is based on this 'news item' that was aired on channel 9. Guess someone on the content team of India TV saw this and has become a source of 'sensational' humour for compulsive channel surfers. [I wanted to write - surfers on the boob tube. But the flat panel/ LCD TVs have taken away the most pleasing way of deriding the television].

India TV was at its crass reporting best when they showed some sonographic imprints claiming them to be of the unborn foetus that was in the recent abortion controversy. I guess all this and the Talwar episode would make the News channel develop some kind of self-regulation. I am all for free journalism but this make me feel that some regulation (Self??) might be of help. Hope the present state of freedom in news reporting will not be used by the government to put a regulator in place.

Its high time that the channels wake up to the events and people behind all the breaking news and put some kind of guiding journalistic ethic in place!