Bharat Ratna in Sports

A new controversy is breeding in India with Goverment of India amending the rules to broaden the scope of eligibility to include sports.

                                                          Dhyan Chand in prime time

                                                         Sachin: The bat doing the talk

                                                               Kapil Dev - icon of new India of "nothing is impossible"

                                                            Kapil - song with the bat

                                                        Vishwanathan - silence and poise of cerebral New India

In my opinion,Bharat Ratna is deserved by any soul that makes
1.Contribution to a specific field and thereby enhances the image of the nation
2.contribution to the field and thereby enhances the image of the field and make that field move faster ahead because of him
3.Significant welfare of society through his/her actions

Art, Entertainment and Sports vis-a-vis Social Reformers-Socialist Writers-Science Researchers have a weak case as per point no 3.

But if we define social welfare to include the cheapest free entertainment for the masses and to bring happiness and cheers to the poorest of the poor homes - then definitely Sports and Movies play a big part in cheap entertainment if not free. Added to that, international sports and its icon play a big role in keeping alive the idea of India - one nation united people, holding nation above the regional narrow mindedness.

On all these scores, loving Sachin has no rival despite all or any of issues like Ferrari or unauthorised gym at new house etc. On all critical times like North Indian Hatao by Raj et cetera Sachin has shown enough maturity to hold the nationalistic flag high and has explained through actions his preference for holding One India image on a very high pedestal.And Sachin is the modern era Arjun re-incarnation, an example for kids to shape their goals in life. He knows only cricket. When Sachin ,in form, plays - The world stands up to take notice and revers. Here is a soul that loves cricket, enjoys cricket, breathes cricket.

Further, popularity of Cricket vis-a-vis Hockey, Chess, Shooting and its icon's influence on the society especially youth, make Sachin the better choice. But. There is a BUT.

One sports icon whose influence and passion in similar field can far outweigh Sachin's contribution is none other than loving Kapil.

I wish to rap up on Cricket without undermining Sachin or his contribution . The difference between Sachin and kapil as an impact on cricket and the mass. Kapil's devils gifted the nation its first ever world cup with exemplary captain's knocks and by leading from the front, whereas Sachin did not bring any world cup despite the longest tenured cricketer of BCCI, rather his colleagues satisfied his dream by their great performances and dedicated their performances to Sachin, the idol. That's the difference for which I would suggest that the nation needs to recognise the real killer instinct of sports that's Kapil Dev.

Now, coming down to compare Cricket with other sports personalities. If GoI wish to honour Sachin or Kapil, then the country would do a great dishonour to itself by not honouring Dhyan Chand, the legendary Hockey wizard. The first Bharat ratna in Sports field should always be belong to Dhyan Chand.. In the times of Dhyan Chand media was not so much active, but Dhyan Chand's sports folklore were carried through orally even today. I have had the honour to know from my long lost grand dad in my child hood days how Dhyan Chad roared on the field, mauled opponents single handedly and brought innumerable laurels to India in Olympics and other games, long before India became independent. Youth in that golden era got as much inspired by Dhyan Chand's stick wizardry as current era youth with Sachin's bat or Kapil's devilish wizardry.  Hockey took its right place as the national sports of independent India, outwitting formidable cricket, soccer, wrestling and archery. Dhyan Chand symbolises the golden era of Indian Hockey.

Again, if we look at scope for eligibility from a slightly different perspective, where upholding nation's intellectual image in the competitive world is the key to India Emerge concept, who can be a better ambassador than the undying Vishwanathan Anand, reigning the world space and bringing right dignity to cerebral content of India for decades through the medium of sports. And bye the way, Anand is the longest world champion in sports category, without any smallest taint to his public profile.

If untainted public profile is the criteria then Dhyan Chand and Vishwanath Anand are far ahead. Both have dedicated life to the sports but none were into any kind of controversy concerning brand and sponsorship, though fortunately or otherwise, during Dhyan Chand era there was hardly any sports branding by the corporate.

Thanking you Churumuri for a timely theme.

http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/churumuri-poll-bharat-ratna-for-sachin/#comments

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India needs more Pataudis for nation building than mukhotas on brand building exercise for vote

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When we see a spate of fasting and feasting happening around India - we wonder in humor, perhaps our FMs at centre and states would be happy with Indian youth imbibing fasting as a fad and a health route to slimming while demand side of  food falling to match shortage in supply. There are many families who fast as a routine with one meal a day as they can't afford. The number is large. But how large is not the matter we are dealing here. What the moot point is, in a country of  millions of hungry bellies, if a healthy well fed man declares fast for a couple of days or even for a fortnight, can it become such a big issue ? Putting aside the cause what so ever noble that may be, will those millions of families sway and burst in anger if a man or a group spend lakhs to fast? Would it not strike their mind that the same money could have been better spent by feeding those families who cant afford a square meal! Here comes the media. Media picks up whom to promote and whom not. That's the tragedy of  media failing often to meet its fourth pillar role of a democracy.Media promote not always events as per national need but project chaos more often than the silent goodness seen in the backyard. Its business for media to catch eye ball at the cost of nation.. Had it been, we would have Pataudis, Amirs, Aruna Roys, Sunita Narains  covering the noise space of idiot box , rather  than by the Ravi shahstris, Lalit Modis, Rekha Sawants and the Advanis.Reader is justifiable what make these two group distinct and why India eveloping as a federal composite culture needs more followers of the firsts in bracket than the later.There would be enough time in future to deal with each one separately. Today I am here after a long gap, to record my homage of one of the finest soul of India - one of the brightest stars that Indians will dearly keep in the heart - yes, I am talking about Tiger Pataudi - Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

Tiger Pataudi turned into follklore hero in my teens. In the early seventies, when I was in my school in Kolkata, there were days when my grand dad would begin telling about his sports heroes - there were Hazares, Mankads, Merchants... there was this one-eyed Nawab of the field who caught my fantasy. In those days there was no TV at home. No net. No telephones. Radio was only point of contact with the distant world beyond your locality. Grandad would get excited as he would explain how after losing his eye, scored a double century. Oh what a lightning run he used to run to cover the entire cover and let not pass a single enemy ball. Grand dad used to tell his cricketing heroics on foreign soil. His grace on and off the field.

I remember Pataudi of the 74-75. I was reeling with chicken pox and bed ridden and listening to Eden's famous Bangla cricket commentary of "Kamalda" - explaining over radio with poetic verb how Pataudi struck three consecutive 4s. India won that match against an all time best west Indies team. That was long back.
4 decades after that Pataudi lived in India. We never looked upon Pataudi as a muslim mascot but a vintage Indian that spreads fragrance of good hope . .That's the image Pataudi left behind.A legacy to live with grace and dignity. I hope Gujarat's Modi's team would have a difficult game at hand if Pataudi wanted to attend  Sadbhavana Fast without a head cap. The point that comes out clearly here is - there are two Indias - one where visioners are Amirs and Pataudis who set for the Indian community a path to composite culture where all religions co-exist and not challenge each other, and there is another India of votes and fasts and rath-yatras where the true love and belief in co-existence is a publicity gimmick for economic convenience and for becoming a bigger vote catcher on a larger Indian hinterland.

Even the moon has its dark spots. In the emotive heat of eulogizing Pataudi, the media has gone blind to the fact that one court case is running where MAK Pataudi is accused of killing a life protected under Wild Life Act. With the death, curtain to the case will be drawn by the court.

We will miss Mansur Pataudi  on his expert comments on many critical issues that Indian cricket faced. That crisp one liners Pataudii was famous for, will remain with us as a treasure. And the future generations of India would show better respect PAT's soul by showing and guarding Indianness than regionalism in all walks of life and placing heart and the head above religion..