Beijing Olympics!!!

Less that 24 hours to go!!The biggest world sporting event is gonna kick off but wad does it hold for India?? Not much i guess..1 billion ppl and counting but sadly havent achieved anything at all at the olympics..apart from the few hockey medals and a medal or two here and there from shooting , tennis , weight lifting etc..And things dont look like they r gonna improve this year..eventhough we have chances of outdoin are previous records but even this is nothing of any significance when we compare it to the rest of the world..u really feel ashamed at this reality that olympics is a battle which we have no chances of winning anytime in the near future...

So where lies the basic problem? Why can’t we do well on the big stage? To me the problem lies in all of us.At the end of the day it is he himself who chooses to play and his passion is what should drive him.What I fail to understand time and again is how countries like Kazakhstan and Kenya stand way above us in the points tally when those athletes struggle for even two square meals a day. I'm reminded of people like Aslam Sher Khan, who learned the art of hockey with broken sticks and still brought laurels for us.Industry should also shoulder a huge amount of blame, though things are improving in this area. Companies have started to fund some sportsmen, but if we do see the reasons for India’s sustained failure in the Games over a period of time, one of the major points to come out would be lack of funding.The media must hold its hands up for not covering other sports with the same kind of enthusiasm that they cover cricket. There has been a lot of step-motherly treatment for other sports in this country but, fortunately for all of us, things are improving.

Every four years we live in hope of a miracle. The Olympics do not have the same importance for Indians as, say, the World Cup of cricket, but still the underachievers that most of us are, we love basking in the glory of some of our sporting icons who beat hardships day in, day out to still live hard and fight it out against the best in the world.Beijing 2008 is no different.

Thus, I would conclude by saying that I hope the 57-member contingent which is going to the Games and which has some star performers who are considered medal hopefuls do bring in joy to a sports-crazy nation like ours which has been craving success.

Best of luck, Team India!