Before I start the piece let me ask you one simple question. Name the Premier Hockey Tournament in India... If you fail in that let me ask you a second one when was the Last time India won the World Cup in Hockey... Most of us would have definitely failed in the first one and few would not be able to answer the second one and that should make us appreciate why 8th Place Finish is not that bad also for a country which ruled the game for half a century...
Forget the Sports Ministry major push, Ignore the Indian Hockey Federation constant squabble and pay no attention to FIH massive initiatives of reviving the game... I think we should celebrate the fact that Hockey World Cup was played in India and for the first time people of our Generation got a chance to watch the best exponents of the game. This should Single Handedly start the revival of Hockey in India. And trust me it will have a bigger effect than SRK Chak De Hindi Flick also... It is this World Cup that may signal the beginning of a second innings for hockey in India.
A Semi Final Finish would have been great and a Podium finish would have brilliant but the fact of the matter is before the tournament started we were ranked 14th and now we are 8th... This is any day any where appreciable... We must not let this opportunity pass. The World Cup should be used as a springboard to revive Indian hockey, which has been starved of funds. The salaries of hockey players are a good indication of where the sport stands. While Indian cricketers get Rs 1,60,000 per ODI/Twenty20 game and Rs 2,50,000 per Test, hockey players get a paltry Rs 25,000 every tournament plus a small daily allowance. It would be foolish to argue that hockey be put on par with cricket. But at the same time there is no reason why hockey players should be paid such measly salaries. Besides, India has lagged behind in providing infrastructure and facilities to hockey players. While Australia has some 300 astro-turf pitches, India has just a handful
Many argue that one of the biggest reason for debacle in Indian Hockey has been lack of funds and money and cricket's rise... Though the second reason can be true to some extent and I no see why Cricket and Hockey cannot survive... Having said that I just do not agree to the lack of funds as the major reason for the decline... Money came to Indian Sports somewhere around 1995 and by that time we had written the obituary of Indian Hockey... I personally feel that the Indian Emotional Psyche and it's Golden past were the reasons of us loosing interest. We could not face the fact the Golden Olden Days of Hockey were over and anything less than podium finish was deplorable. Our Emotions got better than us and slowly we started moving away from our Hockey... Organizations stopped nurturing the game, Media gave less space and people in general started avoiding the game. Almost at the same time Reliance World Cup happened and Cricket was never the same again and so was not Indian Hockey.
The fact that World Cup all through the forth night was well discussed in the Media, Delhites went out, paid and watched the game in the stadium and I am being told Ten Sports had a healthy TRP rating there is something which has gone right in getting this lovely game in India. Hopefully from now on Indian Hockey will no more be fashion but plain economics for it's sponsors.
Chak De Hockey !!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Women's Reservation Bill : AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME !!!
Kanshi Ram, Known for engineering one of the Biggest Social Revolutions in Free India once said " Reservation is just like crutches to a Lame Man... It is great when he is walking and that much worse when he begins to run !!! ". Which ever side of the debate you are one thing for sure you would agree to the fact that India needs much diverse representation in all forms and any such move in any form should be welcome.
Though I have always been a staunch opposition to Reservation based on caste and creed I have maintained that Reservation on the Basis of Economic Criteria and Gender makes sense. An economic reservation in any form helps out the underprivileged class, it appeals to the people who are in need of that and is for social justice. Reservation based on Religious as well as Caste Lines are divisive and have been seen as creating differences in between the people who get it and those who do not, The Haves and Haves Not.
But this one is different, Against the very concept of Reservation it actually unites all and is seen a great Unifier. Rather than creating the sense of disparity between the people it affects each and every family because every family has a WOMAN. The intention is honest, The idea justified. Needless to say it has the Political Will also for the First Time in a decade or so. This Bill is well inclusive and should be trend setter for more Social Reforms long over due.
The Opponents of the Bill always have that rather than bill Political Parties should be asked to field more Women Candidates. Sorry, the idea does not hold good to me... If this becomes the law Lalu Prasad will field Women's candidates in Tamil Nadu and Mulayam Singh will field Samajwadi Party Women Candidates from Tripura... It will never work...
Again the opponents of Women's Bill says that the parties will field proxy candidates and we will see more of Wives, Daughters and Daughter's in Law entering political space. Well that has been the case since Independence in India or rather Sub Continent for that matter so we might as well live with the fact and try to think of eradicating that menace some other day.
Also the idea of Sub Quota does not appeal for the very fact that it does not stop Political Parties from fielding them in case they feel... At present Sub Quota Groups have the higher representation in the Lok Sabha... There is no argument that this Bill will be counter to their interests.
There is no doubt in my mind that India is still a very Gender Biased Country and this bill will be definitely a small step in changing that scenario. It is the need of the hour and AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME !!!
Though I have always been a staunch opposition to Reservation based on caste and creed I have maintained that Reservation on the Basis of Economic Criteria and Gender makes sense. An economic reservation in any form helps out the underprivileged class, it appeals to the people who are in need of that and is for social justice. Reservation based on Religious as well as Caste Lines are divisive and have been seen as creating differences in between the people who get it and those who do not, The Haves and Haves Not.
But this one is different, Against the very concept of Reservation it actually unites all and is seen a great Unifier. Rather than creating the sense of disparity between the people it affects each and every family because every family has a WOMAN. The intention is honest, The idea justified. Needless to say it has the Political Will also for the First Time in a decade or so. This Bill is well inclusive and should be trend setter for more Social Reforms long over due.
The Opponents of the Bill always have that rather than bill Political Parties should be asked to field more Women Candidates. Sorry, the idea does not hold good to me... If this becomes the law Lalu Prasad will field Women's candidates in Tamil Nadu and Mulayam Singh will field Samajwadi Party Women Candidates from Tripura... It will never work...
Again the opponents of Women's Bill says that the parties will field proxy candidates and we will see more of Wives, Daughters and Daughter's in Law entering political space. Well that has been the case since Independence in India or rather Sub Continent for that matter so we might as well live with the fact and try to think of eradicating that menace some other day.
Also the idea of Sub Quota does not appeal for the very fact that it does not stop Political Parties from fielding them in case they feel... At present Sub Quota Groups have the higher representation in the Lok Sabha... There is no argument that this Bill will be counter to their interests.
There is no doubt in my mind that India is still a very Gender Biased Country and this bill will be definitely a small step in changing that scenario. It is the need of the hour and AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME !!!
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