Sports in India – A road to glory or a path to misery?

Being a sports enthusiast, I love being here at Complete Sports Complex. You too must have played or followed some sport or the other. So here is a question for you - He received the Arjuna award at the age of 15, Padma Sri at 18 and later Padma Bushan and Padma Vibhushan. Recently, he became the World Champion for the 5th time. Who is he..??
He is the Grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand. Likewise, exemplary sportspersons like Sachin, Sania, and Saina etc. are role models for budding sportspersons in India. They have proved that if you follow your passion sky is the limit.

Now guess this one - He was a seven-time national steeplechase champion and represented India at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. A property dispute with his relatives and harassment made him a rebel dwelling in the Chambal valley. He met a gruesome death at the hands of police. I am talking about Paan Singh Tomar. Recently, Archer Nisha Rani (Bangkok GP gold medalist), had to sell her world-class archery equipment due to poverty and the list is endless…

Abhinav Bindra is the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. How? Because his affluent parents could afford to make a shooting range worth Rs. 10 crores in their backyard and he had a 5 time Olympics shooter as his coach.

Wealth brings prosperity. It has made IPL a game of glamour and a road to stardom. But, IPL is also a platform for players to get into the national team. The World Series Hockey Championship is also inspired by IPL. Now, Shahrukh Khan buying 50% stake in Dempo Football club can prove a game changer for Indian football. However, where there is money there is envy. People argue that the IPL is Indian Paisa League. Money is a magnet that attracts power. Where the BCCI chief is a team owner and the chief selector is the team’s ambassador, the argument seems plausible.

In India, we are also compelled to choose one between hobby and career. Why not hobby as a career? As they say – Do what you love and love what you do. But, boss, it’s easy to say, but damn tough to do. For those who choose a sport as their profession, the issues leading to their misery are lack of - sponsors, proper equipment, medical and training facilities, and experienced coaches. Crores are gulped by opportunists and our Olympics team is being served rotten food in the training camps.

There are countless people who have made the nation proud even without any support. It’s now the government’s responsibility to alleviate their misery and utilize their potential. We need funding in sports and to have sports as a part of school curriculum, to recognize talent and hone their skills so as to create more and more role models. Only then the nation can bask in the glory of World Champions and Olympic medalists.

P.S.: (This article is a modified version of my Toastmasters Project #2 speech)

A Rookie’s guide to get the most out of Toastmasters Club

I joined the Toastmasters club five months ago as a guest and soon became a member. I had found a place where I could translate my thoughts into words and words into expressions. Here, people are there to patiently listen to whatever I have to say and the elaborate analysis of my speeches by various evaluators is an icing on the cake. However, you can’t benefit from it without your sincere efforts.

The Basic Necessities:

1. Be Regular: It is not too hard to take 60-90 mins out of your whole week’s recreational activities. Where there is a will there is a way.

2. Be Active: Not just regular, but active participation is also a must. You can’t benefit from just passively attending the meetings. Take up certain roles in the meetings.

3. Act on feedback: Note down critical feedback from all the evaluators and gradually work on improving upon those points.

4. Ask the Mentor: Your mentor was in your shoes someday. You can learn a lot from the experiences of the mentor and of course other senior members.

My Two Cents on Speeches:

Extempore: The toughest speech to deliver is an Impromptu. You never know what can catch you off guard in a real life situation. The Table Topics are an interesting way to overcome your fear of public speaking and to enhance your confidence. It takes conscious efforts to reduce your hesitation, Ahs, Ums and fillers. Browsing through newspapers or news channels lets you have the content and confidence in your speeches, which then becomes a habit!

Prepared Speech: The Ice-breaker gives you initial hiccups. It is not easy to express interesting parts of our lives, even the harmless ones that can be easily shared with the audience! One should go through the projects following the guidelines in the CC manual. This leads to make gradual but significant headway towards better communication skills. It requires some thinking and observation of our surroundings to choose the speech topics. Once the content is ready, get it reviewed by mentor. A good rehearsal is a must to deliver the content in the best possible way.

A final word:

Complacency: The road to better communication has no dead end. You should never get complacent, and should keep striving hard to better your skills. Even if you are one in a million, there are 7000 people just like you!

Care to give back: "Toastmasters International" has given us an excellent opportunity to learn by fun at not so great a price to improve our public speaking, communication and leadership skills. We should be grateful for everything that we get from the club. So participate, indulge, share and make the most out of this great initiative.

Work for a cause, not applause.

Live life to express and not to impress.

The White Tiger

The author Aravind Adiga has won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for this debut book of his. I must say he deserves it.The book captures a fictional story of a poor Indian servant turned Entrepreneur. An unconventional start followed by a captivating account, keeps you engaged till the end. Unlike any typical rags-to-riches story, the author gives a sarcastic, irreverent and heart wrenching account of the plight of the weaker sections of the society dominated by their wealthier counterparts. Every bit of it is evident of the anger, filled in the author, with which every common man can relate to.

The White Tiger is a rare creature born once in several years and the metaphor rightly suits the protagonist. Balram, a rickshaw driver’s son, is forced to leave school to work at a tea shop in Laxmangarh village. But he continues to educate himself through the hardships of the arduous routine. However, now he learns not from a book, but by eavesdropping on the customers, political workers and the so called strong men. Soon, Balram is sent to serve, alongside his brother, at a tea shop in Dhanbad where he finds a new job as a driver. His life takes a new turn as he is corrupted by the city and its people. What follows is a dark tale of how he becomes a murderer and later a Bangalore based Entrepreneur.

Ignited Minds

Dream, Dream, Dream

Dreams transform into thoughts

And thoughts result in action

India has been a developing country for more than 60 years now. What is taking it so long that we are not yet established as a developed nation? The scarcity of resources is not the cause of our problems. We have abundance of manpower, talent and natural resources. What we lack is the vision and approach towards them. We don’t try much unless pressurized to do so. Only when something is at stake, our minds are ignited and our capabilities become manifold. “Ignited minds” is all about having that conviction in our potential and setting aside the inferiority complexes that hinder our progress.

During his visit to various educational institutions, Dr Kalam was moved by the powerful, imaginative questions and innovative ideas of young students. He urges the youth to focus on self realization, achieved through excellence in education along with spiritualization. There has to be role models such as Parents and teachers right from the childhood, to great leaders in various political, socio-economic and industrial fields. Vision generates the best in every field. Kalam mentions exemplary visionaries like JRD Tata, Dr Vikram Sarabhai, Dr Verghese Kurien etc. who played an unforgettable part in the development in their respective fields.

India has stood bravely against the subjugation and adjusted with the division of society. Many of India’s best in the field of science, art, literature, industry etc. thrived during the independence struggle. But, since independence, the aims and expectations of the people have lowered. Kalam urges the people to rise and build upon the age old wisdom and heritage; not to let divisions break the national interest; and to make India a knowledge superpower, as was Ancient India a knowledge society.

An important aspect is the development of rural areas at par with the cities so as to put an end to rural-urban migration. This can be done with proper roads and transport facilities in villages, which will also aid in employment opportunities. Other helpful modern age tools are telemedicine, tele-education, generating skills, e-governance, and information and communication technology.

Dr Kalam emphasizes on the value addition of our resources as a key to wealth generation for the nation. Dr Kalam gives an example when they needed Beryllium diaphragms for the SLV-3 project. The US refused to give it to them as they could be used to make gyros mounted on Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It’s an irony that India has one of the largest deposits of beryllium ore, exported to Japan, who processed the ore to make beryllium rods and sold them to the US which in turn used them to make beryllium diaphragms! The issue came out in the press and the export of the ore was stopped.

The idea of progress has to be implemented as a purposeful activity in mission mode. This can be done when the centre and the state work in co-ordination with double the effort, to reach the goal in half the time as the current process. Only when we ignite our dormant inner energy, the nation will become peaceful and prosperous.

Wings of Fire

 Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

“Let the Latent fire in the heart of every Indian acquire wings and the glory of this country light up the sky”.

Early Life: 

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11^th President of India, was born on 15^th October 1931 in the family of a small boat owner in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.  As a boy, he regularly went for Namaaz with his father, Jainulabdeen. Young Kalam sold newspapers with his cousin, Samsuddin, to supplement his family's income and borrowed books that he could not afford to buy.  His friend Ahmed Jallaluddin, who later became his brother-in-law, motivated him to cross the barriers of an underprivileged social setting and continue to satisfy his quest for knowledge. Many other such common people helped and influenced the poor lad to pursue higher studies, which eventually led him to become a front-runner in India’s space mission. 

Leadership:

Dr. Kalam vividly mentions Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, an industrialist, a great visionary and the creator of India’s indigenous space mission. Dr. Sarabhai was an exemplary leader who kept his team united and motivated towards a common goal. After him, Prof. Satish Dhawan, another great leader, carried on the mission to its implementation. While working with these leaders, Dr. Kalam acquired the traits of a great leader himself. A leader who skillfully delegated tasks to various teams divided as a mix of young talented scientists and experienced campaigners. The team members were being allowed to work with sufficient autonomy to optimize their performance; along with a leader who monitored the proceedings with regular meetings and feedback, so as to implement the project within the limits of time and budget.

Mission:

Handling failures and setbacks positively is significant for any team to succeed in a mission. The ISRO team experienced several failures pertaining to lack of resources and limited funds. Ultimately, in 1980, the nation witnessed the first indigenous Satellite Launch vehicle (SLV-3) being built to launch the satellite Rohini into space for which Dr. Kalam was awarded the Padma Bhushan. After the successful completion of the SLV-3 project, he was transferred from ISRO to DRDL(O) to lead the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP), under the tenure of the then PM, Indira Gandhi. India built 5 different missiles Trishul, Prithvi, Agni, Akash and Nag, as capable as any other missile in the world at that time, without any foreign aid, which was a remarkable achievement in Indian technological history. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and later, also the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. Unfortunately, the most significant people in his life weren’t there to share the joy of his honours.

To the critics questioning the huge investment in the IGMDP, for a nation whose people lacked in basic amenities, Dr. Kalam says that technological backwardness leads to subjugation. For instance, in 1991, the Gulf war broke out between Iraq and America led allied forces. The atmosphere around the world was turbulent and posed a threat to our nation, from its not so friendly neighbors. It was only through the development and display of advanced defense systems that this threat could be subdued and any offensive measures could be countered.

Contemplation:

Unlike Science, Technology is the product of a number of different individuals working interdependently towards the achievement of a well defined common goal. The IGMDP and the nuclear tests should not be seen as a display of power, but as the victory of the untiring efforts of the 500+ scientists and the young pool of talent from various academic institutions, who dreamt of making the nation proud to be positioned among the topmost technologically developed nations of the world.

Dr. Kalam mentions how difficult it is to overcome distrust and animosity of envious colleagues. He also argues that instead of people being full of self-defeatist thought patterns and negative behavior, they should be motivated by a freely flowing positive energy like a fire burning inside them. It was this latent fire that each of his team members possessed, without which India would not have made such a glorious advancement in the indigenous development in the field of technology.

Memorable Lines:

1) Don't worry and fret, fainthearted,

    The chances have just begun,

    For the best jobs haven't been started,

    The best work hasn't been done...

2) For all your days prepare,

    And meet them ever alike,

    When you are the anvil, bear,

    When you are the hammer, strike...