Wednesday, August 13, 2008

In praise of Abhinav Bindra

Finally.

After over a century and more than TWO BILLION births ; an Indian has managed to win "The Gold" at the grandest stage of 'em all -The Olympics !

Oh ! What a sight it was to see a fellow Indian at the top of a podium*, standing tall, chin up, receiving the top honor at the Olympic ! I am sure atleast a billion hearts must've swelled and fists must've clenched simultaneously with a pride unfelt ever before in the collective utterance of a passionate "Yessssssssssss ! We DID it !" ; mine for sure did.

A truly Unforgettable moment in the otherwise lamentably barren sporting history of the nation !

Thank you & take a bow, Mr. Abhinav Bindra. You, dear Sir, are most truly THE pride of the nation.

What is most satisfying about this triumph of your's for me, personally, is the fact that it came in an INDIVIDUAL competition and not some team sport. This clearly means that the credit lies with the victor alone unlike in a team sport where it gets shared by the entire squad. With due respect to team sports, any individual sporting competition is anytime more demanding than a team sport for there is absolutely no chance of your bad day at the office being made up for by the rest of your team mates collective good days at the same. Here, the participant is all by himself. No team mates, no team. This is why I, for one, taking nothing away from similar triumphs at team events, shall always rate a triumph in an individual event, such as your's, much much higher than any similar feats achieved in any team sport ever.

And to think that you managed this feat despite the hurdles posed by the governing body of your sport in the country makes it all the more special.

Hats Off to you, once again !

* Doffs the Hat *

Sincerely hope this groundbreaking achievement of your's proves to be a trendsetter and can spur the rest of our contingent at the ongoing Olympics as well and can make this edition of the Olympics - THE most successful one for the nation in terms of medals.

Amen.





[*- The link to the video might not work as it's highly probable that it will be taken off youtube due to third party policy issues sooner than later.]