I
Sir,
Sakshi Malik,PV Sindhu and Dipa Karmakar of India brought glory to their country in Rio Olympics recently. These women athletes deserve to be applauded for their rare magical achievement shelving the social ills, the exploitation, the abuse, the discrimination, the sexism, the authoritarianism, the maliciousness etc. that female gender has usually to cope with. These women athletes have broken all the previous Olympic records for their country. The larger message is that India’s “daughters” are a pride and joy, and must be celebrated. Moreso in the face of struggles women have to endure in every sphere of life in India. The limits placed on them by patriarchal notions serve to distance them from the sporting arena. That is why it is heartening to see Dipa, Sakshi Malik and Sindhu respond with a never-say-die attitude. A lesson for those who believe that wrestling/sports is largely a male terrain only.
Hopefully Rio 2016 should prove to be a turning point for Indian society. It has given India women the dignity and power to compete with male-dominated society. These women are the conquerors that we as a society desperately need. Very politely they tell a country of One Hundred Twenty Five Billion ‘you always prayed for a son, look what your daughters can do for you!’ In a country where only a handful of male cricketers have mattered, Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu fought gallantly for the nation on the world stage and their role needs to be abundantly praised.
Yours etc…
Dr. S.K. Raina
Jammu
II
Sir,
P V Sindhu, the brave heart Indian daughter has achieved the most coveted slot of being first Indian woman to win Silver in Olympics. She has brought laurels to the Nation. When Sindhu reached the podium with Tricoloured National flag in her hands, the 125 million Indians felt on the top of the world. She has performed this daring deed in her maiden sortie in the Olympics at the age of 21. It was not a cake walk for two times world champion. She fought to the hilt in the third game. Carolina Martin was a bit ahead of her because of her experience and better training. PV Sindhu has become the youth icon in the arena of sports, therefore, deserves the heartiest accolades from one and all. In the sphere of population we are well placed in number two position but comparatively performance of our Olympics contingent is stunningly dismal and disgusting. This has to be seriously looked into, lessons to be learnt from usual mistakes for the purpose of desired improvement in the future world level tournaments.
Unarguably there is no dearth of talent in the country. Our combing and search for talent may be lopsided , biased and misdirected. All pervading politics is our area of concern and perceiving every activity across the National canvass through political lenses is our conspicuous Achilles Heel. No doubt there is a separate Sports Ministry headed by a minister but services of experienced ace players are not harnessed in the proper spirit. We are disproportionately attached to one major sport owing to the glamour and slush money tagged to it. Other sports by and large face general apathy and gross neglect of the authorities. This striking flaw needs be rectified.
Yours etc…
P.C. Sharma
Trikuta Nagar, Jammu
Follow our WhatsApp channel