And India’s Next PM is……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Elections are approaching in India, and I am very curious about it. Have always been. I started taking interest in politics since I was about 15, and when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM for the first time in 1996. My family has been a supporter of BJP (Supporter in the sense that they wanted to see a change after so long of congress rule) . I remember my father asked the hawker specially to drop all the newspapers at our home when Mr Vajpayee took oath. And then Govt fell after 13 days, and I was disappointed, that was the very moment in my life when I started taking interest in politics and started following it closely being a BJP supporter.

  Of late I’m not that ardent follower of politics, the reason probably is that I don’t have faith in any of the political parties.But still, lok sabha elections and the counting of votes will surely be my biggest attraction on the print and electronic media in the coming days.

The biggest question is that who will be our next PM this time, let’s take a look at the contenders

1) Dr Manmohan Singh: (Current Prime Minister of India)

He is my favourite to be the next PM and lead us again. He is an educated, experienced and most importantly honest person. I admired him when he put his government at stake for Indo US Nuclear deal, when as a finance minister he started the process of economic reforms. He is a decent, soft-spoken and nice being and  deserve the top job more than anyone else. But I would like him to come out of the shadow of Sonia Gandhi

2) L K Advani: (Current leader of opposition and former Union Home minister) 

He is my second choice for the top job for having vast political experience, having been MP,home minister and deputy prime minister of India.He is well educated and i believe he  has the knack to lead the country from the front. He has a reputation of being a tough and dynamic administrator. And of late he has been trying to get rid of his image as a communal leader, which i would like him to do.

Above two are the prime ministerial candidates of the two leading national parties/coalitions and have all chance to grab the top job.Following are some other contenders whose names are doing rounds in the media.

3) Mayawati: (Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh state of India)

I don’t think she has any real chance to become PM and more importantly she doesn’t deserve to be PM. Her wrong points are her opportunism, her aggression, corruption charges, lack of experience in central politics and lack of decency and sophistication among many more. Yes, she has some strong points as well like she is a tough administrator, she has risen to this level on her own and the fact that she can not be driven by others. If she becomes PM, she will certainly not be a “weak” PM.

 4) Sharad Pawar: (Current Union agriculture Minister)

His name too is coming up and I don’t understand why. There is nothing wrong with him as a contender, he is experienced politician, has been a good MP and minister, has got good administratrive experience too being central minister. But if it comes to the number game, he doesn’t stand any chance

 5) Narendra Modi: (Current Chief Minister of Gujarat State of India)

 If I am right, his name was thrown by some industrialists as an option for Prime ministership. Certainly his industry friendly approach has done good for Gujarat state of India. On personal level he can surely be an effective PM, having enough administrative/political experience, being a strong and capable chief minister and being development oriented.
But, BJP has to win 271 seats for him to become prime minister,  that’s because of his image as an anti Muslim politician and the role of his government during notorious Gujarat riots.

Out of the above, My personal choice is  Dr Manmohan Singh, but something in me wants to see a change, so I wont be disappointed if Mr Advani take the charge of our country this time.

There is every possibility that none of them gets the chance and something unexpected happens, that’s why the outcome of these elections is going to be very interesting.

Let us see what happens, the countdown has already begun…

Why should India fiddle with Sri Lankan issue?

 

Recently this has been a big issue, and I saw no post on the subject in the blogs I visit, so decided to write something about it. It’s a common knowledge that Sri Lankan government is on the way of eliminating the LTTE, a notorious terrorist organization of Sri Lanka who have been engaged in conducting heinous crimes against the humanity including assassination of  former prime minister of India,  Rajeev Gandhi and several top Sri Lankan politicians.

 

The aim of LTTE is to create a separate Tamil country in the northern and eastern parts of the island nation.LTTE are notorious for suicide bombings and here they outnumber even the Islamic terror groups. They have trained huge number of children to become suicide bombers who always carry cyanide capsules with them.Nowadays the government of Sri Lanka is running a massive campaign to eliminate LTTE and reportedly many civil Tamilians are too being victims of the same. This is an abhorable act by the government in Sri Lanka if some civilians too are suffering as a result of their drive against the militant outfit.

 

 Obviously India and other democratic countries in the world should condemn this act and request the government of Sri Lanka to protect the rights of the civilian people. I believe the reaction of India in this particular case should be same as it’s reaction in the case of Israel’s drive in Gaza which is again inhuman.But i dont think India can go out of the way and and force the Sri Lankan government to act in any particular manner.  

 

But what’s happening here in India is something different. The government of Tamilnadu state in India is forcing the Government of India to send very senior envoys to Sri Lanka and force them to stop their action against LTTE. Recently there have been lots of disruptions and Bandhs in Tamilnadu and even the colleges were to be closed. In Tamilnadu, there have been more bandhs for Srilankan Tamils than Indian Tamils, forget about other Indians:)  Even the political parties of tamilnadu are known to have links with LTTE.

 

This is what I find not appropriate, why India should go out of the way in the internal matter of Sri Lanka.I am all for the rights of civilians in Sri Lanka and for that matter any other country on the planet but have my reservations about Indian government interfering everywhere in the world and direct the respective governments to act. Can India go to Israel and make them stop their inhuman acts in Philistine, I don’t think so.World’s most influential country USA could do something but certainly not India.   

 

I must say I am surprised by this move by the government of Tamilnadu. Apparently they are doing so because LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils also speak Tamil and are of same ethnic origin as them. But, so what? Even in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Pakistan one can find people of same ethnic origin as Indians, so can India take the responsibility to protect their rights rather than the governments of the respective countries. It is the responsibility of the government of a country to protect the rights of its citizens and not that of a foreign country.

 

The idea of so called same race and ethnic origin is costing our country dearly nowadays. In Indian state of maharashtra, people belonging to other parts of the country have been killed by the local political parties in hope to get votes. In Karnataka state of India, people of Maharashtra are being treated badly and in return buses entering from Karnata were burnt in maharashtra.Also there were incidents of people of Karnataka and Tamilnadu beating each other. Regionalism, along with terrorism has become a roadblock in the progress of our country. And in rest of India (Northern India, Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa, AP, etc) people fight on the names of caste and religion, if not region.

  

I am sorry to say; still we humans are deeply divided and there is no point in growing up and being educated if we are going to hate other people who we think are not like “us”.

 

PS- Recently Sri Lankan Army released photographs of Indian tamil leader Vaiko with LTTE chief Phabhakaran in the LTTE uniform. Later Vaiko said that he is proud on the photos and his LTTE links. Vaiko is a prominant Tamil politician and is known to have links with LTTE.

 

Gods of Hindus and the Song of “Lagaan”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

There is a song in Hindi film “Lagaan”, rendering worship to the God by a group of poor villagers

 

The song goes like that

 

“O Palanhare, Nirgun aur Nyare, tumhre bin hamra koi nahin”

 

The above song sounds nice as a prayer by villagers to the God to save them in the cricket match against the English, for which their future was at stake.

Everything in this song is fine but the word “Nirgun”.

 

The Hindi/Sanskrit word “Nirgun” means one who has not any particular appearance or particular identity. The words “Nirgun” and “Nirakar” in Hindi are used mainly to define the Gods in Islam or Christianity, where God is assumed in not any particular shape or appearance. In these religions “Murti Puja” (worshipping the idols of God) is not done, they don’t believe in multiple Gods and believe only in one almighty God without assuming any appearance.

 

But in Hinduism God is not “Nirgun”. We have assumed Gods and their apperance, we make idols of Gods put it in front and worship. 

 

Hinduism is perhaps only religion in the world, which has no founder, which was never founded, and practice of Hinduism is mainly in India and Nepal. It developed and flourished by itself. The practices of the religion like festivals or rituals are not firm and vary with the regions in India. But,the “Murti Puja”  remains common everywhere, in any part of India, Nepal or world. I firmly believe that “Murti Puja” is the most distinguishing feature of Hinduism. Our Gods are “Sagun” and not “Nirgun”.

 

 I have high regards for lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar, one of the finest writers in Bollywood, but am slightly surprised by this blunder mistake in one of his songs. Also interestingly I have never heard anyone objecting to this. I object to this because this is misrepresentation of the very concept of Hinduism.

 

 

 

Gandhis and Bachchans

                                                               

                                                                 

  

  

 

Recently there was a buzz in the media when reportedly Sonia Gandhi came for the Rescue of Bachchan family when some antisocial elements dragged them into a controversy and tried to ban their films illegally. The buzz was about thawing the ice between the relations of the two families. But what’s so special between the two families that media is so obsessed with?

 

It’s well known that once Bachchans and Gandhis were as close as a family. The two families are among the most respected in India, and both belong to Allahabad city, it was where their relationship started. Harivansh Rai Bachchan is regarded as one of the greatest writers of Hindi Literature and was the professor of English at Allahabad University, also he was the first Indian to pursue doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University.His son Amitabh Bachchan is among the greatest actors of Indian cinema and is regarded as the biggest superstar of all time.Whereas Gandhis are the most influential political family in India and have given three Prime Ministers to the country so far, and have traditionally lead Congress, the biggest political party of India.

 

The relations between the two families started with Dr Harivansh Rai Bahchan working in India’s foreign ministry as a Hindi Officer, where he joined after quitting from the university. Nehru was very impressed with him, and respected him for his literary genius. Also, while living in Allahabad, the families of Nehru and Harivansh came close.Harivansh’s wife Teji became close friend of Nehru’s daughter Indira.  Later when Bahchans moved to Delhi, Teji Bahchan, got fame as a social activist, and her friendship with  Indira Gandhi became deeper, their friendship remained very close till Indira’s assassination in 1984.Their relationship continued in the succeeding generations too, Amitabh and Rajiv Gandhi were childhood friends.When Sonia came to India in 1968 as Rajiv’s fiancée, she was put up  at Bachchan’s residence and Teji acted as Sonia’s god mother and made her accustomed to Indian culture. Also during marriage of Rajiv and sonia, as the bride is not supposed to live with the in laws before marriage, Sonia used to live at Bachchan residence in New Delhi.Teji  was like mother to Sonia Gandhi, and did  “Kanya Dan” of sonia in her marriage with Rajiv. 

 

But what happened that now that when Taji Bachchan passed away few months ago, Sonia didn’t even attend the funeral. The relations between the two families are sour and it all started with Amitabh joining politice in 1984, mainly to support Rajiv Gandhi.That time congress desperately wanted the Allahabad constituency and wanted to defeat H N Bahuguna, which seemed impossible.

Rajiv Gandhi convinced Amitabh to contest. Amitabh contested and won the election with record margin (he got more than 68% votes) in the history of independent India.But Amitabh quit politics and resigned after three years when a newspaper reported his involvement in Bofors scam, this was the beginning of soaring of relations between the two families, though later Amitabh was declared clean by the supreme court. The relationship between the two families worsened after Rajiv Gandhi’s assessation in 1991, when Gandhis felt, Bachchans left them alone in distress, and when they relied on bachchans for taking every decision after Rajiv’s assassination. Also it’s said that Sonia didn’t take it kindly when Amitabh consistently advised her not to join politics.

 

Whereas Bahchans have point that Gandhis brought them in politics and left midway in trouble and also didn’t help them during the financial crisis after collapse of his company ABCL. And this was the time when Bachchans came close to Amar Singh, of Samajvadi Party. It’s not that Bachchan was not acquainted with Amar Singh before. In fact Amar singh was a very old friend of Bachchan , but when he helped Amitabh during financial crisis, the two became very close and later Jaya Bachchan was nominated to Rajya Sabha as a Samajvadi party member. As congress used to be rival (it has changed very recently) of Samajvadi party in Uttar Pradesh, the relations between the two families were bound to worsen.

 

In 2004 Jaya Bachchan remarked about Gandhi family not helping them during crisis and left them midway after bringing them into politics. She even said that  Gandhis betrayed bachchans. Then Rahul  Gandhi replied to Jaya’s remarks and said his family didn’t deceive any one, and termed Jaya’s remarks as bundle of lies.Finally Amitabh came to control the situation and said the the relations between the two familes stood on strong emotional ground and struck deep roots from the time of Nehru and Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and when  neither Jaya nor Rahul nor Paryanka were around and hence they don’t understand it. Amitabh said he could neither forget those relationships nor tolerate any comment on them.Those relationships were between the two families. He said, he has nothing but respect and goodwill for the Gandhis.

 

Above is the all I could write about the subject. I don’t think there is going to be any change between the relations of the two families now, and of course it doesn’t matter to any of us general public other than writing a post about it I wish all of them good luck in their future endeavours.

 

 

Is India a soft state?

 

The nuclear deal between India and the US has been finalized, finally. The other day I saw news that, Pakistan is also willing to have a similar deal with the US, but the US denied it (So far at least ). US secretary of state Ms Condoleeza Rice said that India’s case was unique, and that’s because of  India’s history.

 

So, what’s about India’s history that Ms Rice is talking about, I guess it’s about India’s record as a non aggressive state, rather a soft state. No one can imagine India attacking another country for any purpose. Even during the Kargil war of 1999, when Pakistani troops invaded India; in the process of fighting with them, Indian armed forces had a clear-cut instruction not to cross the LOC. So India avoided crossing borderline even for self-defense.

   

Second thing is that India is a successful democracy; the democratic values have been firmly embedded in the culture of our country. There has never been any fuss in the power exchange after the elections. The armed forces and intelligence are under very much control of the union government, and them taking any step without Government orders is beyond imagination.  

 

Only time when I felt exception was in 1998 when India conducted nuclear tests despite international pressure. And before that in 1975 when Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India announced emergency in the country following a judgment by Allahabad High court banning her from contesting any election for next 6 years. But, she called off the emergency in 1977, and announced fresh elections and that election of 1977 was the biggest defeat of her party (Congress) in the history of independent India. Democracy was in India to stay, and all that was the result of  the democratic traditions and values, which were entrenched in the political culture of India and which is the legacy of Indira Gandhi’s father and india’s first Prime minister Pt Jawhar Lal Nehru. Nehru in his tenure of 17 years as first prime minister of India made it sure that India is always going to follow the path of a responsible democracy.   

 

Everything about India being non-aggressive, and democratic country is fine, but many feel that India is a very soft state, which means just too non aggressive, which sometimes is not good for the country.

We have faced terrorism sponsored by nearby countries for a long time and still it continues. Kashmir, once known as heaven on earth is today among the most insecure places in the world, India’s Punjab state has faced terrorism for over a decade, and today terrorism is spreading in many major metros of India but still there is lack of any aggression on part of India to do something about terror camps flourishing in our neighbor country. Then there has been incidence of Kandhar plane hijack where we very calmly released the terrorist as per the demand of the hijackers. Also there was an incidence of our soldiers being humiliated by Bangladesh and there was no strong reaction from India.These are just some of the examples which come to my mind, and i’m sure there are many other such incidences.

 

It seems, on international level, India has developed an image of a very soft state, a state that can never become aggressive. It has it’s benefits and losses both, but I wonder whether benefits more or losses??

 

Decline of “Khari Boli”

 

 Those who belong to or have lived in Haryana, Delhi or Northwestern UP, understand what “Khari boli” (Haryanavi) dialect of Hindi is all about. Some people say it lacks sophistication and even that it’s rude.

 

The perception of lack of sophistication or being “rude”, is probably because that the words which show respect in Hindi are not part of khari boli, for example , to address someone, “Aap” is non existant, mainly “Tu” is used, and if one wants to give lot of respect “Tum” is used :) .Also, “iye” of sophisticated Hindi is not spoken in “Khari Boli” for example,  to ask some one to sit “ Bathiye” wont be used , only “baith ja” or “Baitho” shall be used. Also, the sentence closing “Hai” of mainstream Hindi is not used in “Khari boli” .The terms most distinct about khari boi are use of “Maka” and “ Nuko”  for “Maine kaha” (I said) and “usne kaha” (he/she said).. Hindi words are spoken differently to give a unique flow to the language, like the word “Anghuthi” (Ring) will be pronounced as “Gunthi”.“Khari Boli” when spoken in it’s original form, is an unbelievably fast accent ..and difference between normal sophisticated Hindi and Khari Boli is just like the difference of spoken English between Indians and westerners.

 

But, of late “Khari Boli” accent is on decline. First of all Delhi lost it, being a major metropolis and capital of the country, and nowadays urban regions of Haryana and northwestern UP are loosing it and is limited to older generations only, and young generation have developed more sophisticated form of Hindi. The reason behind is the general perception even in the native speakers, that “Khari boi” is “rude” way of speaking and is not sophisticated. Nowadays it has become unfashionable to speak it.

 

There have been efforts to sanskritize Khari Boli, but this dilect of Hindi will die if sanskritised, as Sanskrit words doesn’t fit naturally here. Of Course the standard or pure Hindi derives it’s vocabulary from Sanskrit, but Khari Boli is different, and uses basically “Tadhbhav” form of Sanskrit words.

 

But I believe Khari boli is very much alive in the rural area of this region, and some of my relatives (Younger generation too) who live in the villages/small towns of this region, speak it. I personally am very fond of Khari Boli… since my childhood I’ve scene my relatives speaking it, though myself and our parents don’t speak it having lived in urban areas, but my parents can switch gear anytime and start speaking it when with our relatives :) , but myself and my brother (Like other younger generation of urban population of this region ) are not able to speak it, but still we love it.

 

P.S.- In Bollywood, Khari boli is very rare…A recent example i’ve scene in Bollywood is the character of Komal Chautala in the film “Chak de India”, who spoke in Khari boli dilect

 

Tribute to Inspector MC Sharma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are certain things, which make us to be proud of our nation and the heroes of our nation. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, one of the most worthy officers of Delhi police breathed his last yesterday, he was 42. He was badly injured during an encounter with the terrorists in the Jamia nagar area of south Delhi yesterday.

 

Inspector Sharma, Winner of seven gallantry awards, including the President’s gallantry medal and 150 police rewards, was credited with the killing of 35 terrorists and the arrest of 80 others. Sharma always pioneered Delhi police’s fight against terror. Hardly there was any big operation, that Delhi police performed without Inspector Sharma, and he never failed.

 

 Even yesterday’s event was a major breakthrough in India’s fight against terror, as they were apparently the same terrorists who were involved in Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts. While two were killed, and two managed to flee, one was nabbed by Delhi police and is under interrogation.

 

 I salute Inspector Sharma for his bravery and dedication; it’s because of officers like him only that many terror attacks are busted before making any loss to the nation and we manage to live a peaceful life.

 

 But one question I would like to raise, why he and other policemen were not wearing bulletproof jackets when they were supposed to take on the dangerous terrorists, I’m not sure what’s the reason. Inspector Sharma had bullet wounds on his abdomen, he could definitely be saved if was wearing a bulletproof jacket. While our politicians (Many of them are harming the nation) have so tight security…why our brave officers who take on direct encounter with the terrorists are not taken care of?

 

 Inspector Sharma, India is proud of you

 

PS: Later JCP Mr Karnal Singh clarified in his press conference that not wearing bulletproof jacket was a strategy by inspector Sharma himself.

 

Indianness of Indians

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I won’t be exaggerating if I say India is the most diverse country on earth. The languages, culture, traditions, beliefs, religions, lifestyles vary considerably in different parts of India and as a consequence, at times there have been differences too.But we have always stood together when needed and are united.

 

But, I believe there are many things common among all the Indians, that is the true Indian ness which binds all of us Indians in one thread. I would count a few, which come to my mind

     

       

q             Religiosity: Indians from all regions of the country are very religious people. The religion Hinduism is a dominant religion in almost all parts of India, be it UP, be it Tamilnadu, be it Bengal or Gujarat. Though some festivals and traditions may vary in different regions, but all come under the umbrella of Hinduism. There are many other equally important religions in India like Islam,Christianity,Sikkhism,Jainism, Buddhism etc.

 

 

q         Respect for the older- It’s a unique Indian concept to respect someone because he/she is older to you in age; I see this in all parts of India. People address even the strangers with the terms which means “brother” (for similar age group) or “uncle” (for older people). In North India to anyone of similar age group though stranger, people address saying “Bhaisahab” or “Paji” or “Bhaiya” which means brother, and in south they call “Anna” which too means brother.

 

 

q             Carelessness- I feel In general Indians are little bit careless people (In some aspects only,not all ) not follow rules like parking in no parking zone, Lack of safety caution (Despite growing terrorism in the country), breaking traffic rules etc. I have scene the laxity in the security checks in all the major airports in the country from all the regions. The security check is also done very carelessly in malls/multiplexes across the country. Everywhere Indians don’t mind throwing garbage on roads (When in India of course ) 

 

 

q           Marriages – Marriage is a very important institution everywhere in India, marriages are predominantly arranged and divorces are minimal, dowry too is common.

 

 

q          Family & Relations: Joint families are common in India; different relations have got specific names. Love & mutual respect is of utmost importance.

 

 

q           Caste system: Everywhere in India one can find people belonging to “superior” or “inferior” castes. Though negative point, but it’s common in India. 

 

 

q           Government departments- Everywhere in India government officers and departments are known for laziness, lack of efficiency and not delivering the results. Nepotism is also common. 

 

 

q           Films & Entertainment- We have many film industries in India in different languages like Hindi, Tamil,Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Malayalam etc but the style of film making is more or less same. Predominantly love stories with song & dance sequences.

 

 

q           Ramayana & Mahabharata- Though few may not agree but i believe that the mythological stories of Ramayana & Mahabharata are commonly known in all parts of India.

 

 

Note: To avoid confusion i would clarify that in the above post, i’ve mentioned only those points, which i feel are common across all the regions in India, as India is an extraordinarily diverse country..here i am not writing about general tendencies of Indians, but only those points which are common across Indians from most of the regions of the country 

 

 

Sheila Dixit: A Chief Minister to admire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Few would disagree that Sheila dixit has done a tremendous job as chief minister of Delhi state. She is a  70 years old, but still is very enthusiastic, dynamic and a wonderful administrator. She is the second chief minister of Delhi after a brief stint of Sushma swaraj as Delhi chief minister.

 

Since last ten years, when she took oath of chief minister of Delhi, the city has transformed like anything, Otherwise Delhi was unlivable in the nineties due to traffic and pollution. But as she took the charge, and implemented her policies, the face of Delhi began to change, and in next 5 years the city underwent a metamorphosis for much better.

  

The Other Chief Ministers i admire are former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, Former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna and current Haryana chief minister Bhoopinder Singh Hooda. All of them have dont a lot for their states, and were very enthusiastic  about that, and also they have clean and corruption free image.

 

 What i like about Sheila Dixit is her genuine enthusiasm for the progress of Delhi, her policies and their implementations, her clean image and also the way she interacts with the media

  

 

No wonder people of Delhi gave her the second opportunity in 2003, a rare phenomenon in the Indian politics. And I see bright chances for her even in the next (Dec 2008) Delhi elections.

 

 

INDIA’S BEST OLYMPICS EVER…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

When i was a kid, we used to watch Olympics with great curiosity, particularly after we read in the school about the famous story behind Marathon race in Athens.. but it was a shock for me when my elder brother told me once that India never win these games..and it was before when i came to know that we are a backward country..

Anyway, in my growing years (80’s and 90’s)  I never heard India winning a medal in Olympic, and I lost all my interest in the games.. But we saw a glimpse of Hope when Lander Paes won a Tennis bronze in 1996 Atlanta  Olympics followed by Karnam Malleswari wining a bronze in weight lifting in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and further we won India’s first ever Individual silver medal when Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver in Shooting event in 2004 Athens Olympics..

We all know what’s the reason for India’s failure in the olympics, and we all say it’s due to pathetic sports infrastructure in the country, which is due to lack of sports culture and apathy of the government. But why we lack the sports culture? They say in Hindi “Kheloge kudoge to hoge kharab, phadoge likhoge to banoge nawab”..this saying itself justifies the pathetic sports culture in Indian society. But why is it so?, i think that’s largely because in India  sports were never considered a means of earning..Though i dont know much but the tradition sports in India (I can talk about north India only, and am not sure about south) but  “Kushti” (Wrestling), “Kabaddi” , “Gilli danda”, “Fights of hens”, “kite flying” etc are being played in India since very ancient times., and even these sports were hardly modes of earning (Yes sometimes Kings and influential people used to give rewards to the people winning some competitions in these games).Even in today’s society due to lack of sports infrastructure parents dont see any future of their children in sports and force them to concentrate on studies only.

Anyway let us come back to Olympics, this time It all changed to  better and was historical when we won three individual Olympic medals in this years Beijing Olympics..This is India’s best olympics ever..

First Abhinav Bindra created History by winning India’s first ever Individual Gold medal and then it was folowed by Sushil Kumar winning bronze in wrestling and then Vijender Kumar Singh winning bronze in boxing..

Let us take it as a  beginning, it was almost impossible for India to win an individual olympic medal, and now we have come to a tally of three, also we are going to host Commonwealth Games in 2010 in Delhi, and formula one race in the same year in Noida.. this wil further boost sports culture in our country and we can surely hope to better our records further in 2012 London Olympics