Gold Medal for India

TheFoolOnTheHill

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/3351560.cms

"Silent killer, as described by his father, he is the one who spotted his son's talent when Abhinav was 5 years old. "He kept a water balloon on our maid's head and began shooting, knowing little that a slight mistake could have proved fatal. But his aim was so perfect that I couldn't think about anything else but make him a pro," says AS Bindra. "

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puchoo

You are right....Times of India reported it as well this morning..

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TheFoolOnTheHill

Thanks, Puchoo! Still can't find a link to the Mercedes story online.

I know I won't win any popularity votes for saying this, but I'm less than overwhelmed by this sad state of hysterical celebration all over India.

Supremely wealthy son of moneyed parentage is suddenly being awarded several crores of rupees left, right and centre by politicians all over India...which isn't bad except - has anyone seen the state of facilities available for Indian shooters/atheletes/carrom players/machkkan (spelling please someone!) pole athletes?

Something rotten in the state of Denmark - and I'm taking the extremely unpopular vote here.

brishti

yea - i hope that bit of trivia was dramatising actual events... but then again - monied folks yadayada

it is a big deal TFOTH, yes, the one gold medal.
if this gives the country some form of impetus towards sports - heck, the why's, how's, therefore's of bindra are irrelevant i guess.

butt then again - thats one BIG 'if'.


:brishti

mridula

I teach in a private college and many kids that come here are really rich. But how many of them (or their parents would encourage) would practice like that? Money yes but a lot of hard work, yes too.

Of course he is no product of the system because there is no system and that maid incident was quite shocking for me too.

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brishti

:brishti
[ today is thums up day! ]

puchoo

I would agree on some of your thoughts but Mridulas point is very valid and not to be forgotten here is the hurdles he has had to overcome himself as well....i believe he had a spinal injury (think thats what i read today)....shows persistence and determination.. not something which money can really instill in a person..

TheFoolOnTheHill

To be clear here:

I commend the medal
I commend the grit and determination of one individual who represents India at the medal tally table...an individual who is a product of a (private!) system
I congratulate him. Fantastic, and good bearing in the face of the hysterical media.

And All That.

I'm just saying: if what his father said was true ( summat akin to "well if he had hit the maid that would have been fatal but oh well that didn't happen did it") then sorry, that comes across as inhuman and arrogant.

And the visuals of the Nanda Delhi kid who ran over and killed several policemen in his Pappa-bought-me-A BMW BMW years ago, somehow comes to mind when I read AB's father's really insensitive maid comment.

shashank.aggarwal

TFOTH, India is full of ,moneyed people like him, how many of them go ahead to win the Gold ? Infact coming from a person of his wealth its a surprise, as most of the sporting achievement are generally attributed to middle class and not so privileged class. If he owns a Mercedes and others do not, then what is the problem with that ?

Does being rich makes him lesser citizen of the country ?

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shashank.aggarwal

Oh PUHLEAASE do not even start comparing, there is a difference between the two.

I agree that the statement might have been arrogant, but its not uncommon for fathers to boast in such a manner, and exaggerate things a bit..and we are talking about a air gun here.

TheFoolOnTheHill

Shashank A:

I'm not focussed on the car! Rather, on the culture of insensitivity.

Of course this sets a smoother path for other Olympic/Commonwealth/world class sports medals to follow for India.
Of course this is a commendable feat - by any standards. I hope he and his team win a chestful of other honours

My point is about the attention being deftly cast on the maid incident - does it not come across as 'cute' and 'oh, this is a noteworthy incident from the boys' childhood'?

The car came in only because a newspaper reported it with breathless adulation. Good for the father - he's savvy enough to have made the business deals he has, and that reflects in his success.

However - living in India as I presume you are, how can we ignore this strange comment, alluding to 'the maid was there for childhood target practice'? That's ?cute? Nice dinnertime conversation? What?!

My questions immediately were: how old was the maid? Earning a tiny fraction of her employer's income, did she have a say in the target practice matter? It may be in the past but hey - a couple of inches off and the story today would be very different, wouldn't it?

Too long a post to express my sorrow that only Mridula so far is as shocked as I am!

shashank.aggarwal

TFOTH, I bet you are not a North Indian, because if you were one, you would have understood the real statement, and it would not have disturbed you. Its common in this part of the country, more so in Punjab for fathers to exaggerate situations and boast about their sons. The maid in the scenario could have been an uncle, grand parent, elder sibling or anyone. It should be taken as a rhetorical statement.

brishti

whatcanisay...
i mean really - what can i say...
i am too weary of this crap - and this rationale.

and NO SHASHANK - I AM NOT GOING TO CLARIFY - because i DO NOT THINK YOU GET IT.
THE TWO SCENARIO'S ARE NOT DIFFERENT... like i said - you aint going to get it.

i aint shocked TFOTH... just weary - deal with this mentality on a day to day basis.


as for your second posting about them north indian mentality - just reiterates my above statement.



:brishti

karuna

Actually does it matter whether it happened or not? Is it not still rather terrible that the idea of putting another's life at risk is something to boast about?

The story was not about an uncle or other relative, which at least would have the mitigation that they presumably did it out of family loyalty. It's about a maid who presumably had no choice in the matter.

"It is not uncommon for fathers to boast in such a manner"- it's not the boasting as such, all parents boast- my son was the best at this or that- what they don't (normally) do is include a risk to the life of another person as if that didn't matter, all that was important was the achievement of the son.

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shashank.aggarwal

And do you a father giving an interview after this kind of achievement, would have sense or time to think about the sensitivity of the statement ?