Will the real slim KPS Gill please step down?

Hockey died in India this day without any of us even shedding a tear for it. The day will come soon when we can only tell our future generations that there were greats such as Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh who played for India. That there were great Indian players who would have made the best hockey teams in the world purely on the strength of their ability and their wizardry on the field and not as we saw yesterday through a sleight of hand. The shimmy and the feint on the field evoked magic when these players were on song. Sadly the reverse flicks and the dribbles too often have been happening off the field detracting from the performance on it. What else can you say about Jothikumaran who single handedly drag flicked Indian hockey into an abyss from which it is unlikely to see the light of the day? Alas what can we say about Mr.Gill's stint at the helm of Indian hockey other than to liken it to Nero fiddling while Rome burnt? It is time we showed all the office bearers of the IHF the red card for their incompetence

No qualms about reservations if...

I was truly surprised to see the wide gamut of views people expressed over this contentious issue in the past few weeks. The near hysterical reactions of people on either sides of the debate left thinking about whether we have actually evolved as a society that respects others opinions for what they are instead of branding them for their views. The whole range of reactions left me wondering if there ever could be a middle ground. I think there is!!

Firstly let me make it clear at the outset that I am not against reservations if they are truly the means to empowerment. In fact this was precisely the reason they were initiated at the time of the first constitution. I think it is our moral obligation to provide people who have suffered over the years a window of opportunity to catch up. People might argue about getting penalised for the mistakes of our forefathers but we have a duty to correct or atleast make amends for the past. However we need to get over the past and look forward to what we can do in the future if we have to overcome these resentments. Therefore I think reservations are one of the many ways in which we can overcome the entrenched mindsets of the past. I also think that there need to be caveats if reservations need to yield the desired results. Firstly without giving students a good primary education it would be a travesty if we focussed all our efforts on the university education system. I think France is a model for this where state run schools offer the same quality of education throughout the country.  Secondly reservations need to be given for a specific timeframe which should span one or two generations ideally. They should also be reviewed at the end of this timeframe by a diverse group of technocrats and not politicians who have parochial interests. Thirdly foolproof ways of ensuring that caste and income criteria are not manipulated because we can buy these certificates on the fly will ensure that there is credibility in the system. And finally what about educating the older generation about why they are being given instead of leaving them out of this debate?

The Olympic torch and foreign policy

Reactions have been varied to Bhaichung's courageous decision to not take part in the Olympic torch run in India. While the public at large have sided with Bhaichung's decision, sportsmen like Milkha Singh and actors like Aamir have tried to defend their participation on the grounds of fostering the Olympic spirit. If the Olympic torch run is a symbolic way to foster the Olympic spirit, then China by its actions has blatantly subverted the Olympic spirit in trying to use diplomatic pressure on a weak willed Indian government. People around the world recognize that the torch is a symbol of the Olympic movement and therefore it is not China's prerogative to decide whether the torch will be handed over to India. China has according to many press reports pressurized India to reduce the length of the Olympic relay and has even threatened to deny India the opportunity to participate in the relay if its security is not guaranteed. The question that needs to be asked is if China can take a decision at all in denying India a role in the worldwide relay. The answer clearly is that China doesn't own the torch and cannot deny a democratic country its rightful role in this worldwide relay. The silence of the intelligentsia in India and people participating in the relay such as Aamir on why India should listen to China on a global issue is shocking and unacceptable. The Olympic Spirit requires mutual understanding in a peaceful manner with the games played in a spirit of friendship and solidarity-values that China has rarely if ever demonstrated in the past. China has been given the games purely for political reasons and it is therefore unreasonable for them to expect a apolitical Olympics without any link to its gory past.