SAINA NEHWAL: RAM NAVMI GIFT

The gloom spread by cricket lunatics of India in the mass frenzy that cricket creates in India got intensified when the pretender idealists ofAam Admi Party revealed through their party rift the hypocrisy of their singing Insan ka Insan se ho bhaichara, not once but twice from a public stage. Someone closer to these fellows had told some months ago that their getting up on the stage ofAnna Hazare was sheer opportunism to get projected for future sinister political ambitions. Now in power, safe for five years, what happened in their meeting today is being reported prominently in the television channels besides the post mortem of Indian cricket’s debacle in the semi final againstAustralia in the world cup match ad nauseam. In the rift being discussed by the television channels, one side describes Prashant Bhushan andYogendraYadav as Ravan and Kumbhakaran “killed” today, Rama Navami.

It is Ram Navami but for television channels no news is good news because good news is not TRP enticing. The recitation of the Ram Charit Manas of great Tulsidas done, prasadam eaten, the emails were read and the television channels opened.

The email was from Kush and here it is.
“From:      KushSingh
To:knrao@...com"
Subject:  CRICKET FLU
Date:    Sat, 28 Mar 2015 19:26:47 IST
Dear Rao Saheb
Very pleased to see your article on cricket. And very pleased to see INDIA lose. Its an utter embarrassment and disgust to see the behaviour of Indian cricket fans in the stadium I have watched cricket all over the world and have never seen such junglees as the Indian cricket fan with no knowledge of the game and with lot of money in the pocket to travel to cricket stadiums overseas and the ugly diaspora who feel that by going to cricket grounds with Indian flag they can justify their immigration. What have we as modern INDIANS given to the cricket except dirty IPL with sleaze, cheer girls,betting,fixing. Let us remember the great BS BEDI/ EAS PRASANNAAND BS CHANDRAwho gave us such rare overseas test victories
Regards
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Real glory and merit of a great player is revealed in an individual game not team game generally except once in a while, where the collective effort brings success or failure. But mass games, like cricket in India, football in Europe, England and SouthAmerica carries mass frenzy which is what idiot boxes encash to increase their TRP . I remem- ber once an Italian saying that his country was going to dogs because Italian football team had lost a crucial match that day !

Vishwanathan Anand: Chess
I have not seen either newspapers or the television channel write or talk in detail about ViswanathanAnand winning Candidates tournament to challenge Carlsen for the world chess champion- ship, commit a mistake from a winning position in a crucial game and fail again and yet spend a year of super brilliant performances.This game is India’s great gift to the world and the interesting story about how a Brahmin invented it thrills us. From chaturanga of India it became shatrang in Persia , eschess in Spain and finally is known as chess with some changes made, the prime minister becoming queen etc.Yet, no Indian government ever encour- aged it in India as Soviet Russia had, to produce a world champion tillVishwanathanAnand startled the world by winning world championship and retaining it for five years. No one talks of this but refers to cricket, and cricket only and even ventures , if he knows some smattering of astrology, into astrologi- cal prediction !!

Saina Nehwal
I never saw any “sports expert” ever discuss in newspaper or television channel the achievement of Saina Nehwal, the first woman badminton player of India reaching the final ofAll England Badminton finals, win the first game against Carolina Marin of Spain whom she had beaten in three meetings earlier. Leading in the second game , Saina got confused and outwitted by Marin’s left hand cross court returns, some very fast and deceptive drops in the second game after taking earlier lead and lost it. In the third game , Saina was petrified, confused and lost it rather tamely. It was temperamental collapse and I wondered whether she would ever get a higher ranking in world badminton. But she had been fighting back like a tigress after that.

Then I opened the television channels after Ram Navani recitations and saw a very brief snippet of news in television channels and later, the following reported in newspapers read like this.

TheTimes of India
Badminton - Saina Nehwal storms into maiden India Open final
PTI | Mar 28, 2015, 06.30 PM IST NEW DELHI: Crowned as the world number one, Saina Nehwal on Saturday celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto to reach her maiden final of the $275,000 India Super Series at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. The Olympic bronze medalist, Saina became the world number one even before she took the court for the semifinals after her closest competitor Carolina Marin of Spain lost in the other last four match against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon. "It is a dream come true. I can't even believe that I have become the world number one. I guess till the time I see my name there myself I won't be able to believe it. It has been a long journey," Saina said. "I want to thank Vimal Sir, my parents for the success. Vimal sir had told me that I will be number one by May. I can't still believe it."
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Yet, remember no news channel or even a newspaper ever discuss the earlier struggles of Devinder Mohan, T.N.Seth, or that brilliantAmritlal with his deceptive drops winning the first game against the best in the world  Badminton but losing the remaining games because of lack of stamina.

The great achievements of Nandu Natekar and later the best one of Prakash Padukone who wisely practiced in Denmark to become world number one. Later Gopichand winning All England Champion- ship. Thereafter, our achievements have been nil except Parupalli Kashyap and Srikant achieving some honors here and there and getting into higher ranks. Then P.V.Sindhu creating some upsets also in some major tournaments was reported. But this Haryana prodigy, Saina Nehwal, coached first by Gopichand and now by Vimal to prepare herself to beat tall women badminton players of China with unbelievable ease in this year’s All England Championship till she lost in the final to the Spaniard after winning the first game has achieved great glory today, Ram Navami.

Knowing my interest in the horoscopes of such sports celebrities a student passed on a horoscope Saina Nehwal which is given here without comments as it is unverified. Someone has promised to get a correct one. Till then work on it---a Ram Navami gift--and if and when I get a confirmed correct horoscope , I will share it with readers.

Anyway, this Ram Navami will be remembered not for M.S.Dhoni, the richest cricketer of the world or the opportunist Kejri successfully concealing his political ambitions till today’s stings and actions revealed his character. Let us thank Saina for this Ram Navami gift.

Thank Saina Nehwal at any rate, if you are a real lover of sports and not a cricket lunatic.

(28 March 2015)