39 - GENTS COMPARTMENT

On my return trip from the suburb of Virar, it was 9.30pm and so I travelled in the gents' compartment with my son, since it is just crowded enough to be seated, at this time.  Also it makes no sense getting into a ladies' only compartment so late, and the gents' compartments are a safer bet, as they are more populated and one is not caught alone and unsafe.

I had to engage my mind in some sort of activity, so as not to nod off in the all male passenger bogie, which would be inappropriate for a lady to do.  I undertook a survey of sorts of everything that was around me.  The first thing I decided was that I would list the stations that passed, as I am not too familiar with the sequence, having spent my childhood in Pune.  So starting from Virar, Nallasopara, Vasai, Dahisar, Borivli,  Andheri, Bandra, Dadar,Mumbai Central, and then my stop, Grant Road.  Having boarded a fast train, the journey lasted approximately 50 minutes.  During that time, my survey of various statistics were logged by me.  Since there was nothing to watch outside the moving train, as it was very dark, I observed the sights within. 

And of course, the sounds too.  The regular announcements of the approaching stations, with a warning in Hindi, Marathi and English, not to lean out of the open doors, and not to hang out, which so many passengers were indulging in, anyway,  and also the jingle that was repeated exactly 16 times during the span of my journey.  "Swaad sugandh ka raja, badshah banayeh badhiyah khaana,badshah masala, badshah rajwadi garam masala, pau bhaji, panipuri, chaat ka masala, badshah masala,  biryani, pullav, cholle ka masala, badshah masala."  It almost mesmerised my senses into whetting an appetite.

Intermittently, my audio senses were bombarded with some passenger behind me indulging in candy crush on their mobile.  Looking around, I made a survey of how many of the 26 seated passengers within my view, were using mobiles, either typing messages, scrolling or wearing headphones and listening to songs.  Fourteen of them were busy with mobiles, even  standees, were viewing their mobiles in one hand and supporting themselves with the other hand holding the overhanging handholds.  Watching their hands, I noticed that 6 males were wearing finger rings, and one of them was wearing a ring in every finger, hmmmmm.  So I was then assessing the accessories that they were sporting on their wrists.  Ten were wearing very large watches,  five were wearing fancy bracelets, one had almost 6 shiny beaded rakhees on one wrist, two men had thick kadas, and nine males had orange strings tied on one wrist. 

Watching the seated men was an eyeopener as to how males behave even in public.  Two of them were very engrossed in digging their noses, obnoxiously, and one fellow was busy massaging tobacco in the palm of one hand, with the thumb of the other, and then carefully pinching it all up and pressing the lethal mixture into the lower part of his mouth.  One old man was reading what was some sort of hindu prayer book.  Two of them were chatting loudly.

The colour of the passengers shirts was very depresssing.  Three were wearing black shirts, nine males had nondescript checked or lined shirts.  Five were wearing some sort of yellowish shirts,  blue and purple shades were eight of them, only my son was wearing a smart orange T shirt with a black jacket.  Hmmmmm.  Watching their shirts, I noticed that only three had used a pen as a style statement, adorning their shirt pocket.  Only three were clean shaven, one was a very unruly bearded man, six had trimmed beards, and all the rest sported moustachios.  Fifteen of the 26 that I was observing, had backpack bags, one had a large blue plastic bag and five of them were carrying their belongings in plastic bags. 

Comparing the female travellers, I have noticed that they tend to snack a lot.  They also nod off even while standing and travelling, and the mobile is of course an indispensable accessory for all travellers, irrespective of their gender.  But when travelling in a ladies' compartment, colourful outfits, pretty earrings and necklaces, and nailpaint, stylish bags and hairstyles are more interesting to observe.  And of course the conversations are also very engaging.  Besides, the babies and children add an extra angle of interest to me as an observer.  Often there are hawkers too, selling earrings, toys, bindis, fruits etc,  and so travel time seems to fly, although one is pressed and pushed among a melee of screeching females, at every stop.  

38 - THE QUEEN OF THE SUBURBS

Today, I had to travel by the local train upto Virar for some official work.  I only travel by the local train if I have to go very far, very fast, as compared to slow bus travel.  Since I seldom travel by the local train,  the experiences and scenes flash into my senses and get analyzed into statistics.

Although it was a Saturday, being a half day for most office goers and an off day for many academic institutes,  the train was very crowded.  But today, in the crowded ladies' compartment, a good samaritan actually offered me a seat for some time and stood all that while, and then even advised me as to the best place to stand, in order to avoid the onslaught of the incoming crowds that kept boarding the train upto Nallasopara.  It made me so happy to have this empathetic lady share her seating time for a while.

The bad memory was when the train approached Bandra,  the litter along the boundaries of the tracks was disgusting and demoralising and smelly.  An assault on the senses.   How can human beings live in that filth?  The entire length of the track, almost one kilometer before Bandra station, is lined with slums and beyond their ramshackle abodes are piles and piles of plastic, paper, thermocole, rags, and rotting vegetable waste.  Rats, flies and God knows what other pests are breeding in that area.   Please please, Bandra residents,  make the approach to your suburb clean and green.  I beseech to all its famous and rich residents, the Bollywood big shots etc, all visitors need to feel a sense of the 'Queen of the suburbs',  and you should make an effort to live upto its name.  Mr Shahrukh Khan, you have recorded a TV ad about 'swachch bharat',  but you only care for your bungalow and your home in Dubai,  you must GIVE towards improving the suburb that has brought you fame,  but it only has the shame of being a filthy public space mostly.

And then when Vasai was announced on the intercom system in the train,  the nose and eyes had another stinky onslaught from a sewage oulet or a large 'nalla'.   The only saving grace was that, the monsoons have turned the open areas into lush green growth.  So wherever we can view the greenery through the moving train, it is so beautiful and clean.

The local trains are the 'lifeline' of Mumbai but all along the tracks are 'deathlines' of filth, poverty, garbage and open air toilets.  Dear Salman Khan, you sent tankers of water to the drought-affected districts of Marathwada, yet you fail to notice the poverty and squallor of the poor in your very own neighbourhood?  I feel that 'Being Human' does not mean that Mumbai only gets the expensive stores with that logo, but that you do the humanitarian work for Mumbaikars too, please.  Do not forget that it is this city that has brought you your name, fame and where you have grown up.  You could give back by maybe, building good homes for the railway line squatters.   It will also be a more lasting contribution towards society, than the water donation that you had undertaken in 2013 to the drought hit Beed district.

October the second has been declared as THE cleanliness drive day for all Bharat,  and there will be lots of photo ops by politicians and richie riches like MsNeeta Ambani and her ilk.  But nothing really really effective at all.  Nothing that would deplete their pockets,  only silly whitewashed news stories, with brooms and buckets and expensive gloves, for maybe 5 to 10 minutes, just as long as it takes the cameras to flash.  If only each celebrity or large company, would adopt the wards, then it would lead to concrete progress towards cleanliness.  Mr.Amitabh Bachchan, you could easily adopt B ward, and it could be the 'Big B' B ward and compete with the Salman Khan A ward etc.  And the great Neeta Ambani C ward, and the Katrina Kaif D ward.  Not forgetting a E ward takeover by the great Kapil Sharma,  he will of course then be forgiven all the 'gapla' he did at his Versova flat.  And the likes of Anil Kapoor, who only want to rake in the moolah and the name and fame without any give back to society.  You have launched your daughter and now your son,  pray please do spend on beautifying the city that adores your every action and relative.  Come on people, Gandhiji is still revered all over the world, you could be revered at least in your 'karmbhoomi'.

.

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37 - THE POWER OF TEACHERS

TEACHERS AS LEADERS

THE TRANSFORMATIVE EFFECT OF TEACHING ON SOCIETY

Education is the strength that prepares learners for their annual examinations, and also for life.  And it is upto teachers to empower young minds, not only with concepts of language, science and maths, but also with values of human dignity, truth  and fairness.  Most schools advertise the final board results, boast about 100% pass confirmed and how some students score the highest in a particular stream.  So parents strive towards ‘marks’ and pay through the nose, to let their wards join extra classes, so that they can get the ‘highest’ grades.  Learning outcomes based on marks gained, are  easily measured and widely understood. 

In Mumbai, I teach in an ICSE institution, with a co-ed student policy.  Teachers here, as in any co-ed environment, instill empathetic attitudes among students of opposite gender.  Although I teach the primary section, there have been many instances, where I have faced challenges, to sensitize students about each others’  different needs.  Girls are more gentle, compared to boys, who have to be tempered to gentle attitudes during study and play time.  This I strongly believe, will lead to good human beings, better behaved young men and more docile daughters-in-law,  will reduce acts of rape, or road rage and dowry murders.  But why has co-ed education so far, not been successful in reducing such incidents?  In my school, we have special value education periods.  Through the medium of stories, assembly prayers, in house red cross clubs, interact club activities etc,  students get a chance to experience social issues and contribute in a small way to charity.  We observe canteen day and collect funds towards old age homes.  Special days like ‘grandparents’ day’,  parents’ day,  let students and their family form closer bonds.  Such activities involve us teachers, as resource persons, to set up the programmes, organise the activities, which as a teacher, I consider it my duty, as it helps our students to be socially more amicable.  In the words of Benjamin Franklin,  “tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”   Besides, the above activites,  we directly involve the adults that are connected with each student and so a wider spectrum of society is affected in a positive way.  Very often, schools only emphasize on learning subjects like language, history, science, ICT etc and the spiritual side is reduced to a mandatary morning prayer only. 

Successful and famous persons in the world today are in varied categories.  Steve Jobs was rich and philanthropic,  Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was famous and empathetic.  But the good examples are few.  How did that come about?   That others are corrupt, greedy and bereft of values and virtues?  Some where in their growing up years,  there must have been a catalyst that made them so.  As a teacher, I strive to be a catalyst of reform in my school environment,  in little ways, and hope that the future students will recall and be better citizens in our society, as adults.  Even at the primary level, students do face stress.  A divorce, or the prolonged illness of a family member, or some financial problems, or even personal medical emergencies.  In spite of these hurdles,  I, as a teacher, must be intuitive, and allow them to make friends with stress.  Stress has positive shades also.  I empathise and help the student concerned to change his mind about stress and thus allow them to change their body’s response to stress.  Maybe my tactics have been instrumental in preventing so many hopeless and  impromptu suicides.  I help students to face their dreads and so learn to accept failure and also realize that failure is transient and hard work does pay in the long run.  A student who cannot write neatly or faces a spelling block,  is then my muse for the effort that I need to put in to change that positively.  I involve parents and his friends and classmates, in subtle ways, to assure the change.  As a teacher, I want to be effective, and not too pushy.  Mentoring is a very effective way of transforming the teacher and the taught.  My school encourages mentoring to improve grades and behaviour.  I have to be a mentor, or in other words, a surrogate parent.  A student spends 3/4^th of their waking hours with teachers, at school, and so an affectionate relationship develops, when students have unshakable faith in the teacher’s words.  As a teacher, I can make a lasting impression  on the mind of the child, by  reinforcing appropriate values and attitudes.The student confides in the teacher and thus realizes that there is no problem that cannot be surmounted.  This will make them more tolerant adults of our society.

As a teacher, I appreciate and whole heartedly participate in the good practices that our school encourages.  Public speaking is encouraged and debates on current topics are held on special festival days.  India has a rich heritage of intercaste festivals which provide a good platform to bring about communal harmony at the school level too.  In simple handwork activities and displays,  as a teacher, I strive to inculcate sensitivity among students of different communities.  Especially the Social Science topics of neighbourhood and festivals, afford a vast arena to teachers, to let students experience and learn, beyond the book and the curriculum.  If the topic covers the main religions, then I include the minor ones too, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs,   are taught, then I encompass some information about Jews, Parsis, Jains, too.  In some way,  it widens the thinking limits of my class, as they realize the intricacies involved in divergent communities,  and they realize that there are many more possibilities and traditions and that all should be respected.  If a particular trait is ridiculed,  as a teacher, I feel it is my duty to make students empathise and cultivate an inherent respect for the other community rituals too.  I use stories, videos and drama, until I am satisfied that the problem has been resolved.  This I sincerely believe will also inhibit violent attitudes towards other religions and activities.

I strongly believe that society is shaped by the education that young minds receive.  Their future success is not only in good grades, but the good experiences they go through while in school.  So as  educators, we teachers  create positive experiences for our students.  Experiences that will give them necessary lessons for life. Students learn discipline, punctuality, organisational tactics, by getting a chance to use these capabilities at the school level,  by hosting interschool functions, being fair while judging contests etc.   The young generation of India , on whose shoulders the future of the nation rests, must be made to realize  the strengths like truthfulness, self-control, simplicity, humility, perseverance and gratitude.  Theme assemblies and stories, based on these virtues, is bound to impact the minds that are our precious treasures, to mould positively.  In order to produce highly motivated and self driven liaders of tomorrow,  inspiration has to be an integral part of our education.  As St. Mother Teresa had said, “let us do little things in a great way”,  and she set the example herself.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adam.

This quote best summarizes what teachers who are leaders do, each day. Dealing with children means teachers have immense powers to inspire and make a change. And with great power comes greater responsibility. Today’s society is fast-changing. Children are exposed to all kinds of information at a very young age.

Be it the internet where they can Google and learn things without having to open a text book or watching movies and TV where they can learn about all the news and trends around the world.   Filtering this information and giving direction to children so that they know how to distinguish good from bad,   is what teachers do.

Besides this, they also play a pivotal role in being emotional support for students, some who come from broken families and some who have lost all motivation to  study.    It is these instances that make teachers the agents of change  in students'  lives.

I remember the one time I met my student at a mall. It was not the usual school setting. He wished me and then hid behind his mother. The boy, a polite 6-year-old  child, was also an introvert.  We bid goodbye to each other and he went shopping along with his mother.   I forgot about our meeting and got busy with my chores.

 But a few moments later,  I noticed the same boy, do something remarkable.   He picked up a wafer packet thrown on the shopping mall floor by an older man,  walked up to him and requested him to discard it in a dustbin.   I was amazed at this child’s bravery.    I felt as if all the times I reminded children to ensure that garbage was to be thrown only  in the bin , had worked like a charm on him.

This is just a small anecdote that showcases how teachers can bring about a change in society.

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai famously said: One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. At a time when the world is facing international threats of intolerance in the form of terror, it is only education that can mould young minds into knowing that peace is the only way forward.

So teachers have  an indispensable role to play in forming future society, and I am so proud to be a cog in the giant machine that moves society and shapes our future world.

 

36 - ACID ATTACKS

It is the sad truth that in India, spurned lovers throw acid on their victims.  The girl suffers for no fault of hers, except that she was pretty enough to arouse the monster man's emotions. Preeti Rasthi died because of an acid attack at Bandra teminus, in 2013.   The current news is that Preeti Rathi's murderer was sentenced to death but he was smiling in the courtroom and even threatened the family with dire consequences when he would be released.  So, he is sure that the higher court will consider his 'youth' and a chance to be 'redeemed' and thus let him face a 'life sentence' instead.  And a life sentence in India amounts to a few years in prison and then release.  Such heinous crimes deserve a heinous punishment.  The culprit should also be made to suffer an acid attack as a punishment.  That would be justice and an impediment for future attackers too.

What riled me most when I watched this news was that his lawyer was a female, and she was condoning his conduct and almost announcing that he was blameless and that the sentence was biased because the victim was a girl?   I sincerely feel that this lawyer should empathise with the victim and her family and should not have even represented the felon. Preeti was only 24 years old, young and pretty and perfectly healthy.  She died because of the attack and now the boy involved gets a sentence after 3 years?  The girl's old father is seeking justice for his daughter.  Why did it take so many years for justice and that too, it will be questioned in a higher court yet.  In such cases, one begins to doubt the judicial system and of course the typical response is that 'justice delayed, is justice denied'.

The latest victim of  a gruesome acid attack is the case of 19 year old Reshma banoo Quereshi.  Two years ago, this daughter of a taxi driver, was attacked with acid by her brother-in-law, when she was only seventeen.  This year, Lakhme fashion week in New York, prepped her up and she was the show-stopper, at the event. 

Laxmi Agarwal was only 15 when she suffered an acid attack by a 32 year old man, who she had refused to marry, in 2005.  She fought for the rights of acid attack victims and even hosted a TV show to enlighten the public about the plight of victims.  In 2014, she found love with a social activist, Alok Dixit and they decided not to marry, but to be in a live in relationship. 

Why does a person resort to such a vicious revenge?  How can you profess love and then want to destroy the person physically like that?  I have personal experience about a couple who were so good together and then there was a rift because of family opposition.  Then the boy resorted to verbal abuse, and physical abuse by throwing things at the girl involved.  Thankfully he only used water and juices to vent his anger and frustration.  He went onto make new relationships and I wonder how he is making the new girl in his life suffer, because certain males have a very bloated ego and they repeat abusive behaviour.  It is a sad story for the girls that have suffered with him because they will never trust a male or believe in love, I'm sure. 

Such attitudes should be changed during formative years by the parents and teachers.  But school education only stresses on marks and not on forming characters.  As a teacher, I have to deal with  quite a few children from abusive parental relationships or broken homes.  Such students do not perform well academically and hardly smile.  It is a challenge that I face daily, to make them passionate about any school activity,  so that it brings a smile on their face. 



 

35 - MUMBAI LOCAL-LIFELINE?

It is commonly referred to as the 'lifeline' of Mumbai city-the local train.  But I beg to differ, in that, I feel that if you travel by the local, then you need a lifeline to survive.

My experiences of the local train network are varied.  I am a bus traveller, but sometimes it is more efficient to travel by the local because they have a fixed time slot and  one can reach the destination of far flung suburbs faster than by bus.  Besides direct buses are not available to far off suburbs and the bus services are not regular.  Trains are regular and reliable.  But.....

The misery of train travel begins at the ticketing window.  Dirty, smelly, scantily clad urchins or a minor beggar, or an old, half paralyzed beggar, are always on one side of the ticketing window, watching you buy your ticket, making you guilty of spending money on yourself.  Their extended palms and rhythmic banging of a begging bowl, puts one off, the anticipation of the journey is now perforated with sadness and remorse, at the state of the individual that one is expected to appease with cash.

Then the rush of boarding the correct train, and hurriedly plonking onto any vacant seat, before none are left vacant with the hoards that ply on the route.  But finding a seat is possible at the starting points of Churchgate, CST or Virar etc.  If you board at any of the intermediate stations, you will never get a seat.  You are lucky if you manage to board the train at all.  There are just too many commuters for the limited trains on the circuits. My colleagues who travel daily from Nallasopara to Mumbai Central, always board the train at four in the morning and that too, the local that is headed backwards, to the starting point of Virar.  Then they continue to sit in the train and head back towards Mumbai Central.  That is the only way they say that it is possible to be in the train at all, because it gets too crowded to be able to board it at all, after that, even at the next stop of Nallasopara.

 I had to travel from Grant  Road station to Santa Cruz, for some administrative work.  Having managed to board the train, I felt relieved, since it was quite crowded.  All the seats were occupied,  fourth seats also.  Women were standing between seats and along the corridor between the seats and holding the above-head handles and standing between the entrances. A torture to breathe in their smelly armpits that were all around my face.   I got a support on the back of the side seats. 

My attention was diverted to some women shouting from the window seats that overlooked the neighbouring stationary train.  Some of them were shouting encouraging words and some were shouting 'nahee'.  As I craned my neck to find out the centre of their attention, I realized that a young boy was being urged by his mother to urinate at the entrance of the neighbouring train and the boy was hesitant.  But soon he overcame his shame on being encouraged by the women from our train too.  'Becharaa,  bhachcha hai.  Susu karne do nah.  Toilet bhi toh nahee stationpar.'  And then our train took off.

Then the train approached Dadar and what a mad rush ensued.  Women pushing their way in and others pushing their way out.  Abuses and screams and  expletives galore.  All the new entrants started asking the seated women where they would alight, and forming mutual bonds for reserving the seats when the present occupants would vacate them.  I was pinched, pressed, pushed and poked, by the women who alighted and the ones who boarded, in huge waves of onslaught. 

What a torture these travellers undergo daily.  For a novice local train traveller like me,  it is traumatic.  And among all the din of the crowd in the overfull bogie,  the background noise of the metal wheels pulling the train towards each station, the background announcements of the approaching stations,  the audio advertisements of Kubal Masale, was repetitively being played, as though all was well and hunky dory within the bogie.

What a relief it was to alight and be free of the confines of the melee.



 

34 - CHATRAPATI SHIVAJI TERMINUS -CST

Mumbai is my 'sasural' and Pune is my 'maher'.  So travel between the two cities is warranted by relationships and circumstances.  The mode of travel can be by train, bus or taxi.  Shivneri bus services are very regular and reliably safe, but I prefer train travel.  And for that I had to go to CST a few days ago.  The beautiful facade of the station is always a pleasure to behold, but what a torture it was to traverse the entire space from the entrance upto the ticket counter and then upto the platform.  The smooth tiles were wet and splippery and I had to walk very very slowly, to avoid falling.

My train arrived after a wait of two whole hours, because I missed the one I had to  board, because of dahi handi traffic snarls, on my way to the station.

Another hour inside the train, and soon the unreserved ladies bogie was overcrowded and crammed.  But it was not too bad, until our train stopped at Dadar and then it was over crammed.  Four persons sharing the seats that are meant for three travellers, others standing between the seats, and yet others sitting in the passage way between seats.

The one visitor that makes the rounds of every train is the well dressed and immaculately made up 'kinnar' or gay man.  Wearing pretty sarees with extremely stylish blouses, these lady-men saunter through the crowds, tapping persons on their heads, heralding their presence with their typical claps and demanding money.  They target the young men, who giggle and donate currency notes happily.  This particular kinnar, had displayed all his booty of cash, very deftly, between the fingers of one hand, while he 'blessed' the commuters with his other hand.

And among all this, the flow of hawkers that kept coming and going a myriad times.  The main commodity was 'paani' thanda paani.  The next was 'chikki' Lonavla chikki, and garam garam vada pav, chai, adrak ki chai, kafee, bournvita, tomato soup, moongfally, gavtee kakdee, omellete pav, cutlet pav.   A very limited choice.   My repeated requests for sugarfree chai were in vain.  The Lonavla chikki sellers were relentless and numerous.  Young men, old men, one blind woman, one blind man, all shouting out for the travellers to buy authentic chikki, at Rs.30 per packet or Rs.100 for four, but when one passenger wanted the 'Maganlal' brand, it would cost Rs80, he was informed. These chikki hawkers walked up and down, almost 20 times, along  the bogies, that had continued access, with walk through connections.  They may be selling off their wares only through the non-stop assault that they vent onto the commuters.

I bought Karjat vada pav and Lonavla jelly sweets, for my family.  The next day, I returned via the train journey, but this time I made friends with two chatty sisters, who were returning after visiting their brother's family for raksha bandhan. 

They shared some prasad with me and also with the monkeys at 'monkey hill' on the way to Mumbai, where the train slows on the ghats.  They bought tea and discarded the thermocole cups through the window.  They ate vada pav and aimed the soiled paper out of the moving train.  They ate bananas and threw the peels out.  They drank Mirinda and water and both the empty bottles were discarded through the moving train, somewhere along the western ghats, along the rail tracks.  But they were not the only ones who threw thrash into the pristine wilderness.  Almost every passenger discarded thrash out of the moving train.  If  ten trains are commuting along the tracks in that area,  just imagine the thrash that is being discarded along its length,  polluting the ghats. 

To top it all, an urchin slides along the passageway, with a rag, half naked and seeming busy and hard at work, cleaning the floor.  Then he returns and looks soulfully at the passengers, with an extended palm,  all this in mime.  Many of the travellers fill his palm with coins.  At CST, there were only 2 to 3 passengers in each bogie, most alighted at Dadar, and then the dirty urchin was walking off with a very lively gait, his pockets jingling with his earnings.  Mentally, I notched his acting talents, at par with SRK.

As the train passes Ulhasnagar, it is the stench that greets us and then the polluted Ulhas river.  It looks lika an open sewage drain, oily, with floating plastic and all sorts of thrash and garbage.  And then the polluted scenario continues.  The land along the tracks is like a garbage landfill.  What a sorry state of the areas.  It is so depressing to watch the littered and stinking slums and shanties that are on view along the route of the train, until it reaches CST.  And then I had to laboriously traverse the wet slippery platform until I exitted onto the road.















 

33 - SELFIE CRAZE

Every four years,  we Indians look forward to our participants winning any medal at the olympics.  But for the rest of the time, no one cares to nurture atheletes.  Of course, there are a few who nurture themselves and are nurtured by a few dedicated coaches.  That is not the way gold medalists thrive.  Talent has to be recognised and rewarded and encouraged.

Today, as I was watching a TV show called 'dance India dance',  the agility and grace of the various participants was so exemplary and of such a high level.  With correct coaching and guidance, any of them could be gymnasts and could win an olympic medal.  A dancer called Tanmay was exceptional. 

Indians will do anything if only they have a goal in sight.  If we want an olympic swimmer, then we should have easily available swimming pools.  Atheletes need to practice running on a track.  I recall, when my children were younger,  they desperately wanted to swim.  The YMCA only allows holiday learning camps for kids,  that too with 'recommendation' through patrons.  Their school would have a lucky draw and limit the wanna be swimmers to a limited number.  The sport's club at Haji Ali wanted one crore for membership and then only one could use their swimming pool.  The Mumbai Gymkhana declared that they had no spots for any more members even if one crore was offered.  The Mafatlal swimming pool at chowpatty is open only for hindus and Jains.  And the public swimming pool at Dadar,  declared that they had a waiting list for the next four years.  The police swimming pool at worli is only for police personnel and their families.   It was  a futile effort.

Salman Khan can share the limelight by announcing a money award for the participants, and Neeta Ambani can get brownie points on the newshour by some sugary comments on the girls who won medals for India.  Can they do some real contribution by promoting sports regularly?  Even Ramdev baba was quoted congratulating the girls who won.  Dear Ramdevji,  open a swimming pool and a track field and other sports courts and then take credit and share the limelight of the winners. The great Amitabh Bachchan also made it a point to share the kudos with his tweet, of wanting a selfie with the girls who won.  Can you do something for others Mr. Big B, like donating  cash towards a good training gymn for girls who want to train?

Until ordinay Indians, with a spark of sportmanship, are not kindled into a strong flame,  India will always remain medal-less at the olympics of the world.