On the Indian Gold Rush

Andrea: "Unhappy is the land that has no heroes"

Galileo : "No, Unhappy the land that needs heroes."

~From Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht. (Never has been a quote more apt )

I must admit it was a bit puzzling to watch the youtube clip of Abhinav Bindra receiving his gold medal at Beijing. Probably because - the moment was so unique. I had never, and , as it turns out no one had ever seen an Indian on the top podium at the Olympics since it was introduced in 1896.

For someone else seeing from outside, a nation as vast and as populous as India not having managed to hit a gold in an Olympics event after all these years even by accident might occur as a bit strange. But for us, it would be anything but natural. So my first reaction, as often as in such cases, was that of cynicism- it must be pure chance. But his demeanor, made me curious about him.

Thanks to Indian Media which was preoccupied with Scarlett, Aarushi et al, I had never heard about Abhinav before. A cursory study of his profile online easily ruled out any suggestion of luck. His success was, so it seems now, a thing waiting to happen sooner or later. And the lad has willed it with tremendous fortitude. Though people would argue that funding himself to practice in Europe with a coach of his own as a bit of luxury by Indian standards, nevertheless, it still reflects considerable self-belief that an Indian only gets to see in a Bollywood movie.

Abhinav Bindra - How dare you having a laugh at Indian media?

But above all , Abhinav's Gold, in its most charming implication is the proof for the utter joke that is the Indian media, which is made of thousands of thoughtdistorted-menopausal writers/editors (Tehelka running a cover story that Tibetans are hyper articulate) along with dozens of 20 something reporters screaming into the microphone while counting days to drown their stress in a gulp of Bloody Mary at a Goan Beach resort. It is then of no surprise that none of sports editorial/reporting team of any newspaper or TV channel had an iota of a hint (forget confidence in their own judgement) that Bindra was likely to end up in the top three if not the top.

It is only natural that they make up for it now. Suddenly with their new-found judgement sports editors who couldn't predict this a few months back would wax a ghazal; what the gold means to the long term future of Indian sports! Just like how they deified Ishaant Sharma into a Glen McGrath when all he did was to bowl one extraordinary spell in a cricket match a few months back. Where is the poor fellow now? Add to that flowery eulogies and Didnt-I-tell-you congratulations from every Ram, Sham, Ghansam : from popular Parker Pen Salesmen like Amitabh Bacchan to I dont know - Ram Vilas Paswan?

But Media is just a part of a nation. It is unfair to hold any Media anywhere solely responsible for something so inherent in its water supply. India is but, a land of deities. For a population of a billion and growing, even thirty million odd gods would never be enough. For in India, God is not a person, a force, or a consciousness; he is only an act – like killing an evil demon or rescuing the helpless lady or winning an award or hitting a match winning century. He is only -- an avatar-- to be celebrated, to be revered and to be consigned to the realm of supernatural, before, as if all of it didn't really matter, moving onto the next available one.

As a weed smoking Sadhu in the Himalayas once famously wrote in an Upanishad – Rock on!

+++

A list reproduced ( not in the naughty sense) from Wikipedia about the awards Bindra has been showered with after his Beijing Gold.

Rs. 1 crore cash prize by State Government of Punjab.[17]
Rs. 2 lakh cash prize by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee[citation needed]
Rs. 25 lakh cash prize by the Board of Control for Cricket in India[18]
Rs. 15 lakh cash prize by Steel Ministry of India[19]
A free lifetime railway pass by the Railway Ministry of India[20]
Rs. 10 lakh cash prize by Chief Minister of Maharashtra state[21]
Rs. 5 lakh cash prize by State Government of Orissa[citation needed]
Rs. 1.5 Crore by L N Mittal, Arcelor Mittal
Rs. 10 lakh cash prize by the State Government of Karnataka[22]
Rs. 11 lakh cash prize by the State Government of Bihar. The Patna Indoor Stadium will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra.[17]
Rs. 1 lakh cash prize by the State Government of Chhattisgarh[17]
Rs. 25 lakh cash prize by the State Government of Haryana.[17]
Rs. 5 lakh cash prize by M. Karunanidhi, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu[23]
A Gold medal by the State Government of Kerala.[24]

This list as we all know is never going to be complete. Not even if Maharashtra Electricity Board awards Free electricity for the rest of his Life, Not even if the State of Bengal announces him 2500 acres of land, Not even if Russia makes him a AB-47....

Interestingly, amidst all hosannas, Wiki also notes that the Bindra business has a turn over of Rs 300 Crores INR.

Having gone through the above list, I thought it was only natural, and without any intention to dampen the thunder of the boy that I share the following; Here is a superficial list of compensation for casualities of the major Bomb Blasts In India over last year:

1. Bangalore Blasts July 25 2008: 1 Lakh, Govt of Karnataka, 1 Lakh , Govt of India

2. Ahmedabad Blasts 26 July 2008 : 5 Lakhs Govt of Gujurat, 3.5 Lakhs, Govt of India

3. Jaipur Blasts 13 May 2008: ? Govt of Rajasthan , 1 Lakh Govt of India

4. Hyderabad Twin Blasts 25 August 2007: 5 Lakhs Govt of Andhra Pradesh, ? Govt of India

5. Hyderabad Mosque Blast 18 May 2007 : 6 Lakhs, + a Govt job to the nearest relative Govt of Andhra Pradesh, ? Govt of India.

Surely when a nation yearns for a hero more than the lives for whom he is a hero, it must be Oh, Herr Brecht, truly unhappy.