MAKING INDIA A SPORTS SUPERPOWER-COUNTRY FIRST THEN ME!

SPORTS is no more `mere playing' - it has become a war zone - at least, that is how the leading sporting nations think. The will to win transcends individuals' need for excellence; millions of countrymen rooting for you is a heady sensation for every sportsman worth his salt.

IN INDIA, HOWEVER, INDIVIDUALS COME BEFORE THEIR COUNTRY! This mindset must change.

Having been involved with `grass root' sports for the last three decades - I have seen and known all the reasons as to WHY WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. We always have a reason for our `failures' - we don't believe in putting our house in order. Whoever can manipulate takes the cake.

The nexus of `favourites' - `influential' - `quota scavengers' - `overage cheaters' - `regional representations' etc. has destroyed Indian sports. Even the sports academies and other `centres of excellence' suffer from these maladies. All is fair for politicians as long as they get their SEAT and all is fair for sportspersons as long as they make the TEAM.

I have seen many `UNSUNG HEROES' of Indian sports - the voluntary coaches who donot get one single paisa for their effort - their only motivation is their love for the game and their wards. Their old and dusty track-suits and `stitched' shoes give them away; their sincerity is extraordinary. The `official coaches' have spick and span `REEBOK' shoes with the latest designer track suits.

WE DONOT HAVE PROPER GRASS-ROOT SPORTS! A player aspiring to be world class must begin his `focus' from childhood. In his or her teens the player must jostle among his seniors at an equal footing and as a youth must stamp his class at national level or even international level. We donot have `scouts' who identify such players. We have brokers who `promise' CET SEAT; GOVT JOB - in return for `hidden' favors. So it begins ME - ME - ME and India is forgotten.

THIS COUNTRY THAT HAS GIVEN ME BIRTH - THIS COUNTRY THAT IS MY MOTHER - THIS COUNTRY THAT IS MINE - Let me make my country the greatest in the sporting world and to that end let me sacrifise all - my mind, my body and my wealth.

SUMPOORNA is my battle cry - providing training facilities for basketball for those who donot have the opportunity - providing joy to the young sports persons - motivating them for excellence. Let them be in any nook and corner of India - we promise them opportunity to serve the nation by becoming a great sportsperson.

MUMBAI BLASTS - WILL WE? WON'T WE? SHALL I, SHAN'T I?

I remember, as a child, when China invaded our country in 1962. The immediate response was, one of hatred against the invader. But as the dust settled - there was one big lesson for our country. IT WAS A WAKE-UP CALL. So when Pakistan attacked us in 1965, we were prepared. In hindsight - we kept hearing our elders say - we should thank China - but for them we would have lost Kashmir.

Dust is slowly settling on Mumbai blasts too. The lessons have to be learnt. WILL WE? WON'T WE?

Friends allow me to slumber; Enemies keep me AWAKE!

I had hoped to keep away from such public domain issues. But the mind keeps asking SHALL I? SHAN'T I?

DID I PLAY IN THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Watching Bhaskar shoot his baskets is eerie. He has copied the jump - the extended arm with the palm up on which rests the basketball and then that flick of the wrist to score a basket. My mind shouts - IT'S ME IT'S ME!

AND Raghavendra, who doesn't believe in passing, the great trot down the flank, dribbling through in a cosmic dance to finish a great lay-up. IT'S ME, IT'S ME - I am overjoyed.

AND Rojabai, the one girl army of St. Mary's; give me the ball and thou shall get a basket - reminding me of MY GREAT BALL HOGGING DAYS!

BUT surely, the master of all this, PRASHANT, the great giddu [short heighted person], hardly visible if you look straight and out of nowhere, the ball magically follows him, he makes everyone believe in the direction that he is going - the only problem is HE GOES IN THE EXACTLY OPPOSITE DIRECTION. What cunning guile - the ultimate fake of great basketball players - yet, every time he shoots IT IS ALWAYS A BASKET!
IT'S IT'S ME - forty years ago!

I am left wondering did I organize this tournament or DID I PLAY.

INTROSPECTION - FEW WORDS - A LIFETIME'S ESSENCE

TRUTH IS INEVITABLE - YET WE LIE - WE LIE - WE LIE!

TO BE ABLE TO `GIVE'- give correctly - IS AN ABILITY FEW POSSESS.

For the non-living - `living' is an exercise in futility!
For the living - it is `non living'!

The overhead sun doesn't cast a shadow;
An act of greatness doesn't create a doubt.

Every morning I rise from a D E A T H.
Every night I willingly embrace it.

EXHORTATIONS - no matter how powerful
Can't stir F O O L S.

Whenever YOU SEE a problem
KNOW! That your are the cause of it!

The more I wanted - the less I got
The less I wanted - the more I got

LIFE SHORTCHANGES US!
What we EXPECT doesn't happen often enough
What we don't expect - HAPPENS OFTEN.

NURTURING THE NEW GODS AT SUMPOORNA

The eyes stare back - in a perplexed way - do they even understand what I am trying to communicate. They have their small make-believe worlds in which joy & sorrow are easily understood.

What is this `new' thought - why am I trying to instill it in their minds. To awaken their `extreme' potential that would transform them, their families and the nation to which they belong.

All these days - like unsung gods, they have just sufferred & withered. Not any more - I tell them. Their rightful position in the world must be secured by a deep focus of their minds. Liberation and success is not going to come easily - especially when bandicoots rule the roost.

Many new goals would have to be set - a metamorphosis would be needed that would then transform the history of the world itself. Meek shall not inherit the earth - the `seekers' of glory shall and then rule this world with justice. HUMANITY MUST CHANGE - THE NEW GODS ARE BEING NURTURED AT SUMPOORNA!

I SEE US - YOU SEE YOURSELF!

You see `me' as a different & distinct entity separated from the whole - and hence YOU ARE YOURSELF!

But I see within you myself and hence I see `you' and `me' as a part of a whole - an indivisible entity of which we both are parts.

AT 55!

WE ALL KNOW SO MUCH. At least that's what we think. I thought I knew more than anyone else when I was very young. My journey of life has taught me that - the more I learnt THE LESSER I KNEW.

Now that I know that I donot know - THE URGE TO KNOW is slowly dissipating - and this declining urge is my way to nirvana. I can now wryly smile at my `antics' of the past and blissfully look at the dawning future where NOT TO KNOW is knowledge.