SHACKLES OF INDIAN SPORTS

subject:orkut - `CODE OF CONDUCT' FOR MATCHES. SHACKLES OF INDIAN SPORTS!
from: Subhash Mahajan
to: friends
sent:October 26, 2009 6:59 AM
Subhash:

Sports in India has `invisible shackles' - one of them is refereeing. Better teams are made to lose matches by use of `whistle' as the extra player.

I have stopped going to see the basketball matches - because the game is so `suitable' for manipulation. That is why it is important to have `links' if you want to win. Just pick up the statistics of last 25 years - you will find TEAMS having LINKS keep coming back to win maches with aplomb. What do you expect when the referee is either from the same club - or is a friend - or is a relative.

We are all to be blamed - including me - because the desire to see our people win is so strong that we ignore the fact that by making lesser teams win - INDIA LOSES! At a higher level it is difficult to `cheat' because too many people are watching. BUT EVEN THERE THE BIAS IS CLEARLY VISIBLE!

But my heart breaks when I see highly talented younger players being called for `violations' that they didn't commit. I have seen it too many times. I have cried often! That is why I stopped attending matches because I CAN'T TAKE IT.

IF YOU CAN TAKE IT - YOU KNOW THE REASON WHY INDIAN SPORTS IS WHAT IT IS! Is there any way we can correct it?

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WHAT WE DO TODAY - WILL AFFECT THE FUTURE?

Sometimes we think we can get away with murder. You are right - the only thing we don't realize is this - THAT WE MURDER OUR OWN!

On one of my journies across rural areas - I came across an old man planting some trees on the roadside. I asked him what was the point in planting trees on the road since it will not fetch him any income and also as he was old - will he live long enough to eat its fruits. I KNOW ALL OF YOU WILL JUMP KNOWING `what answer he gave'. We have read the story many times - but DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND?

His answer is - What I plant today is for my children and grandchildren - the way my grandfather planted trees for me. NOW - read this carefully : WHAT I DO TODAY - impacts the future of my children. Read it once again - and once more! Read it in your mind every time YOU DO SOMETHING. And, of course, when you realize that everything you do today will impact the future of your child - YOUR ACTIONS will slowly undergo a change.

From laughing at the old man - I now see him as one of my greatest teachers ever! I plant `thoughts' in my basketball students of WHAT THEY CAN BE! I know the future of my students is assured for they know WHAT THEY OUGHT TO KNOW!

A LONELY WALK IN LIFE - I CHOSE IT!

I too could have followed in the steps of my contemporaries - I too could have had a life with people around me. But I chose to take a lonely walk in life. I couldn't have done it in any other way.

There were too many issues - I refused to put away in the back-burner; I wanted to know WHY? Today, at 56, the W H Y is a ferocious `battle-cry' of my life. I have put everything on stake - for there isn't any other way - and failure and success doesn't matter at all. For me the `attempt in its full sincerity' is my Karma.

AS I FADE AWAY - THE REAL MEANING OF LIFE IS UNDERSTOOD.

What did I want to become? A business man, a sports person, an environmentalist etc.
I do not know even today what I want to become. But the focus is slowly emerging out of misgivings and doubts - there is clarity that I want to be a good human being.

In this mad rush of collecting material things and trying to outdo the neighbors - we have given up our valuable `living time'. The time to listen to the sounds of nature was minimal - the joy of being a `part' of a `whole' was lost. The thinking that I am myself the `whole' gave me contempt for everything around me. I WAS ME - and nothing else mattered.

Now I have realised that I am not me - we are us - and this gives me the meaning of life. AND I SHALL SHARE JOY WITH EVERY CHILD ON THIS PLANET for the rest of of my life.
This alone is the real meaning of my life. I shall wither away in serving them.

THIS BODY SHALL FALL TO THE GROUND WHILE PLAYING!

If there is one single gift that I wanted from God - it would be HEALTH till I die! No hospitals, no medicines - let me just fall down playing when my time comes. I shall serve his special people - THE CHILDREN - till my last breath and heart beat.

I have lived enough for myself - I NOW WANT TO LIVE for children - to see them gain confidence to face life through the medium of basketball. To become good human beings and develop the spirit of sportsmanship. Every day I get up and polish my skills so that I could become a `role model' for them.

Maximising their joy which in turn gives me `reason to live' - let God take me away when my time comes - from the playground!

NEVER WIN FROM A LESSER PLAYER - YOU WILL LOSE!

What is it that makes me `think'. God - my instinct or something else; I don't know. While driving to Tumkur a few days ago - I got the following thought. Whenever you lose from a lesser player - YOU WIN! Vice versa is also true - when you win from a lesser player - YOU LOSE!

When I am defending against a child who is very small - I take out my tongue and wiggle at him, refusing to lift my arms. In no time, the child is able to complete his or her basket - KNOWING FULLY WELL, that I won't lift my arms for defense.

A PLAYER WITH CONFIDENCE IS BORN!

I AM NOT `ME' ANYMORE!

In front of my very eyes, you have defiled my god, and you ask me to stay calm. How can I? These gods are the last hope of my life `being fulfilled', - you take away my last hope and ask me to stay calm. How can I?

You give me some zombies and tell me to make into them gods. How can I?

I don't think I am `ME' any more. Thanks to you.