Once upon a time, a rich man lived in a village. Egoistic and vain about his status, he used to send his Walking Stick to the weddings in the village, to be placed on a chair meant for him, as he felt it beneath his dignity to make a personal appearance. Years flew by, it was time for his daughter to get married. On the day of the wedding, he was horrified to see nothing but hundreds of walking sticks in the chairs meant for his guests, who were reciprocating his gesture.
I was reminded of this story when I heard the following remark of our 'distinguished' sports minister M S Gill.
Taking strong exception to pullout of some of the star athletes from the Commonwealth Games, Sports Minister MS Gill on Sunday asked CGF President Mike Fennell to bring those champions to New Delhi instead of an army of officials. Scottish cycling star Chris Hoy is the latest Olympic champion to withdraw from the Games after Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser decided to give a miss to the October 3-14 Games.
"Star athletes have slowly drifted away from the Games. It's not at all good. I want to tell Fennell that don't bring your officials but bring stars like Bolt, Fraser, Hoy and others with you. They are the main attraction for the people of this country to see," Gill said while inaugurating the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex. "Commonwealth Games is a sporting event and not the meeting of officials. These athletes drifting away doesn't please me nor the Organising Committee. This is not done."
During the past few decades, India has been sending a large contingent to various games, whether it be Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or any major international sporting event. All of these contingents comprised of 90% officials and 10% sportspersons. And the officials did not even bother to look after the basic needs of the athletes, as they were busy sightseeing and shopping. Even during National Games in India, the officials stayed in 5 star hotels, enjoying the finest cuisine, while the athletes languished in 3rd rate accommodation, eating substandard food, unfit even for animals.
All M S Gill has to do to verify this is to turn to his right hand man Suresh Kalmadi, President of IOA in India for donkey's years.
