Run run run.......

So the wait of 4 years is finally over.

And Olympics is back again with a bang.

I was watching the games and was stuck in awe with the Chinese athletes. They seem to be doing well in most of the disciplines.

What is it I thought, that could bring success to them equally in weightlifting as in gymnastics, swimming as in archery. Is it talented kids, good facilities, dedicated trainers, sports incentives from the government? What is it, I thought.

Curious, I did a little research on the net.

And the results stunned me.

The Chinese have, what you can call a grind mill.. a set path for each sport.

Let me give you an example:
Take Basketball for instance. The Chinese are not known to be tall. So how can they succeed in a game like basketball? They device a plan. They start monitoring parents who are tall and track their kids as and when they are born. A note is send to the parents to send these kids to the basketball training facility at a tender age of four. These kids are then nurtured by trainers who look for kids that have the talent in them to make the cut. The rest are send back or redeployed to other sports. These kids then start their training at the National Basketball Training Facility. The best of the best are taken in the Chinese Basketball Association and groomed further. Heard of Yao Ming, have you? Read Operation Yao Ming and you will understand what I am talking about.

And this is the same for all sport in China.

The thing is, I am a little depressed after reading all this. This system of the Chinese seems to give the athletes the success but somehow the childhood seems to get lost. The system seems to be too much robotic, harsh. Or am I biased.....

Good or Populist?

VERY recently in one of the current affairs magazine I came across an advertisement of the Karunanidhi Government. It was celebrating its completion of one year in governance. The advertisement was titled 'Eventful one Year..Innumerable Achievements.' Obviously a sheet of 'achievements' of the government in the last 12 months followed.



I was taking a quick look at the achievements when an entry in the list caught my eye. It said 'Free color television sets for all needy families.' Needy families? Now how do you define needy families for color television-I dont know; maybe the Karunanidhi Government knows better. Whatever it is, spending a whopping Rs 685 crores of public money on buying color television sets for a 'needy' few in a country where thousands still die every year due to lack of food and clean drinking water seemed er.. not just ridiculous but a blatant disregard for the basic amenities that every citizen in a country has the right to ask from its government.



I wonder whether we have forgotten the basic duties and responsibilies entrusted in a democratic government. I will be not surpised if the next time someone comes up with the 'achievement' of distributing free DVD sets to 'needy' families. After all if you can have a TV set why not a DVD - maximum utilisation of resources, that is what we all want isnt it?

It seems the democratic form of government with all its distinct advantages has its biggest flaw-of trying to be populist. How would you otherwise justify steps such as these taken by succesive governments, always forgetting that there are more important issues: serious and requiring urgent attention that are continuously sidelined while frivolous achievents are drummed about in newspapers and magazines. Its time people in power knew what is governance. Its not a cheap publicity show that they are running, it is a question of life and death, literally, for some. Better take notice and act before its too late.