India Strikes Gold in China - The First Olympic Truimph

The Olympics were first started by the Greek and the records of the first Olympia record back to 776BC in Olmypia, Greece. The records of history show that Olympics were held regularly till 393 AD and the rule was that Olmpics celebration had to mean that warring nations stop their wars and peace prevailed during the celebrations.

Interest in reviving the Olympic Games proper was first shown by the Greek poet and newspaper editor Panagiotis Soutsos in his poem "Dialogue of the Dead" in 1833 and this dream was then fulfilled by Evangelos Zappas, who sponsored the first modern international Olympic Games in 1859. The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894 on the initiative of a French nobleman, Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin. The IOC has become the heart of the "Olympic Movement," a conglomeration of sporting federations that are involved in the organization of the Games. All said and done, except for 3 exceptions, one during World War I and two during World War II, the Olympics have brought with them a spirit of Internation Competition with Peace.

The Indian response to this event that the world beholds as the biggest clash of the best of the best has been quite lukewarm.


The Journey So Far

Ever since 1900, India has been participating in the Olympics. Back then, the country was represented by Norman Pritchard, an Anglo Indian who was holidaying in Paris during that time. He bagged two silver medals in 200m. dash and 200m hurdles. Those were the first ever medals that India won in the Olympic History. After that for two decades, India did not take part in Olympics and then in 1920 Antwerp Olympics India participated with a meager two participants and then with eight members in 1924 Paris Olympics.

Finally in 1927, with the formation of Indian Olympic Association, India made a more organized entry and the “Golden Period” of Indian Hockey began. That year, Indian Hockey team participated in their first Olympic hockey event and won the gold medal under the captaincy of Jaipal Singh. For the next 6 successive Olympics spanning 28 years from 1928-1956, Indians retained their gold medal for the hockey event.

Apart from hockey, the Indians barely managed a few candidates in athletics who reached the finals of their qualifying events. The names include are Norman Pritchard in 1900 (two silvers in sprint and hurdles), Henry Rebello in 1948 London (Triple Jump), Milkha Singh 1960 Rome ( fourth place in 400 metres), Gurbachan Singh Randhawa 1964 Tokyo (fifth place in 100 m hurdles), Sriram singh 1976 Montreal ( seventh in 800m), P.T Usha in 1984 Los Angeles ( fourth in 400m hurdles) who unfortunately lost her bronze by 1/100th of a second and the 4 member squad of the 400m. women's relay P.T.Usha, M.D.Valsamma, Vandana Rao, Shiny Abraham reached seventh place, the same year. A medal here and there also came from other events like India won two bronzes, one by Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav in 1952 for wrestling, and the other by Dr Karni Singh in 1964 for shooting.


The Disastrous Recent Past

In the more recent past, India's record in the Olympics paints a dismal picture, for a country having a population of over a billion people. Apart from the 8 gold medals, one silver medal and two bronzes in Hockey, two silver medals in athletics, there was nothing India really did in almost 100 years after its first showdown. The recent medals include two more bronze medals won by Leander Paes in 1996 for Tennis, and by Karnam Malleswari in 2000 for weightlifting. Even in the latest 2008 Olympics, the Indian Hockey team which gave India a glorious past failed to even qualify. For the first time in the history of hockey in India, the Indian Hockey team — once known as the group of finest stick wielders in the world — has failed to qualify for the Olympic Games. This adds shame to stigma on the Indian Nation Game.

2004 – The Silver Lining

The year 2004 would have been a nightmare for India had Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore provided India with a rare moment to celebrate by winning the silver medal. Rathore did this feat in the Double Trap event and salvaged India’s pride. This was the first time any Indian ever reached the “Silver” in a non-team event and won the second highest individual achievement, but the Indian desire to reach the Gold medal, the feat of highest excellence was still an illusion.

2008 – India Strikes Gold at Beijing

Finally after 108 years of wait, the moment that a lot of Indians waited with abated breath finally arrived. The man who delivered the prize is Abhinav Bindra. Winning the gold, he created a new chapter in the history in Indian Sports.

Abhinav Bindra won the Gold Medal in 10M Air Rifle Shooting event.
Bindra had shot a total of 596 out of 600, shooting a perfect 100 in 3 of the 6 rounds of the qualifiers, to finish 4th and qualify 2 points behind Henri Hakkinen of Finland.China's Qinan Zhu was a point adrift of Hakkinen with a series of 100, 100, 100, 100, 99 and 98. But then he improved his game quite a bit at made it at 700.5 winning the gold and the local favourite and defending champion Qinan Zhu won silver with a 699.5, while Finland's Hakkinen won bronze at 699.4.

All said and done, this event made India get its 18th medal overall, and 7th Individual medal. But what makes it the most special is that it is the first ever Gold Medal won by an Indian.

The Road to the Future

For this Olympics, we still have a few events in which fellow Indians are eying their eyes on the illustrious medals. Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal is just one win away from ensuring another individual medal for India after she stunned fourth seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong to move into the quarter-finals of the women's singles badminton event. The other likely contestant is the hero of the 2004 Olympics Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the Men's double trap event.

On a personal note, I feel it is a matter of disgrace that after 108 years of qualifying, with a population of more than 1 billion, we just managed to send 56 people to the Olympics, an event that has more than 10000 contestants. All said and done, the past cannot be changed, but the future can.

With a very high level of participation from countries around the globe, and the popularity of Olympic motto: Citius Altius Fortius - Faster, Higher, Stronger, the Indians need to really raise their level to compete strongly. It depends on us whether we want to add to the glitter of the Medals that blind the world or just let them rust so that the Luster is Lost.

The Fountainhead - A Review

Overall Rating: 8.5/10.0
Value for Money: 8.0/10.0

Writing a review on The Fountainhead is a real tough ask and I have made a real effort in reducing the review to less than a page, because frankly writing about it would make a book in itself. Moreover I have a feeling that trying to explain anything else might reveal the plot.

Frankly speaking, The Fountainhead is one of those books which when you read, you find is so slow and depressing that you would want to throw it into the trash can, but however strong the urge, you will not be able to do so because that would mean putting it down without knowing what happened next. I personally think it is much more than a novel, yes, it is known that The Fountainhead is based on Ayn Rand’s “Theory of Objectivism”, but in simpler words, The Fountainhead is the paperback edition of the quest of a human mind. It is essentially a whole new representation of life.

It is the story of a genius architect, who refuses to give up his stand under the pressure of the world. It starts with his expulsion from School of Architecture, just because he calls a spade and spade and refuses to copy mistakes that others accept as a part of life. The plot continues with a friend and classmate of his, who copies his ideas and makes it big in life. This friend is a typical character who partly lives in all of us and it is that part of us that accepts decisions of our lives which are made by others, like what to study, where to work and how to lead a life. The dependence of this character on his mother and then the society for support, rather than following his own dreams is depicted beautifully.

The story also continues with various characters, each with their avid personalities and goals of life. There is his lover, whose way of showing love is difficult to comprehend, who tries to inflict troubles in his life rather than help him out for her satisfaction. It also includes various plots and sub-plots wherein he meets friends and foes in a rich publisher and a real-life Guru, and the story revolves around these characters, who sometimes pave way for him and on other times, block his progress.

The storyline seems to be very slow, at times difficult to comprehend and follow. A lot of people I know, left the book midway saying it was too tough, though I never felt it that way. But what is definitely true is that reading this book needs a lot of patience, because the storyline is not exactly a simple novel-type flow. Yet all said and done, even though the protagonist’s way of seeing and showing us the truth might take us by shock, it still does not fail in meeting the mark. What the book also shows is that, rather than being a sheep and losing your individuality for false happiness, be a lion and take charge of your life even if life seems less greener in the beginning.

The entire novel is a story of humanity's struggle against individuality and the true meaning of ego. All in all, though The Fountainhead reveals the secret of life, it does not reveal the Key to Happiness in life, because quite frankly, there is none. But it does show another way of life, a new philosophy, which is quite different from the one that the society teaches us. A way of life called “Selfish Altruism”, i.e. to live fully and utterly for one’s self without any sense of guilt. It is about not sacrificing others for one's own self, but sacrifices one's own self for himself and his own creations. It is about the philosophy of an individual who lives for no one but himself, one who does not require the social attitudes of those around him. The ultimate state egoism as Ayn Rand puts it, the purest way to live.

There are some sets of pages in the book which have certain discussions, each line of which is a lesson for a lifetime. Sit with a pencil and mark them for re-reading. Looking at them over and over again, not only make for a great reading, but that reading will also give you more insight on life.

Final Verdict:
I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in getting a more humanistic view of life. A book on an architect's life seems a strange way to convey the fundamentals of life, but if you look at the metaphorical meaning that Ayn Rand wants to convey and that the entire book is based around architecture, which is merely a metaphor for the construction of life and different ideals, things do fall into place, and the bricks and blocks do add up and make the building.

A must read if you believe in yourself and a must read if you don’t. But don’t read it with the aim of understanding it from first page itself. It is a way of life and the knowledge that the book has to offer will take time to be grasped.