The girl child, generally looked down upon and subject to many atrocities in our country, is the one now salvaging India’s pride and image at the Rio Olympics (“Sakshi takes bronze, Sindhu in the hunt for gold”, Aug.19). Raising our medal hopes even further are reports on the progress of golfer Aditi Ashok. Every Indian ought to be grateful to these golden women, and this includes gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who have proved that with hard work, nothing is impossible.
Gurrala Ramamohan,
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
The feats of Sakshi Malik and silver medallist Pusarla Venkata Sindhu remind me of what Margaret Thatcher said: “If you want something said, ask a man; but if you want something done, ask a woman”. One hopes that the new role models will now encourage other youngsters to take up sport in a big way.
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
Hyderabad
The accomplishments of Malik and Sindhu highlight the points made in the article, “Run, Shantha, run” (Sunday Magazine, Aug. 14) — on the Siddi community — about identifying talent early. It is ironic that the Sports Authority of India is only now realising the immense talent in this community. When sports organisations knew that Siddi girl Shantha Pedru Dodmani was a natural runner, why wasn’t she trained full-scale?
Beena Warrier,
Chennai
From being unable to do anything about the cesspool in the form of the nation’s sports bodies, we made things worse by sending a huge contingent thinking it would translate into a bigger medal haul. But these were athletes who lacked the fire to win. They have hurt the nation’s pride and been in the news for all the wrong reasons. We now have two young heroines and are deeply indebted to them for salvaging the nation’s pride. The “excess baggage” from India in the form of sports officials should be made to pay for the otherwise dreadful performance. Perhaps the government should now hand over sports management to the elite business community to harness the immense talent we have.
Minoo E. Avari,
Kodaikanal
Even tiny countries like Singapore have won gold medals. Where do we fail? First, this cricket-crazy nation must learn to look beyond cricket and promote other sports activities in the same vein. Indian corporates and MNCs in India should help in boosting sports. Identifying the right participants is also key but getting past our sports bodies with their strong political connections will be tough.
S.J. Walter Sunder Singh,
Ranipettai, Tamil Nadu
We are going gaga over the achievements of Sakshi Malik and P.V. Sindhu, but as an ardent sports fan, I am disappointed. A country of 125 crore people sends a contingent of 118 athletes and is this the result? Why do sportspersons who are made much of and who collapse when it matters the most, continue to be the poster boys of Indian sport? Singapore’s Joseph Schooling defeated his idol, Michael Phelps, in his very first Olympic appearance. Even now, India is behind Thailand, Kazakhstan, Spain, Hungary and Kenya! Offering crores of rupees to a bronze medallist is another instance of playing with taxpayers’ money.
Deepjot Singh Thukral,
Ambala, Haryana
