Olympics

Recently, the Beijing Olympics got over. They are being touted by media as one of India's biggest sporting successes on world stage.Although they were a success considering India's previous performance,the amount of hype which is being generated is quite unnecessary and unjustified.

I will like to narrate the chain of events in these Olympics from the viewpoint of an Indian :-

1. The Indian contingent leaves for Beijing. It consists of 57 athletes. It is about half the number of medal winners of USA in the Athens Olympics. These 57 athletes are also accompanied by 42 officials.
2. Half of the Indians discover in the middle of Olympics after going to Beijing that Indian hockey team has not qualified this time.
3. Sonia Gandhi goes with her family to witness Olympics and enjoy a summer holiday. Interestingly, China extended an invitation to her but not to the PM even when the standard procedure is to extend it to the head of the nation. It seems China also knows our head of the state.
4. Avneet Kaur ( the “ace” Indian shooter )sees Rafael Nadal from a handshaking distance. She becomes so excited that she misses her practice and finds her voice only at the press conference next day.
5. Ukraine, a country in Europe with a population of about 25% of Uttar Pradesh crosses the mark of 20 medals 14 days into the Olympics. (20 is a historic figure. It is the total number of medals grossed by India in its 108 year old Olympic history )
6. Indian contingent returns with three medals. It is regarded as one of the most successful Olympics for India ( especially after the last show at Athens where we returned with one silver medal ). Indian NEWS channels broadcast the news of these medals as breaking news for one day and then discuss it for the next 20 days.
7. PT Usha, Suresh Kalmadi, Milkha Singh and a lot of their generation people attend talk shows hosted by various TV channels to discuss this stupendous success of India. They also criticize the government for not doing anything to improve the condition of sportsmen.
8. The Government welcomes back Sonia Gandhi from her visit. It regards it as a highly successful diplomatic visit which will help strengthen ties between India and China
9. The focus shifts back to cricket.