If you chanced to look through the window at the ITC Chummery at Hastings, Kolkata 5 mins back, you'd see 2 middle aged slightly overweight guys standing to attention to the Indian national anthem. Both these guys are not known to keep quite ever and yet for once they were speechless.
By now you must've guessed that I was one of them. The other one is Shanky. The event that left us speechless was Abhinav Bindra winning the gold medal for the 10 m rifle event at the Olympic games. He shot a 10.8 in the last shot which from the 20 mins we saw the event is pretty high and definitely the highest at the finals. Then this unassuming bespectacled guy stood on the podium and received his Gold medal while the Indian flag was hoisted high with the anthem playing in the background.
Last post I spoke about the dream of hearing the national anthem play while I stood in a stadium. A dream which seems most impossible and then for those few seconds I vicariously lived the dream thanks to a person who's just answered a hundred prayers.
My first reaction when I had heard about our first individual gold medal at the Olympics was ' This country sucks' and I never say that. Probably because I've seen a zillion talented people, played with some getting lost in the quagmire of Indian sports. There are a million more Bindras, Rathores and Paes' waiting for their opportunity. I sure hope this serves as a beginning.
Heck, Chuck the melodrama. Let's celebrate.
After a few hundred years, India is back with a bang.
- P.R.
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