It was really sad to see the star players negotiating for peanuts with the hockey officials of Hockey India considering the amount of strength, stamina, inspiration and perspiration which goes into the making of a match played at the electrifying pace the games are played nowadays - on synthetic surfaces.
The players had not even been payed for thier games in 2009 playings, in a proper way. Instead they were being offered Rs. 25,000\- which would be suitable for a school hockey team, which was pointed out by the negotiating players.
However, it was the groundswell of public indignation and instant support to the Hockey Stars, which brought a stop to the bickerings with the stepping in of the President of the I.O.A., Shri. Suresh Kalamadi. He was most instrumental in bringing a happy all round agreement to the proceedings by agreeing to the star players genuine demands. These demands were to be released by a team of former Indian Players consisting of M.P.Ganesh, Ajit Pal Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay.
Dhanraj Pillay played a sheet-anchor role in tieing up the loose ends and bringing the conclave to an amicable resolution favourable to all parties caught up in this avoidable fray. This issue could easily have been handled at the outset by quality decisions, which could have been taken to offset this sordid fracas. The foolhardy decisions made by the ham handed hockey administrators almost jeopardised and strangled the national players aspirations, rendering them ineffective on the level playing fields.
Other countries offer all sorts of bonuses and incentives to boost their country's net sports worth, some go to the extent of even offering them nationality and a passport to achieve this enviable end.
And what of administrators? Why can we not have former players handling the administrative work like they do at the cricket and other sports fields? They will be more committed, dedicated and devoted to the subtle nuances of Indian Hockey, which was well known in international and Olympic circles for beating competitors with over a dozen goals each.
Remember Dhyan Chand our Olympic icon and his exploits on the hockey fields of the sub-continent, Asia and Europe? Or do we need reminders like the current rigmarole to bring us back to Mother Earth and the stark realities that hockey has sadly degenerated into a free for all.
Officials are ready to make money at any depraved and disgusting level just so that they are up ahead in the lucre making rat race, the country be damned. Such people deserve to be tried for treason but no worry, they are protected by others of their ilk who encourage and back them; so they are safe.
So, I request hockey lovers to unite and get organised and make a noise on the Internet, twitter, facebook, the blogosphere etc. that Indian Hockey is being subjugated and mutilated. If it is going to be the end of our beloved national game of Hockey, we might as well revive our 'gulli danda' traditions or maybe 'kho-kho'. With these ominous signs on the hockey horizons, if we still sit on our butts and wait for glorious things to happen to Indian Hockey we are sadly mistaken and are quite merely barking up the wrong hockey alley.
So, for want of a stronger word, I plead with fellow bloggerites to please come out of your protective shells to roar, cheer-on and offer public econium to Indian Hockey so that our future generation and the hockey players who are yet to play may inherit the joy of being a citizen of the greatest hockey playing nation in world history. We owe that much to our country or don't we anymore?
I am sure you will not fail Indian hockey so please stand up and drum up the support.
Happy Drummings Bloggerites United!!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Payment and Incentives to Indian Hockey Team
We were watching attentively on CNN.IBN the most shameful treatment of our beloved 22 players of our Indian Hockey team in the presence of a battery of media, hockey federation officials and other rif-raf at the press conference for payment of unpaid salaries and incentives. They were trying to negotiate a flimsy deal with the players to get their own debating skills recognized, but not the interests of our lovable Indian Hockey Team which has done yeomans service at the Azlan Shah Tournament, the games in Canada and South America.
It broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes to see these wonderful Indian hockey players who win laurels for our great country being shabbily treated and well nigh humiliated at the press conference on unpaid salaries and promised incentives, being attacked by a pack of rabid dogs who don't know one end of a hockey stick from the other.
Let's not fool ourselves by thinking that hockey is an easy, soft-soft game where there are no risks involved and the players are never injured; no Siree it is as fast, furious and injury prone due to the speed and stamina required to sustain the game on that vicious surface - the astro-turf, which favours the European brand of hockey. This makes it almost as fast a game as Ice Hockey but without the padded gear worn by ice hockey players. Resultantly, most hockey matches turn out like the battles of yore where gladiators compete and fight their rivals, as has been witnessed previously at the Chandigarh hockey grounds in the past to our deep shame.
It is sickening to note that Cricket, the 'sissy', so called gentleman's game, which is actually a game of cowards because 'YOU HAVE TO HIT AND RUN' or you are done for, pays their players a fabulous amount. Why the stepmotherly treatment to the Indian hockey team players? This is one India, is it not? What will the aam aadmi fans think of this unfair favouritism?
So, it is my earnest desire that our people in the Federation realize that the Indian Hockey Team deserves more than the best we can give them. They have honest and genuine demands, which can be easily addressed and sorted out so that we can bring back home to India the ensuing World Cup, so that we can restore the pristine glory of bringing home accolades from the brotherhood of World Hockey playing nations as Dhyan Chand had done in the past.
Long Live Indian hockey and the Federation. We are sure you will work out an amicable settlement which will be agreeable to both parties .
It broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes to see these wonderful Indian hockey players who win laurels for our great country being shabbily treated and well nigh humiliated at the press conference on unpaid salaries and promised incentives, being attacked by a pack of rabid dogs who don't know one end of a hockey stick from the other.
Let's not fool ourselves by thinking that hockey is an easy, soft-soft game where there are no risks involved and the players are never injured; no Siree it is as fast, furious and injury prone due to the speed and stamina required to sustain the game on that vicious surface - the astro-turf, which favours the European brand of hockey. This makes it almost as fast a game as Ice Hockey but without the padded gear worn by ice hockey players. Resultantly, most hockey matches turn out like the battles of yore where gladiators compete and fight their rivals, as has been witnessed previously at the Chandigarh hockey grounds in the past to our deep shame.
It is sickening to note that Cricket, the 'sissy', so called gentleman's game, which is actually a game of cowards because 'YOU HAVE TO HIT AND RUN' or you are done for, pays their players a fabulous amount. Why the stepmotherly treatment to the Indian hockey team players? This is one India, is it not? What will the aam aadmi fans think of this unfair favouritism?
So, it is my earnest desire that our people in the Federation realize that the Indian Hockey Team deserves more than the best we can give them. They have honest and genuine demands, which can be easily addressed and sorted out so that we can bring back home to India the ensuing World Cup, so that we can restore the pristine glory of bringing home accolades from the brotherhood of World Hockey playing nations as Dhyan Chand had done in the past.
Long Live Indian hockey and the Federation. We are sure you will work out an amicable settlement which will be agreeable to both parties .
JAI HIND TO HOCKEY IN INDIA FOREVER AND EVER.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Its cold in central Delhi
Delhi seems to have gotten a lot colder than what Delhiites in central Delhi are regularly used to over the years. This year has seen a remarkable dip in temperatures unheard of in the past, resulting in the lack of preparedness for the Delhite who prefers to go out into the city in pants and shirtsleeves or in jeans and sweat-shirts or tea shirts.
To stay safe from the vagaries of the weather just so you do not catch a distressing cold or worse still the influenza or the pneumonia. Either way you will be only reducing your cash balances and spending on medical care, which we could do without in these terrible times of rising prices and shortage of easy access to medical facilities. Regular home remedies are really effective and get you well so that you can carry out your day to day home and external chores with a minimum of effort and exertions so that you can handle the rest of the day effectively for your other occupations.
Remember that you are the most efficientest when you are healthy and well. This implies that all your physical and mental faculties are at their optimum levels, and you can do your everyday jobs happily and cheerfully without a goof-up, like, for example, spilling the tea, knocking down the tea-pot, using curdled milk etc.
So, towards this end, remember to wear your woolies, under-wears as well as the outer wears so that you are effectively protected from the harsh freezing type climate. If you are unprepared, this could make you sick and miserable, staying home alone with no assistance, specially if you are bachelor, elder citizen or spinster.
To stay safe from the vagaries of the weather just so you do not catch a distressing cold or worse still the influenza or the pneumonia. Either way you will be only reducing your cash balances and spending on medical care, which we could do without in these terrible times of rising prices and shortage of easy access to medical facilities. Regular home remedies are really effective and get you well so that you can carry out your day to day home and external chores with a minimum of effort and exertions so that you can handle the rest of the day effectively for your other occupations.
Remember that you are the most efficientest when you are healthy and well. This implies that all your physical and mental faculties are at their optimum levels, and you can do your everyday jobs happily and cheerfully without a goof-up, like, for example, spilling the tea, knocking down the tea-pot, using curdled milk etc.
So, towards this end, remember to wear your woolies, under-wears as well as the outer wears so that you are effectively protected from the harsh freezing type climate. If you are unprepared, this could make you sick and miserable, staying home alone with no assistance, specially if you are bachelor, elder citizen or spinster.
General Home Keepings
Dear fellow bloggers,
This is just a stepping stone to help lighten your chores as you go cheerfully through life and its uncertainties and the discovering of the joys of sorting and organising your daily stumbling steps as you start your new day in your life.
This is just a stepping stone to help lighten your chores as you go cheerfully through life and its uncertainties and the discovering of the joys of sorting and organising your daily stumbling steps as you start your new day in your life.
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