India Doubles its Olympics Haul

#21
The fact that India is not playing in the big time is a combination of in-built systemic limitation and no path for its brightest leaders to get through an established order of politicians who have learned how to play the game and stifle or prevent progress. If the system is broken at the core, it is not going to produce at the edges. The article points to the obvious things any of us can see at first glance - the writer is looking at outcomes and not root causes going back 70 years. There has been moments of potential breakthrough at the State level, such as the Kerela model, which did two things absolutely right but failed on a huge third piece. The two things they did right were to invest in education and health - and that was applauded by Oxfam in 2008 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11698148 but there was a huge missing piece that made what they did right into a nightmare - and that was not having the jobs for the upwardly mobile citizens - so much so that people in Kerela had to take jobs overseas. The act of taking jobs overseas led to families being split which led to dysfunction in households - the net result of which was an increase in the suicide rate http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/In-Kerala-suicide-runs-in-the-entire-family/articleshow/7485596.cms Yet one must congratulate the state government of Kerela for trying to make a difference, even if the initiative led to unintended consequences. The weakness of the Indian system is that it has democracy when it is better for it to be a 2 party country. With so many parties the entire democratic system of India is based on making political calculations and deals. Kind of ironic but in 1948 when it got independence, its leaders lacked vision except for one area of development, which was Nehru's dream to focus on developing technological capability - finally realized through the 1961 iniatitive for IIT's. Reply

#24
Ultimately the Pierre de Coubertin Medal represents the ultimate spirit of the Olympics as we would like to think the Olympics to be. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11698148 The reality of the Olympics is that it is a huge commercial enterprise and if beBee scales to monumental levels, that is the real marker of playing in the big time, when beBee can reach the level of an Olympic sponsor. Reply

#16
Dear Mamen Delgado of course, the voice of the majority should be respected, but that will never stop me wishing the best to the people of Catalonia, and the people of Scotland and the people of Quebec - that no well their individual ruling governments succeed in keeping their unions together, that their right to self-determination is one day realized. Especially Scotland because Catalonia and Quebec don't have a Mel Gibson that filmed Braveheart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yis-VeOA6QM In that regard if self-determination is the will of the people, then let it be so - whether that be Catalonia, Scotland, Quebec, Hawaii, Kashmir or where-ever bloodshed free revolution is possible and the democracy of a vote is honoured as a 21st Century value. Reply

#17
Dear Pamela, the younger generation has created change, but they have created change in the area of technology and not in the area of politics. IMHO the systemic design failure was baked in back in 1948 by simply stepping into the instruments of governance created by the British. It is a system that suits a British sensibility and not an Indian way and Nehru was the first Indian leader who led as an Indian but was born of a British sensibility. The Indian way is naturally chaotic, that is why Alexander the Great stumbled when he got exasperated trying to bring India to order. The British figured that out through Divide and Rule. Through Nehru's dynasty the instruments of the British Raj are now the instruments of the Indian political elite. When the opportunity came to Prime Minister Modi to create revolutionary action, he was given the classified documents on the life of Subhash Chandra Bose, and came to the conclusion that releasing that information would first risk civil unrest and secondly embarrass a global Indian partner. Bose's gamble was to think that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so took his Azad Hind army and offered to fight the British in alliance with Hitlers Germany. It is the creation of the Azad Hind army and not the hunger strikes of Gandhi that made the British realize that their time was up. The nationalism of Modi adds a new chink and distraction to revolutionizing the Indian political system. The purpose of Ashoka's Wheel here is not to promulgate my views of India, but to explore my own learning because I am exploring fundamentally my own roots here - and so I explore what is flowing from my heart versus a political view. Reply

#12
Dear Mamen and do not forget that as a lifetime supporter of Tottenham Hotspurs football club, it is Real Madrid who end up taking our best players, so for sure I would love to see Spain focus on other things than football :-) When it comes to Barcelona - I am sorry to say to all those people at BeBee who are Madrid based - but I support the idea of Catalonia and hope one day that the Catalans achieve their independence. In this regard I wish to celebrate Mireia Belmonte http://www.catalannewsagency.com/sports/item/catalan-swimmer-mireia-belmonte-brings-first-gold-for-spain-at-rio-olympics I also support the idea of a modern India that is emerging as a 21st Century power but which is hindered by an Imperial system that should be more like a Republic like the United States of America, rather than a nation that left the infrastructure of the British Raj intact - but as a technology movement that can potentially revolutionize that infrastructure. Sorry I can't help thinking big :-) Reply

#13
Dear Gert the 2nd largest democracy in the world is the United States of America, the largest democracy in the world is India. The size of the emerging middle class of India is the size of the ENTIRE population of the United States. What I am saying is that the failure of the Indian Olympic Committee is fully reflective of the failure of the Indian political system and its systemic corruption. Moreover this political system is simply the inheritance of the British Raj and not a transformation of independence. When the Americans threw the British out they thought carefully what their new system of governance shall be and their Declaration of Independence was an Declaration of Independence. The decay of the Indian Railway System is not just a failure of investment, it is a failure of imagination - tell me what you see in the picture of the BBC report about India's railway system http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-28156439 I see a huge silver medal, where the gold medal metaphorically speaking is still the legacy of the Britsh Raj. Praveen see's a silver medal of national pride, but I see a silver lining for national transformation. Praveen see's himself as a proud Indian, but I see myself as an Indian born exiled abroad, no different to the whitewash of the history and tragic story of Subhas Chandra Bose. The corruption of India begins with the delusional and apathetic deference to a broken system of governance which in my mind ghostly symbols of the British Raj. That India celebrates like Fiji and Puerto Rico and not the largest democracy in the world is the point of this buzz. Reply

#8
Dear Mamen, and that is why I joked that the Spanish gold medalist must surely wish she was Indian, because the Silver medalist is going to be treated like superstar when she gets back to India, especially since there is a huge emerging middle class of young people that do have prosperity but do want Indians to engage in globally recognized achievement. It is however a bit delusional to celebrate a Silver medal in a manner that one would expect Usain Bolt to be celebrated and it is this lack of proportionality which I am addressing - until Indians realize the reason they can't celebrate more is because they have an archaic model of governance that continues to bleed corruption and self-interest. I would love Carolina Marin of Spain to visit India so she could at least explain to the taxi driver, that she was the one who won the Gold. Reply

#6
The problem of Indian government is that it is not Indian, it is a homage to the system of British rule left after Independence in 1948. One cannot end the British Raj and then do very little to modify the system of governance so it suits the Indian psyche. Where there has been modifications India has moved into the 21st Century and that is the jewel of its technology mandate, that arose with the formation of IIT's - it was the brilliance of the governance framework - i.e. The Institutes of Technology Act 1961 that was the catalyst to create autonomous institutes of higher public education. What it could do in governance arrangements that now empowers thousands of world leading technologists, it has never done with its own sacred cow of government. For a country which calls itself a Republic, why has it kept the political systems of the British Raj? Even America spent time framing its governance for a true Declaration of Independence, that is why India today needs (and they do exist) dynamic young leaders - and not more leaders like Modi, who at one time could not travel to the United States http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579520041301275638 So long as India keeps the ghost of the British Raj as its constitution, the brilliant capability it can unleash will remain mollycoddled by imperial and corrupt politicians. Commercially it's media has the same mechanisms as America, the rise of Hollywood and Edward Bernays in PR all contributed to the commercial America we know now and the rise of globalization and Bollywood is creating a commercial India with a middle class that rivals the entire population of the United States (about 300 million+ strong) That middle class is where the new generation of Indian leaders can emerge but they require an imagination and a will to transform the existing system of governance, which today is a multi-party mess of chaos. Reply

#1
#1 Part 2 of 2 : Such a dysfunctional system coupled with rudimentary training facilities lead to a focus on short-term thinking and then the small c of Culture can be introduced because that induces subservience rather than excellence. Parents want to know how much money their kids will make and yes there are those who think non-sports careers are the way to go, so that has an effect also. If an athlete could rely that basic rules can be followed, that will at least create the foundation of structure to aid the development process. These are ruthless conditions in a country that also can have a ruthless climate. Now China - with its one party state, unlike India with its 6 recognized national parties and a whole host unrecognized parties, has mowed through its corruption problems, identified its high potentials, developed sports coaching systems, built first-class facilities and goes into the Olympic games with expectations of gold - and the price for 2nd is massive sense of shame. In this regard the shambolic Indian system is less ruthless - but at least with Chinese athletes they have their moment in the sun - and ultimately China realizes the geopolitical value of Sports. Instead of calling China Chinese and India Indian - China should be called the Land of Order, and India called the Land of Chaos. Reply

#1
Part 2 of 2 : Such a dysfunctional system coupled with rudimentary training facilities don't lead to a focus on short-term thinking and then the small c of Culture can be introduced because that induces subservience rather than excellence. Parents want to know how much money their kids will make and yes there are those who think non-sports careers are the way to go, so that has an effect also. If an athlete could rely that basic rules can be followed, that will at least create the foundation of structure to aid the development process. These are ruthless conditions in a country that also can have a ruthless climate. Now China - with its one party state, unlike India with its 6 recognized national parties and a whole host unrecognized parties, has mowed through its corruption problems, identified its high potentials, developed sports coaching systems, built first-class facilities and goes into the Olympic games with expectations of gold - and the price for 2nd is massive sense of shame. In this regard the shambolic Indian system is less ruthless - but at least with Chinese athletes they have their moment in the sun - and ultimately China realizes the geopolitical value of Sports. Instead of calling China Chinese and India Indian - China should be called the Land of Order, and India called the Land of Chaos. Reply

#1
Part 1 of 2 The way I look at Indian sports the small c word is culture but the big C word is corruption. Where Indians can make money they have succeeded but to create a nation of sports people one needs a solid coaching system, not a unreliable corrupt system. This year India issued National Sports Ethics Commission Bill 2016 http://www.lawinsport.com/articles/item/fighting-sports-corruption-in-india-a-review-of-the-national-sports-ethics-commission-bill-2016 Corruption is just one of the problems, bureaucracy and ham handed meddling led to the IOC suspending the Indian Olympic Committee in 2012 http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/1204/India-s-sports-bureaucracy-booted-from-the-Olympics This meddling includes unqualified people engaged in coaching and egotistical people focusing on their positional power rather than on the athletes they should be mentoring and developing. Reply