Bindra spells a Beginning?

Well, of late some of my predictions have been falling flat on their faces. For one, this Abhinav Bindra dude pleasantly shocked many a million folks like me by racking up a gold medal for India at the Bejing Olympics. (The second, albeit a more trivial one, was Rajini's Kuselan seemingly bombing at the box-office, negating my pre-release prediction.)

Going back to Bindra, this non-assuming kid with an introverted persona did the very unthinkable- won India's first ever "solo" gold in a Olympic sport (shooting) that is relatively obscure in India. In my opinion, what is phenomenal about such an acheivement is the escalation in belief-level that a feat like this would instill in those faceless, nameless (and some even unborn) youngsters that may be toiling in their quests for opportunities, support, success and recognition. Now that Bindra has done it, we have someone who has earned the right to utter these famous words - If I can do it, you can do it. After all wasn't it in the same year that Roger Bannister broke the four-minute-mile "mental" barrier that like a dozen other runners broke that same record? (The nay-sayers at the that time had propagated this theory that your lungs would explode if you tried to run a mile under 4 minutes!)

Now comes the interesting part - if you thought Bindra would be reaping an overnight windfall after the golden performance, you will find yourselves surprised. Yes the Punjab State Govt announced INR 1 crore, and several state governments (BCCI joined the benefactor list as well!) followed suit and may have pitched in another crore or two in reward and appreciation. Even our man Lallu announced a lifetime rail pass of free first-class a/c coach-class tickets to Bindra and his significant other. In my estimation, all the monetary rewards Bindra received may not exceed say INR 3-4 crores in value - say about US $1 million in a stretch... Now you would figure a late first-round or early second-round draft pick rookie player in a professional league like the NBA makes that kind of money in his first year as a pro, here in the US. You are now left wondering is it worth moneywise even to be a gold-winning Olympian in such a non-rewarding country like India?

Be that as it may, you wish India does not end up forgetting a guy like Bindra two weeks after the event (as India's former golden girl P.T.Usha had forewarned us in her felicitation comment on Bindra) and the country goes back to this historical rut of Olympic futility. Let us hope this is just the beginning and will encourage all those unknown Bindras of India waiting in the wings to come make a splash and conquer our imaginations.