'Chak De' Hockey!

Hockey players, who added a new feather to India's crown by winning the Asian Champions Trophy in China, refused to accept the "too little" prize money - Rs 25,000. During their felicitation in Delhi, the players refused the prize money offered by Hockey India claiming that the incentive is "too little to fetch even a decent playing kit". The players led by Captain Rajpal Singh turned down the prize money which created a new controversy in the country.

Source: news.oneindia.in, Setember 14, 2010

The year was 2007. Cheerleaders danced to the beats of a Bollywood song as India was about to script a nail-biting finish against Pakistan in the cricket T20 World Cup final. With tricolor flags in hand, almost every Indian spectator was gripped with the spirit of patriotism. And all this while, little did cricket fans realize that intensity was coming from the song ‘Chak De India’, filmed on Hockey, a sport very different in its administration, handling and following.

Hockey is the national sport of India. It is a sport that made the nation proud, having the most successful hockey team in Olympic history with 8 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals. It is also a sport that went on to witness one of its most unfortunate days when India failed to make the cut at the 2008 Olympics for the first time in 80 years. It is a sport that shook the collective conscience of an entire country as one controversy after another surrounded its administrators. And it is also a sport whose achievers are today languishing in poverty.

There are many reasons for the failure of Indian Hockey on International stage for the past few years. There are few sponsors who want to invest in hockey. Sub-standard facilities for the players, bad conditions of fields, and poor infra-structure are other features. Will this sport be reduced to just a forgotten game?

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.

If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It!

Have you ever thought of why you dream of something? It is most probably because at some point of time you actually thought you could do it.

What do you call a dog with no legs? Doesn’t matter what you call him, he is not going to come. Similarly, dreams without action will never actualise.

Here’s my two cents. It is your life, take stock. Visualise your dream, and put it down as a realistic goal in black and white. Put down also what it takes to reach there. I mean, in terms of resources, talent, time and effort. Now, take a stock of your personal inventory. Note the gap between what you need and what you’ve got. Put down how you can bridge that gap. Lastly, make a road-map, and act on it.

Sure, there will be roadblocks in the path to success. But the dauntless find alternate routes!

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.

Octopaul As Pet?

When Netherlands and Spain were getting ready for the finals, the entire world was anxiously waiting for the final word from Paul the Octopus. After making accurate predictions during the FIFA World Cup, the eight-legged wonder has outlived the euphoria and continues to capture everybody’s imagination. No wonder, pet shops too are flooded with queries about octopus as a pet. This is the World Cup fever. "We are struggling to figure out where we can source octopuses from," said Shekhar Hake, who runs Pet Paradise in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. "They are very difficult to get. We have contacted exotic fish suppliers and breeders and are asking whoever we can." Ram Sarup, owner of Live Pets World in Connaught Place, has received over 10 phone calls in two days enquiring about octopuses. 

Source: Times of India, July 17, 2010

Look at where have we finally reached in 21^st century. We address an Octopus as an oracle and then few days down the line it becomes a fetish to own one, to be even slightly associated with what had once become an icon.

Keeping an exotic animal is illegal if the species is not Indian. In such a case, it would be covered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) or the import laws. If the animal is an Indian species, it would be covered by the Wildlife Protection Act. Many exotic animals have very distinct needs that can only be provided by their natural environment. The appropriate habitat, food, and social stimulus needed are not fully understood by humans. Hence, human contact and captivity can be hazardous to such animals.  

The octopus inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, including coral reefs, pelagic waters, and the ocean floor. It is an extremely intelligent and sensitive creature. A minor change in the nitrate content of aquarium water would be enough to kill it. Keeping an octopus as pets is not a good idea as it grows out of size very fast and can also be dangerous.

The ethical issues of keeping an exotic pet are vast. We have to ask ourselves whether it is morally right to deprive the the octopus or, for that matter, other exotic creatures of their natural abode and ecosystem, just to serve a fleeting human fancy.

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.