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By:
JBR
The 18th Commonwealth Games concluded recently at Melbourne. On the concluding day, the Bollywood stars put up a brief entertainment that got wide coverage in the press.
The picture that got most publicity was the one where Aishwarya Rai was hoisted up by 4 men with their hands on her backside.
In a county where film stars become chief ministers, such importance given to Aishwarya’s backside is hardly surprising! In issues pertaining to rape and water politics, our media is sleep walking and they wake up only when film stars get involved in such issues. That seems to be a curse of this land.
The next Commonwealth Games are to be held in Delhi in 2010. Since India would be the next host nation, Indian music and dance was presented on the concluding day in Melbourne. The persons who were invited by the Sports Authority of India to present our culture were Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra and Saif Ali Khan.
After the 11 minute presentation, Aishwarya stated that it had given her great pleasure to show off the beauty of Indian culture to foreigners. While our brave sports persons who sweated it out for medals in the game competitions kept quiet, our ex-beauty queen spoke of her pride in upholding her country’s culture in her 3 minute performance.
Similarly Saif Ali Khan also felt very honored to participate in a function that toasted the glory of his motherland! The young men, who hoisted up Aishwarya like carrying an idol in procession, also did their part in ‘upholding’ the country’s culture!
Will anyone believe that crores have been spent for this? Yes, it’s true. A company called Wizcraft was appointed by the Indian govt to take up responsibility to stage the Bollywood extravaganza at Melbourne. And, the money given to the stars for the 11 minute program cost a whopping 40 crores!
Out of the 40 crores, Aishwarya alone received 3 crores, while the others got 1 to 2 crores. Working day and night for hundred and odd days for a full length film, Aishwarya gets paid about 70 to 80 lakhs. But for a few minutes to show her delectable backside, she gets paid crores! It’s doubtful if the total cost of sending all our sports persons to Melbourne cost that much!
Our athletes do not have good shoes or track suits to wear and they also do not get nutritious food. The 40 crores that have been spent on extravaganza alone has opened the eyes of justice hopefully.
Even the media is more interested in covering the participation of film stars in the games. So, what happens to our athletes?
"After my military work only I find time for my training. America and Australia spend millions to promote their sports stars so they are able to give full attention to their sport training." Rajyavardhan Rathore is in the army to earn his living and train himself in sports. He won the gold medal in the rifle shooting event. He won a gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He has also won medals at Olympic level. When even he is reduced to being a part time sportsman, to speak about the situation of others is redundant.
It does not look like such gross injustice has been paid any attention to by any political party. They are too busy announcing freebies.
What we ask for is very little; that the Sports Authority of India and the media give at least a fraction of the importance they give Aishwarya Rai’s backside, to our hard working sports people!
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-29.04.2006
