Monthly Archives: May 2012

May 24 2012

Finally Football Players In India Have A Reason To Smile

In a country like India, barring cricket, all other sports are much underrated. Be it hockey, football, tennis, and so on. Blame it on the lack of investment in these sports, or the lack of interest among people, but these sports do not get the kind of attention that cricket does.

The credit of introducing football in India goes to the British soldiers, who brought the game to the country in the mid nineteenth century. The result was that football became hugely popular among the people and numerous football clubs like Mohun Bagan, Sovabazar Club, etc. were set up in Calcutta.

After the success of Mohun Bagan Club, many other football clubs came into being over the rest of the country. Soon, the national football team was also formed. It was quite successful until the 1970s, winning worldwide tournaments and bringing much fame to the country.

However, the post 1970s period saw a major downturn for Indian football. After a glorious phase of remaining among the top Asian football teams, the state of football deteriorated due to several reasons.

The availability of proper infrastructure and the performance of football players is dependent on each other. Ample support to players in terms of proper grounds, sponsorship and funds helps them improve their skills in the game, which in turn would mean more recognition to the team or the country. What lacks in this regard is that the Government shows least interest when it comes to the development of lesser popular sports. Instead of setting aside a piece of land for ‘practicing football’, the Government should build proper stadiums and hire expert and technically skilled trainers.

Another important thing that is necessary for the successful development of football in India is the right attitude in the minds of the people. Football players, who take up this sport professionally, pass on the blame of their incompetence to the lack of support from others. Often it is their family and peers who think football as a profession will not help them in making money, and they should look for other options. There are very few players in the real sense of the term, and who have the necessary passion for the game.

However, of late, things have begun to improve for the game. FIFA has undertaken to develop the game and drive it towards a better tomorrow. Approval of new football fields projects, funding for infrastructure and encouraging players to take the sport seriously are some steps taken by the FIFA in this respect. Wannabe and current football players in India now definitely have something to be happy about! And we can hope for the best in future!

May 23 2012

Why Controversies Are Jealous Of Shahrukh Khan?

In an industry like Bollywood, it is difficult for an actor to escape from the pangs of controversies. And a superstar like Shah Rukh Khan is no exception. Although the magnanimity of his controversies do not include killing people or being arrested (read, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt), the issues he has been involved in have stirred up the entire nation.

The famous “Khan” rivalry between Shah Rukh and Salmanbegan after the former passed wrong remarks about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Katrina Kaif’s birthday party in 2008. Ever since, the so-called ‘brothers’ of Bollywood have never faced each other in public dos, nor have they attempted to get things right between them. In fact, both of them continue to dig at each other, giving us enough news to gossip about!

Another friend-turned-foe of the Baadshah of Bollywood is Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan. Things went sour between the two when Aamir mentioned in his blog that his dog named Shah Rukh was licking at his feet and he was feeding it biscuits ‘every now and then’.

SRK invited the wrath of political party Shiv Sena when he expressed his desire to see Pakistani players in the cricket series IPL Season III. The idea was criticized for being biased towards people of his religion Islam. The controversy was so stirred up that the political party threatened to stop his film ‘My Name is Khan’ from releasing.

The superstar has been detained at international airports twice. He was earlier detained in New Jersey in August 2009 because of his surname ‘Khan’. Later, everyone at the airport understood that ‘his name is Khan, and he is not a terrorist.’ More recently, he was detained at New York airport along with Nita Ambani, but was given clearance much later than industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s wife.

Despite the beautiful pairing of SRK with actresses like Kajol, Madhuri, Rani and Preity, he had never been linked with any of them. But recently, SRK and co-star Priyanka Chopra were rumored to have been involved in an alleged affair, and Gauri Khan, the First Lady of Bollywood, surely didn’t accept this well. What followed was a series of sour remarks on PC from filmmaker Karan Johar and loss of work for her. Gauri avoided her at many social gatherings, and so did SRK!

The most recent brawl involving SRK is the incident at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium during IPL V. The actor has been banned from attending the matches in that stadium for the next five years after he allegedly misbehaved with MCA officials.

King Khan and controversies have a long way to go, and we will eagerly wait for the next gossip to keep us going!