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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

‘Anatomy’ of a Landfill: Open Dumping Ground

Updated: Nov 25, 2024

Landfill

The open dumping grounds are the depots of all different kinds of germs….mostly the ‘bad’ ones! Bad because those germs have tremendous potential to spread dreadful diseases in the human population, causing deadly epidemics at times! Remember 1994 Pneumonic Plague episode in the city of Surat in Gujarat? This type of plague is due to infection by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis which is transmitted into human bodies through the bites of very tiny insects called the fleas, which grow on the body of rats and the rats very happily and vigorously breed adding to their rapid population growth when they find such ‘wonderful’, ‘nutritious’ garbage ecosystem. Precisely, that was the situation in Surat in the 90’s. Practically, all the streets were The Dumping Grounds.


Anyway, more about this in some other article in future. Such incidences are of common occurrence across India. But again, in a dumping ground, if only the biodegradable waste, i. e. kitchen waste is disposed off, it will attract the population of ‘good’ germs which will eventually release all the precious nutrients form this natural waste and, in the process, will enrich the soil with the best quality natural fertilizer.


Anyway, will write about this at length in my subsequent articles. Now, coming back to the perils of open dumping. Another extremely dangerous situation that can occur at the open dumping is occasional fires. Fires at the dumping ground can be caused by various factors.


Sometimes, the heat generated by the garbage itself is so much, that the inflammable articles in the garbage dump can easily catch fire. Fire can be lit by humans either accidentally of purposely. This also applies to all those people who are seen collecting dry leaves, branches, plastics as the waste and everything that they find on the roadside, making a small heap and setting it up on fire. This is seen very commonly particularly during winter so that people can keep themselves warm enough. But fires to the dumping grounds result in release of highly toxic fumes in the air which, when inhaled by the people living in the vicinity, will certainly cause severe ailments of the respiratory passage which may further lead to chronic bronchitis, asthma and even cancer of the lungs.


Once such an incidence of fire occurs, it may keep burning for a few days to several weeks or even months.


Chances of explosions are very high as there are batteries and similar types of electrical and electric articles in that heap of garbage. Rubber tires burn adding to the obnoxious and toxic fumes. I remember one such incidence at Deonar dumping ground in Govandi area in Mumbai.


In January 2016, this very large dumping ground caught fire which eventually enveloped a stretch from Chembur to Navi Mumbai with thick smog cover.


Such recurrent fires at the dump pose grave health hazards to residents who have complained of everything from acute asthma and skin rashes to higher infant mortality rates. Even the average life span of such people gets significantly reduced.


(The author is an environment specialist. Views personal.)

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