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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.

Cluster Redevelopment on Cards

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

Cluster Redevelopment

Few months before, the state government led by Eknath Shinde had given a green signal to the development of the Koliwadas in Mumbai. The government has decided on the cluster redevelopment of these settlements in different parts of the city. The koliwadas are the settlements of the Koli or fishermen community, who are the original inhabitants of Mumbai along with indigenous groups like the Agaris, Bhandaris and Pathare Prabhus. They are spread across areas like Colaba, Worli, Sion, Dharavi, Versova and others. However, fearing that the move would wipe out the identity of their age-old settlements and prove a threat to their sole means of livelihood, the fishing community has strongly opposed the inclusion of “koliwadas” in the cluster redevelopment scheme.


In all, around 32 koliwadas in Mumbai have been demarcated, and work on the rest is underway. A Development Control Regulations for the development of koliwadas has been prepared as a special dispensation, but is yet to be finalised. The new DCR will give extra FSI to the koliwadas to accommodate them. The government has also formulated a special set of DCR to develop the koliwadas by giving incentives like extra floor space index (FSI). While doing this the Koli’s have been overlooked. The Kolis are the city’s earliest inhabitants, and have existed here since it was seven islands, before each island was joined to create Bombay by the British, whose development reclaimed and relocated the community.


As the government is hectically pushing for cluster redevelopment, the resentment among the community is growing on every given day. The first and foremost issue which is directly affecting all the fishermen is their livelihood. The state-level fisherman association, Akhil Maharashtra MachhimaarKruti Samiti (AMMKS) has written letters to the chief minister, deputy chief minister, additional chief secretary, district collector and the municipal commissioner demanding immediate exclusion of Koliwadas and villages in Palghar and Ratnagiri districts from the much-hyped scheme.


The fisherfolks are worried due to Inclusion of koliwada in the urban renewal plan under the guise of cluster redevelopment. They think this is unmindful and if implemented, it will have negative impacts on fishing, fishing communities and the coastal environment of the city. If the coastal areas are not excluded, the entire community will be forced to launch an agitation.


Apart from ownership rights of some properties held by local fishermen, several land parcels are still owned by the Mumbai Port Trust and Revenue Department. Home to more than thousands of fishing boats in the region, people living in the coastal belt exclusively rely on fishing as their source of livelihood. Notably, the fishing community has been struggling for the collective ownership of areas used to park boats, dry fish and mend fishnets, for the past more than two decades.


The question hovering in the minds of this fishing community that Is the redevelopment of Koliwadas becoming a threat to the Kolis.

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