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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.

Feel it and Smell it

Updated: Jan 6, 2025

Feel it and Smell it

Dear readers,


Wish you all a happy and prosperous new year!


Llast week my article gave you a basic protocol of how to set up your own compost bin in your house. Here are some more tips. Once your bucket is ready, you will have to wait for a couple of weeks-ideally for 21 days- at the most.


Those tiny little invisible wonderful microorganisms namely decomposing bacteria need that much time for getting acclimatized and for getting activated. So, we should have patience. However, every few days, use a rake to give the pile a quick turn to provide aeration. If you think the pile is too dry, sprinkle some water so that it retains enough moisture. After 21 days are over, you must be very eager now to look inside your magic bin! Don’t restrain yourself.. Go ahead.. Remove the lid.. Look inside.. Oops…Remember?


On day 1, you had added all greens and reds and yellows and what not! Now all you see is the black granulated material inside..Now take a handful of this material. Feel it .. Does it feel like tea powder? If yes. You are the winner… Now smell it… you might get startled and would look around thinking that rain is falling. because you get an earthy smell of that crumbly granular material in your hand which is similar to the scent you get when the first raindrops hit the soil! Time to celebrate!!!


Now you can start adding the wasted, cooked, stale or foul-smelling food also. (But ideally, you should not waste the food at all. By doing so, you are wasting many precious resources) With time and a little patience, composting will become second nature to you. What has happened here is that, the process of biodegradation has taken place under more controlled conditions and we have not left the waste just to rot in hopes that it will turn into nutrient-rich compost.


Basic science of composting: The compost process requires oxygen to be effective, because the organisms involved are mainly AEROBIC, meaning they require oxygen to live -just as we, humans require oxygen to live- and therefore to break down substances. These organisms consume and use up the organic material for energy (carbon), to build proteins (nitrogen), and for other cellular processes (phosphorus, Sulphur, etc.), and in doing so break down complex organic structures, such as plants and feces, into their more basic elements. During this process they produce the humic-like compost we desire, as well as CO2, heat, and water vapor.


However, some ANAEROBIC fermentation—biodegradation without oxygen—is also required in the compost process, especially to break down more durable plant structures, such as lignin (the complex structure that makes up the secondary cell wall of plants and helps them to stay rigid).


However, most of the decomposition must remain aerobic for efficient, rapid composting with minimal odor production. There are thousands of tiny organisms that are involved in the compost process, including fungi, microbes, actinomycetes (a unique type of bacteria that look like fungi), and invertebrates. The use of earthworms to enhance the compost process is called “vermicomposting.” More about this little science of composting in my next article. Till then, have a good weekend!!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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