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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.

Mamata Gets a Dose of Her Own Medicine

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Mamata Gets a Dose of Her Own Medicine

In her thoughts and words, Mamata and movement are synonymous. She feels pride in her role in the anti-farmland acquisition protests in Singur and Nandigram, viewing them as political milestones that served as her springboard for her success and power. However, she did not anticipate the movement she once glorified would backfire in her backyard.

The lessons she tried to teach Gen Z have ironically returned to haunt her. The monthlong apolitical protest by Bengal’s junior doctors over their friend’s rape and murder is proving to be her toughest challenge as an administrator.

Initially, she ignored the movement, tried politicising it to create divisions, and questioned the ethics of depriving the poor of treatment and healthcare. She summoned senior doctors who supported the protestors, arrested a few social media activists, and paraded the families of patients who died during the strike as a veiled threat to the strikers.

But the protest grew into a mass movement, uniting people across all socio-economic backgrounds, ages, and genders in the call for justice. They empathised with the loss, making it more than just the tragedy of one family.

Mamata became unnerved, unable to handle teeming millions who were in no mood to listen or have faith in her assurances. With the Supreme Court taking suo motu cognisance of the heinous incident, there was an added pressure of being under the judiciary’s close watch.

Being image-conscious, Mamata Banerjee visited the dharna on September 14th. She took a big leap to end the impasse over the junior doctor’s strike vis-à-vis their five-point demands, which included the arrest of culprits, the removal of Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and two other IPS officers, taking disciplinary action against former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Principal Sandip Ghosh, and safety and security measures as valid conditions for resuming work.

The chief minister’s appearance on day 35 surprised some, though seasoned observers knew her intent. Heavy rain had damaged the protest site, but the junior doctors remained undeterred. With the case now in CBI court, the government blamed delays on the agency. However, the public saw through this, recognising an attempt to downplay the junior doctor’s rape and murder as just another crime, blaming a minor civic volunteer.

Mamata needed a photo-op, and things unfolded as planned. Some junior doctors saw a sign of genuine reconciliation. A few emails later, they arrived at her doorstep for dialogue, sticking to their five-point demand. They requested the discussion be live-streamed for transparency—hardly unreasonable, given Mamata’s frequent use of live-streaming for government events and party meetings. However, Mamata was adamant about not going live on air.

The striking doctors gave no scope for complaints of disruption and law and order issues over their protest marches. In fact, on two occasions of face-to-face exchanges between the chief minister and the agitating doctors, they stood with folded hands, calm but firm in their resolve and not ready to budge. If the chief minister wanted the government to videotape the entire dialogue, they also made a legitimate demand to do so from their end. But the government was unwilling. Mamata appealed to the doctors to have faith in her and her administration. And this was something doctors knew could not be relied upon.

Trust in this government is rapidly eroding, and much of the blame falls on Mamata. Each time a scam breaks, she claims ignorance. Bengal is growing weary of her holier-than-thou stance. Scandals like the education recruitment scam, food scam, and Ponzi schemes have implicated her ministers or close associates. Her continued insistence on being unaware of these wrongdoings, even in her own circle, is hard to accept. In the latest health department scandal—ranging from exam bribes to organ theft—Mamata again pleads ignorance, despite being the health minister.

The meeting finally took place on September 16th, when Mamata agreed to change the police commissioner and a couple of health officials as per the doctor’s demands. However, she was not ready to change her health secretary, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, on the pretext that she needed an experienced person to hand-hold the new officers. The doctors are firm on having his ouster as he chose to ignore the red flags―the 1000-page investigation report on corruption in the hospital that former deputy super of R. G. Kar, Akhtar Ali, raised in 2023. Three out of five demands have been met. But the fear of unlit passages, insufficient CCTVs, inadequate toilets, no restrooms for women, the same contractual civic volunteers on the run, and the same mid-and junior-level health officials and interns, who were complicit with corruption, still roaming free, returning to normalcy appears to be a far cry.

The doctors will continue with their strike till the atmosphere is safe and conducive for them to work. The Supreme Court has given credence to their worries.

The junior doctors have sought another meeting with the chief secretary soon to take stock of the status of their demands. Until then, Mamata cannot breathe easily. The meeting must happen. There’s no escaping either for Mamata or her government till the demand for justice is met. The world is watching!

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. Views personal.)

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