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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.

Sacred Scandal

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

A controversy of monumental proportions has erupted in Andhra Pradesh, following a revelation that strikes at the core of Hindu religious sentiment. Lab reports from the National Dairy Development Board’s Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) have confirmed the presence of animal fats - beef tallow, fish oil, and lard - in the iconic Tirupati laddu, distributed as ‘prasad’ at one of the country’s most-visited sites, the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, while making the explosive disclosure, has placed the blame squarely on the previous administration led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). The outrage has been both swift and intense, compounded by long-simmering frustrations over religious appointments to temple boards.

This revelation has deeply wounded Hindu sentiments, as beef and pork are considered not only inappropriate but sacrilegious in Hindu rituals. Despite the YSRCP’s denial of the allegations, calling them politically motivated, the lab findings have left little room for debate, forcing the party onto the defensive.

Chandrababu Naidu has accused the previous government of deliberate negligence in the sanctity of the Tirupati Prasadam, a matter of both religious faith and cultural identity. At a National Democratic Alliance meeting, Naidu claimed that his government had rectified the situation by reinstating the use of pure ghee.

Yet, this scandal goes beyond adulterated laddus. It brings into focus the appointment of non-Hindus to positions of authority within Hindu religious institutions in the previous YSRCP-led government. When Jagan Mohan Reddy was in power, the appointment of Karunakar Reddy, a Christian, as chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board (which oversees one of the wealthiest and most significant temples in the world) had raised eyebrows. While India prides itself on its secular constitution, the decision to place a non-Hindu in charge of an organisation managing Hindu affairs had stirred controversy.

When the TDP came to power after a landslide win in the Andhra Pradesh election, it appointed Jay Shamala Rao as the new TTD chairman. Yet, the larger question remains: why was a Christian appointed to lead the TTD in the first place, especially when Hindus view the management of their temples as both a religious and cultural duty? Critics accuse the erstwhile Jagan government of religious insensitivity, or worse, a calculated attempt to undermine Hinduism. This controversy also raises the broader issue of the role of the state in managing religious institutions.

For Naidu, this controversy provides a potent narrative to weaken his political rival. To the Hindu majority, this scandal feels like a gross violation, prompting questions on how such contamination of their most revered offerings could occur in a nation that prides itself on respecting religious traditions.

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