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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.

Sculpting Maharashtra's cultural legacy for the world

Mumbai: In a monumental recognition of a monumental career, eminent sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar was conferred with the ‘Maharashtra Bhushan Award’, the highest civilian honour of the state by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday.


Born on February 19, 1925, at Gondur village of Dhule in North Maharashtra Ram Sutar is one of India’s most celebrated and prolific sculptors. A Gold Medalist from the prestigious Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, he is a master of realistic sculptures, working primarily in bronze. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, Sutar has created over 8,000 sculptures, including some of the world's largest and most significant monuments. He has been honored with India's third and fourth-highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan (2016) and Padma Shri (1999), and the Maharashtra Bhushan award for the year 2024, cementing his place as an icon of Maharashtra's artistic heritage.


While Sutar’s most famous work is the monumental Statue Of Unity (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) in Gujarat, his roots and several key projects directly connect him to Maharashtra, serving as global or national ambassadors for the region's culture and iconic figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.


Maratha pride

As a son of Maharashtra, Sutar has immortalized the state’s foremost historical hero, the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. An equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (21 ft. high Bronze) is installed at the Parliament House, New Delhi, making the symbol of Maratha pride a permanent feature in India's capital. He also created its replica for the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.


Furthermore, he is credited with the final design for the proposed monumental statue of the king in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, which would be an internationally recognized landmark.


Sutar made 18-foot tall statue of Dr. Ambedkar is installed in the Parliament. He and his son, Anil Sutar, are currently working on the Statue of Equality at the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial at Indu Mills in Mumbai, a mammoth project that will cement Ambedkar's legacy on a global scale.


Global reach

Sutar's mastery in sculpting lifelike figures of national leaders, often drawing inspiration from his formative years studying art and restoring sculptures at the Ajanta and Ellora Caves (Maharashtra), has given his work immense international visibility. His bust of Mahatma Gandhi, praised for its realistic and dignified representation, has been selected for installation in over 450 cities worldwide across countries like the USA, France, Russia, Australia, and the UK. While Gandhi is a national figure, Sutar's unique artistic interpretation, honed by his training in Mumbai, represents the finesse of Indian, and by extension, Maharashtrian, sculpting excellence to a global audience. His ability to capture the subtle human emotion and realism in bronze, a quality developed from his early studies in Mumbai, is often compared to the masters like Rodin and Michelangelo, drawing international attention to a master artist born and trained in Maharashtra.


In essence, Ram Sutar's colossal and internationally placed sculptures of key leaders and historical figures, particularly those rooted in Maharashtra’s history have projected the state's cultural identity, history, and artistic excellence onto the world stage.

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