Gem of India (भारतरत्न)…
At the moment, there are two major sport events in progress.
One is IPL-5 (Indian Premier League – Season 5)
and another is WCC-12 (World Chess Championship
2012). I am more than sure that 95% of Indian population knows about IPL
for one or the other reason and only less than 5% of the Indian population is
aware of WCC-12. No doubt with a right (?)
mix of Cricket and Bollywood, IPL is a grand success and it is truly enjoyable
to watch the matches on ground. I experienced the IPL magic during very first
match on Pune’s brand new stadium. It’s a complete package of entertainment and
as IPL-5 gets into the play-off round from today, there will be even more
enthusiasm on Pune’s stadium and the match between Veeru and Gambhir promises
to be a terrific one. The television viewership will be at all time high and
the rest of IPL-5 will receive a lot of India’s attention (media, common man,
Bollywood, gamblers and all…). At the same time, Vishvanathan Anand is battling
hard against Boris Gelfand of Israel for retaining his World Championship. As
of today, the match of 12 games is tied at 4 points each. What a victory Anand
had in the 8th
Game. Wow!!! I am looking forward to
remaining four games and wish Anand will retain his title as World Chess
Champion. 
It is sad but true, Anand is fighting his battle for India
all alone (almost). Compared to the focus that a tournament like IPL gets in
India, the attention (from media, common man, Bollywood, etc.) received by WCC
is negligible. That brings me to think once again, who is the real Gem of
India? Is it our beloved Sachin Tendulkar or Vishvanathan Anand? This is no way
an effort to take credit from Sachin for his outstanding consistency and commitment
to Cricket and all the glory (including World Cup) he has brought for India. It
may not also be possible to compare them on certain grounds, they are just the
best and we all are proud of them, period. However, if at all we are to decide
who is the ‘Gem of India’, or rather who should be the first sportsman to
receive it, I would vote for Vishvanathan Anand (believe me I am a big Sachin
fan myself). There is nothing wrong in our passion for a particular sport in
the country but we should also think about other sports if at all we want to
progress as a Nation in sports (London Olympics are round the corner and I
wish, Indian participants get fortunate enough to get some % of attention this
time). Here are my reasons why Vishvanathan Anand should be the first one to receive
Bharat Ratna if at all we decide to give it to a sport person.
2.
Vishvanathan Anand is as consistent as any other
sportsman when it comes to Chess.
3.
He is fighting the battle almost on his own
without all the cheering, support and attention that cricket receives.
Please comment and do support Vishvanathan Anand for
retaining the WCC title. Good Luck Anand!!!
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