Monday, December 18, 2006

Pawn of Dirty Game

On December 9, Santhi Soudarajan won a silver for India in the women’s 800m run at the Doha Asian Games. On Sunday, the very next day, it was revealed that Santhi is not a woman.

The 25-year-old runner failed a gender test, which was conducted in Doha after the race was over and the test report was sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by the organizers. Till now the organizers have denied receiving the reports (but till when ?? ).

The report mentions that "Santhi does not possess the sexual characteristics of a women".

This is all the more shocking since the Athletic Federation of India (AFI), which selected ‘Santhi’ (I’ll not mention her or him) for Doha, was aware of the issue. Santhi has been denied employment in Railways on the same ground.

Nevertheless, Santhi continued to manage to find a berth in the Indian contingent for several international events as also for Doha. 'Santhi' had first made headlines after winning a gold in 800m at the inaugural Asian Indoor Games at Pattaya last year.
I am not here to speak about how she rose to this phenomenal success despite of her extreme poverty or how many medals she has won till now. I am not even bothered whether Santhi is a ‘she’ or ‘he’.

Santhi is an unemployed graduate in Business Administration and a MCA. Why is it that Santhi’s classmates or other fellow athletes never raised any doubts about ‘her’ gender ?? In fact, one of the classmates is full of praise for Santhi. And as far as my knowledge of south India (especially rural Tamil Nadu) goes, they are NOT very open with the idea of mixing up with a classmate of opposite sex.

The most baffling aspect is that now people are unaware of Santhi's whereabouts. When contacted, Santhi’s state coach Nagarajan or her fellow athletes said 'Santhi' had not contacted anyone after winning the medal. Nagarajan said, "The news comes as a shock. Santhi has been training with me for the past two and a half years. I never felt that 'Santhi' was a man and such things are very scientific for me to comment on."

Apparently Santhi had “left” Doha before the closure ceremony, stating some family problems. Or was Santhi asked to leave ??
One sports official who was part of the contingent to
Doha said, "In Doha everything went off well. But I believe someone leaked the information to the organisers, who then got the athlete tested.".

Now that is another shocking piece of news. What exactly he wanted to convey ?? That if the leakage of such a disastrous information had not taken place they would have continued to field Santhi as a woman ??

That we are part of such a hopeless country of 1,000,000,000 plus where it is hard to find a genuine man or a woman who can represent the country with dignity ??
What were we trying to achieve by sending Santhi as a woman ?? One or two medals ?? Is that all we want ? Don’t we have any dignity, self respect left in us ? How many times more ? How many times ?

Compared to the bigger game being played by our so called saviors of rules and regulations, I don’t blame Santhi at all. The extreme poverty has forced that person to accept some morally wrong things.

Santhi is just a pawn of this entire dirty filthy game.

The whole affair is very shameful, scandalous and immoral.

P.S. – Have lots to blurt out. Expect one more post. If I get time, I’ll definitely write it. :))

Current song- Bahaaron Phool Barsaao, Mera Mehboob Aaya Hai – Md Rafi

12 comments:

Prashanth M said...

If Santi is the pawn, then who are the players??

No more comments from my side - don't know what to say :|

Cuckoo said...

Prashanth,
No more comments from my side - don't know what to say :|.. I liked your simplicity. :))

Ketan said...

ohh, ohh, thats a shame for Santhi and the whole country.

Cuckoo said...

Ketan,
Yes, shame for all of us but I feel it is the system that should take the blame... individuals come later.

A said...

Probably Santhi got influenced by your earlier post and said 'For once I want to be a WOMAN'!!!

Prax said...

home santhi home, santhi santhi home...

wierd are the ways of the world. Mai paagal hu ya duniya paagal hai, samajh mein nahi aata!

Cuckoo said...

Abhi,
ROFL !!! Terrific ! How do you get such ideas ?? Koi to hai who saw the advantages of being a woman. ;)

Heyy come(comment) more frequently, would like to hear some more great opinions. :))

PM,
Ab ye to main nahi bata sakti ki kaun paagal hai. Bas ek gana yaad aa raha hai...very old one.. sung by Md Rafi from Shaagird "Duniya paagal hai ya phir main deewana". :))

SiD said...

u say that in the country of 1,000,000,000 , we are not able to find athletes to compete... where is the incentive???

and u r ryt.. players - even cricketers are pawns.. u have to have 'appraoch' just to be a part of a team..
there is a small cricket stadium in chd (the same from where kapil dev came).. and to get to play there and be a member u need 'sifarish'.. that's why u see head of selection board saying we dont have enuff bench strength and thats why you see no medals in olympics..
and did u see the best athlete of doha games - jaspal rana's interview.. he openly said, the administration is full of shit.. then why blame players like shanthi who must have worked her ass off to prepare and win the medal...

Cuckoo said...

SiD,
You are absolutely right. That's why I said.. the entire system is corrupt and filthy. Compared to the bigger picture I don't blame Santhi at all.

In this country everyone (almost everyone) wants to be in limelight, wants to earn quick buck by hook or crook. Officials, irrespective of their capabilities, want to go on foreign trips alongwith the team. Players want to earn quick fame and money, so they too take back door entry. Even when a poor player earns some medal/ money (like Santhi received Rs 15 lakhs) with his/her own hard work, I won't be surprised if tomorrow they say that they actually got only half the money !! After all they have to pay to the officials who were responsible for their selection.

Nobody thinks of the prestige and future of the country. All selfish are seeking short term self-centered goals.

Gaurav said...

Good post. Sports is run shamefully in this country.

p.s - noticed the music. :)

Cuckoo said...

Gaurav,
Glad to see you here again. Thanks for the appreciation.

Yes, it is a shame for all of us in this big country.

p.s - noticed the music... :))))

delhidreams said...

have lots to blurt out but why baharon phool barsao???

sorry, have not been in touch. been extremely busy these days.