Bindra, the Silent Killer

Until Beijing, the last gold India had won at the Olympics was in 1980; no Indian had ever won an individual gold. This dismal record has been a source of shame for countless Indians. Every four years, a puny contingent would trudge to a foreign city, crash out, and the question would arise again: Why do Indians fare so badly? Answers would again span the whole spectrum: economics, culture, genetics, climate, politics, cricket, and more.

I can't remember the last time India's Olympic record bothered me. I suspect this is because Olympic medals do not correlate with values I admire in a society. They do not suggest a high civilization, one that has evolved, say, a refined balance between justice, equality, and liberty. Sports to me is about having fun, being social, and engaging in friendly yet spirited contests. Sure, medals measure and reward excellence, but the Olympics are now so hyper-competitive that it's all about winning after a long and grueling regime of hi-tech training (and at times drugs) at sports academies, often sponsored by "national prestige" initiatives. Where is the joy? Are these sports "finishing schools" much different from those that produce beauty queens? Reduced to a spectacle of physical feats by people driven by vacuous notions of glory, fame, and success, I see no reason to care for the Olympics (save for a certain fascination that led me to trapeze artists in my boyhood). Richard Rodriquez wrote four years ago:

Historians tell us that the ancient Greeks attached no glory to losing. So, also, today: Only gold will get you onto the box of Wheaties. Only gold, not silver, not bronze, not a good try, will get you immortality. Only gold is immortal. As someone who feels his soul more Hebraic than Hellenic, I keep thinking that what is eternal about the eternal flame is the wish for immortality. The Olympics is a celebration of youth, of ripeness, of summer. It is the most sublime and foolish of human romances, and this is its liturgy. Appropriate now to the neo-paganism of today's America, where one senses everywhere the obsolescence of a word like "soul." The body is all, health is all, and death is the defeat of all. Let the games begin.

In Beijing last week, a historic sense of shame appears to have finally dissolved. Abhinav Bindra, 26, became the first Indian ever to strike gold (10m air rifle shooting). Indians are ecstatic and bursting forth with pride. Every honcho—including the PM, the President, and Sonia Gandhi—wants to honor or interview him. State governments are queuing up to award him millions of dollars of taxpayer money. This despite that he is extravagantly rich, being the "CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, the sole agent of Germany based Walther brand of weapons for India which now markets their arms to country's law enforcement agencies." His family owns a 500-crore (US$125M) firm engaged in meat processing, real estate, and weapons. Papa Bindra spent a whopping 10 crores (US$2.5M) on his son's training. Further,

On the outskirts of Chandigarh, on the road that runs to Patiala, you can't miss the Bindra farm in Kishanpur village. Security men and trained dogs guard the lush-green 30 acre estate of Abhinav Bindra, India's first Olympics individual gold medalist. The palatial farm house, with seven bedrooms, is visible only after you drive further through the estate. It looks like a dream world; nothing here matches with the real world of India. The opulence of the house, set deep within a large manicured garden, its magnificent facade, luxurious fittings and object d'art collected from all over the world; European paintings facing the visitor from every corner of the house, the well-stocked bar, heath-spa, the Olympic standard shooting range, the elegant bedroom of Abhinav and some dozen servants who keep moving in and out of the kitchen -- all amid the divine Guru Granth Sahib in one silent corner of the house -- make Abhinav's home the stuff of fairy tale.

So what motivates the ordinary Indian's pride in this man—an unknown sportsman, alienatingly rich, playing an uncommon, solo sport? I detect a whiff of odious nationalism, the hallmark of a highly insecure people. I think the pride comes from the same place that cheered the Pohkran nuclear blasts ten years ago. In today's India (as also in China), that's no revelation to me. I was ready to ignore this story and move on when these words by his proud father made my jaw drop (reported by many sources with some variations; I've provided two below).

Silent killer, as described by his father ... who spotted his son's talent when Abhinav was 5 years old. "He kept a water balloon on our maid's head and began shooting, knowing little that a slight mistake could have proved fatal. But his aim was so perfect that I couldn't think about anything else but make him a pro," says AS Bindra. [link]

"He had a passion for shooting, fiddling with guns. When he was five he would place a balloon on the head of his maid and shoot them. We were fearing that a problem would be created if he missed the mark, the maid could get hurt. But he always shot the balloon. He is always cool, never moved by media and publicity. He is a silent killer, silent worker." [link]

If true, this exposes a highly depraved mindset. Many Indians are simply glossing over this comment but what's worse is that many are using it to illustrate how talented their hero really is. The gold, the quote above, and the public's reaction to them encapsulate so much of the worst of Indian culture, lending credence to my theory above: there ain't no correlation between civilized life and Olympic golds.

Comments

[Ruchira]

Well, one more Indian athlete has won an individual medal. I happened to catch the bronze medal bout between Vijender Kumar and his Ecuadorian opponent in the middleweight category. Kumar seemed like a mild mannered young man who boxed cleanly. No millionaire this one and no feudal background here - Kumar's father is a bus driver. He too is being feted as a hero. Now I will wait for you to unearth the story of whom Kumar used as a punching bag when he was five years old.

But seriously, that story of childhood target practice using the maid's head as a clay pigeon is truly horrifying although sadly, not all that implausible.

[Namita]

Hi Namit. Have uploaded story and link in AW. Agree with Ruchira, many, many sporting 'heroes' -- Olympians or not -- come from really poor backgrounds. Am not a great sports watcher, but look at the cricketers coming with big aspirations from B towns all over India. Last year, I met the Jungle Crows, a group of tribal kids from Orissa, who had become world rugby champions. It was really moving.

[Namit]

I agree. As in many other walks of life, there are a lot of heartening "underdog stories" of athletes overcoming personal and social odds to become Olympians. It is fitting to admire their stories as such. To the nationalists, though, their medals are disproportionately more valuable than their stories. Their victories are celebrated and used to ignite (false) pride in the country, to raise its prestige and status, to herald a new resurgent nation, etc. Herein lies the problem.

Thanks for linking to AW, Namita. Incidentally, my parents tell me that my name was inspired by a girl with your name.

[Namita]

Oh yes, especially at a time when there is a lot to be gloomy about -- Kashmir, inflation, terror strikes, cash for votes -- the cheapest way to feel good is by going rah rah with our medals: no wonder politicians are falling over each other to bestow cash awards.
Hmm...I wonder, do I know your parents :-)

[Shanth]

The maid story itself may not be true, or it may have been misquoted, but the fact remains that there was no outrage at someone recounting such an incident. There is widespread injustice in the world and in our country, but have we gotten so hardened that a mainstream newspaper prints such a statement without even a hint of disgust or disaproval at the man?

[anon.]

It is worth mentioning the achievements of Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, of district Karad, Maharashtra. He rose from a village background to become Free India's first individual Olympic medalist. Some excerpts, just to emphasize the constrast (link):

"Jadhav then had to run with the begging bowl to raise funds for his trip. The principal of Rajaram college, one Mr Khardekar even mortgaged his house for Rs 7,000 to raise founds, while local shopkeepers from his village Goleshwar in Karad district of Maharashtra, presented him with articles of use. "

"This was unfair to Jadhav but there was no Indian official present to lodge a protest. So the tired Jadhav once again took to the mat and was beaten. Jadhav was sure he could have taken the silver had he been given sufficient rest.

Official apathy also saw him unable to register a protest after being unfairly penalised for a rolling foul which saw him finish sixth at the 1948 London Games, the best-ever position achieved by an Indian till then."

"What was the reception Jadhav got in 1952? There was a felicitation at Mumbai's Shivaji Mandir auditorium in Dadar and a 'cavalcade' of 101 bullock carts from Karad to his village.

Instead of being heaped with rewards, Jadhav had to fight an exhibition soon on return to raise funds to help Khardekar pay off the mortgage loan raised for him. Nothing came the way of Jadhav, not even a promotion in the state police force which he served.

The Padmashri and the others awards like a government flat were unknown then. He must have died a broken man when a road accident claimed him."

By the way, the story about Bindra's maid you quoted above sounds almost demoniac.

[bzbody]

He was, what, 5 years old when the maid incident happened? And from that you are extrapolating that the adult Abhinav Bindra has a depraved mindset? At that age there is hardly any concept of conscience or responsible behavior as adults understand it. Do you know anything about early childhood development, or are you so wrapped up in your eagerness to sit in judgment over a person that you don't even know?

[Namit]

bzbody:
Maybe my words weren't clear enough. The depraved mindset I speak of belongs not to the child but to the father who allowed this to happen and sees no problem boasting about it today, the press that reports it uncritically, and readers who see nothing wrong with it.