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Sochi. Hot. Cool.

T. SHER SINGH

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games are over.

As far as I can see -- and I have followed them closely from start to finish -- they have been an unqualified success.

To the great distress of the ’West’, the Russians have proved -- just as the Chinese demonstrated in Beijing 6 years ago -- that America’s ‘enemies’ are capable of excelling in every field of endeavour, often even surpassing anything the US can, or claims to be able to, do.

In the minds of all imperialists and colonialists, even those who hide under the mantle of ’Capitalism’, the incredible feats of organization and administration shown by the Russians and the Chinese can be dismissed easily.

The American media, for example, predictably points to the fact that both Russia and China are dictatorships and oppressive regimes.

I agree. And I do not condone their crimes or trivialize them.

But I do not buy any more America’s claims to righteousness -- or by its allies and historical cheerleaders (Britain, Canada, etc.)

When one points to Putin’s excesses, including the 50 billion dollar bloated budget of the Sochi Games, all I need to do is point to the billions more stolen by the George W Bush - Dick Cheney gang under the guise of concocted wars.

Surely -- and that‘s the only point I want to make -- one bunch of crooks cannot be deemed better or purer or more acceptable than the other.

If you point to Siberia or Ukraine, I point to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Neither is better or less evil.

If I hear the Brits pipe up with centuries-honed “let’s-play-by-the Marquess-of-Queensbury-rules” or “it’s-just-not-cricket”, I don’t need to go very far to remind them that no nation has treated human beings more brutally and callously as they have. Look at the latest revelations of the absolute lack of morality displayed by their own Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, vis-à-vis the massacres conducted by India in 1984.

Canada? Their treatment of its own aboriginals is a continuing shame. If all Canadians were reminded of and fully apprised of what has been done, and continues to be done to this very day, to its native communities in their name, they would wake up every morning with their heads hanging in shame.

I could go on ad nauseum … Australia’s aborigines, France’s open flouting of its own high-falutin principles of ‘liberté, egalité, fraternité’ …

I don’t mean to suggest that Russia’s and China’s excesses are not worse.

But, hey, this is not a pissing contest to see who can pee the farthest. Once you cross the line, there is not a smidgen of difference between murdering a few thousand or a few hundred thousand or a few million.

In this respect, we are all still neanderthals.

So, as we find solace in covering-up our own crimes, let’s not hasten to point to the crimes of others in giving traction to our envy and jealousy.

Let’s not be sore losers.

The Russians did a great job at Sochi in every which way, including being the top scorers in the medal count. Too bad the US found itself down to fourth on the list, and the Brits nowhere in the picture.

The games are games, no more, no less, and let’s not lose our sportsmanship.

One more thing.

A lesson for India.

Both Russia and China have shown -- as have the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany and the rest of the world -- that even though they all have corrupt governments and/or politicians in the extreme, they do deliver the goods when the occasion demands it.

Sochi proved that Russia, despite its corruption-ridden society -- has a genuine national pride, a civic sense, a glorious history, a rich culture.

Alas, India has repeatedly failed to date to show it has any of these.

Having the largest number of billionaires will never compensate for having the largest number of miserable and emaciated people in the world.

If two-thirds of your population hasn’t gone beyond defecating in the open air every day, you ain’t going to be getting to other issues very soon.

If you keep on rewriting your history to the flavour of the day, you’re going to keep on repeating your mistakes.

And if you point to antiques as examples of your high art, you’re never going to realize that antiquity does not translate into culture. You need more than Khajuraho. Culture shows in behaviour, in how you live, in how you treat each other …
 
I’m afraid all the bluster and bellowing of “Jai-ho’s” will not do the trick.

It ain’t going to get you anywhere.

[A hint: look back at your recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi … your greatest opportunity to impress the world in your entire history of existence!]

I suggest you sit down with the three unfortunate athletes you sent to Sochi earlier this month, abandoned and forlorn, and learn from them what they saw when they there.

And figure out how things are done within civilized societies.


February 24, 2014

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