Golden silence

Sir — Diwakar Ram’s “golden goal”, which helped India win the Asia Cup final against South Korea elicited a muted response in the media (“Diwakar’s brace in Asia Cup win”, July 19). There is, however, little reason to be piqued by this indifference. The Indian Premier League, with its investment in the glamour factor and big money, has changed the definition of a successful sporting event. The media have followed suit, reporting glitzy IPL matches with much aplomb, while choosing to remain mum on India’s excellent performance in other sports such as hockey. Ironically, India was once acclaimed as undisputed champions in world hockey, but its record has gone down over the years. Indian hockey needs more players like Ram, as well as bigger funds and better infrastructure . We cannot afford to lose precious young talents like Ram simply because there is not enough money to train or pay the players. There is a shameful discrepancy in the way cricketers and hockey players are treated by the media here. The former are lauded for no reason, while the latter is neglected in the most shocking manner.

Yours faithfully,
Benu Kumar Bose, Calcutta

Sir — Recently, the whole country was agog with the 25th anniversary of India’s world cup victory at Lord’s. The members of that victorious team was flown to London, where a lavish celebratory party was thrown in their honour by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In comparison, the prospect of hockey, our national game, appears dismal. India won a much-coveted gold in the Moscow Olympics in 1980, but the anniversary of that proud moment went by unnoticed. In fact, that was the eighth Olympics hockey gold won by India after Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932), Berlin (1936), London (1948), Helsinki (1952), Melbourne (1956) and Tokyo (1964). The State’s apathy not only depresses non-cricketers but also leaves the younger generation with no other option but to pursue a career in cricket.

Yours faithfully,
R. Sekar, Visakhapatnam

Sir — In another “Chak de!” moment in Hyderabad, India retained the Asia Cup junior hockey title with a pulsating 3-2 victory over South Korea. The win will provide hockey fans in the country with much-needed oxygen.

Credit for the success in the recent Asia Cup goes to the players and the management for their brilliant teamwork and dynamic approach. The ace drag-flicker, Diwakar Ram, scored a golden goal to help his team lift the trophy. But unfortunately, the reception that was given to these young hockey stars was tepid compared to the ovation received by the under-19 cricket team after it returned to India with the world cup. Little wonder then that hockey continues to be given the cold shoulder at all levels in this country. For how long can the players be expected to keep up their morale with little praise or recompense?

Yours faithfully,
Dilbag Rai, Chandigarh

Mail disorder

Sir — The issues raised in the editorial, “Worse served” (July 18), are extremely valid. It is surprising, if not shocking, that the government could even think of a proposal to give the department of posts a monopoly of carriage packages up to 300 grams. Such a move is undoubtedly aimed at restricting the customer-friendly services provided to the public by private courier service organizations whose arrival has greatly filled the void left by the government’s postal department. In today’s era of free marketing, strictures imposed on independent postal agencies would surely be seen as a retrograde move. The focus ought to be towards providing better services to the public and not towards ensuring the survival of the postal department at any cost. Perhaps, a wiser move would be to follow the example of the telephone wing and convert the postal services into a public sector-postal corporation for competing with private courier services. That should bring out the best in both the sectors, and benefit the people of this country.

Yours faithfully,
Suman S. Dasgupta, Calcutta

Sir — The proposal to curtail the privileges of private courier services is outrageous if we consider the way in which the department of posts functions. For instance, Rule 72(4) of the handbook on philately, issued by department, mentions stamps issued to commemorate an occasion, such as birth anniversaries, must mark the 10th /25th /50th /100th occasions. To ensure objective assessment, the rule further adds that no stamp will be issued sooner than ten years after the individual’s death. Exceptions, however, can be made in the case of deceased heads of state.

However, in response to an RTI petition, the department confessed that the rule, so far, has been broken as many as 96 times. It was broken the 97th time only recently when a stamp was issued in memory of Rajesh Pilot on his eighth death anniversary at a function attended by none other than India’s prime minister.

Yours faithfully,
S.C. Agrawal, Dariba, Delhi