The Blasphemous Barons of Bharat

For centuries, India has been plagued by all kinds of biases like gender, caste, society, colour, politics and so on. Recent events in the country have given birth to a new bias in the least expected field-sports.
The Indian cricket team, which won the inaugral T20 world cup in South Africa has proved how the exuberance of youth can work wonders, even under trying circumstances. Initially branded as underdogs owing to a string of mediocre performances overseas and the absence of some of the veterans, the team scripted one of the most unforgettable fairy-tale victories over arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals of the world cup at Johannesburg on the 24th of September. The entire nation erupted in joy and the bunch of "schoolboys" had become superheroes. The triumphant team was given an ostentatious welcome on their return to home soil. All news channels had their cameras focussed on the players in the open-air buses. The governments of the states to which each of the players belonged lavished praise on them by providing them lucrative sums as a token of appreciation. Yuvraj Singh, undoubtedly India's best performer of the world cup, who hit an inconcievable six sixes off one over was given a sum of Rs.1 crore (!!!!) as a reward, in addition to a Porsche car.
However, another feat of the Indian team,though in a different sport has gone unnoticed into mere oblivion. The heroics of the Indian Hockey Team which won the Asia Cup in Chennai last month have been conveniently forgotten. The vibrant side, under a new captain, overwhelmed every side in the competition, like a tornado which engulfs anything that comes its way. In all, India scored a staggering 57 goals in just 7 games, conceding only a meagre 5 goals. Prabhjot Singh turned out to be the star of the tournament, finding the back of the net 15 times!
Unfortunately, the buzz about this incredible feat lasted only a few hours. The cyclone calmed down abruptly. They didn't get the hero's welcome that they deserved(the event was held in India, yet they deserved humungous amounts of praise). The media was nowhere to be seen hours after the historic triumph. The state governments hardly seemed to bother about their players. Clearly symptoms of yet another case of bias in the world's largest democracy.......
Why is this still happening in the country which boasts of having one of the greatest growth potentials in the world? Is this the way the national game of India deserves to be treated? Joaquim Carvalho, the coach of the Indian hockey side has described these events as "step motherly treatment". These are strong words of course, which speak loads about the state of affairs here. Hockey, despite being equally entertaining as cricket has failed to reach the levels attained by the latter, because of reasons unknown to any. The news channels have regular updates of the scores of any ongoing cricket match by providing scoreboard tickers which change with every ball bowled. However, news regarding victories(or losses) of any other indian sport hardly appear even in the flash news bar at the bottom. It is highly exasperating to know that cricketers have contracts based on the seniority in the side, while hockey players have none. Many members of the hockey side are still seen travelling by a second class compartment in trains, while cricketers still travel by business class flights and stay in star hotels. The recent Shah Rukh Khan flick "Chak De India", a movie based on the game of hockey created waves across the country, solely because of its theme and patriotic sequences. Ironically, the Bollywood star was seen in South Africa providing big hugs to each member of the cricket team after their victory!!!! Strange???? Welcome to India!