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Dear Friend,
DO YOU KNOW THAT INDIA COULD HAVE VERY EASILY WON A GOLD AT THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED OLMPICS AT SIDNEY ?
Her name is Ms. KUNJURANI DEVI. She is the national (and world ) champion in 48 Kg. Weight lifting event.She regularly lifts MORE THAN 200KG. in total. But the Ultimate winner in this event at the event in the olympics lifted ONLY 190KGS.The reason :-
Ms. KUNJURANE DEVI WAS NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PART IN THE EVENT. This is typical of Indian
administeration's
SUB-HUMAN MENTALITY.Another Girl Ms Sanmacha chanu was sent due to political clout and she failed miserably. WE DESERVE THIS ! Don't we?
We give so much importance to our miserable Male cricketers, who have hurt this country very badly.I BELIVE THAT INDIAN SPORTS WILL IMPROVE ONLY WHEN GENTS" CRICKET KICKS THE BUCKET!
But Indian Women Sports persons offer a great deal of opportunity.They are effectively No. 2 in weight lifting and Asian Women's hockey ! Like wise in Ladies Cricket they are either No2. or No.3. Similarly in athletics they are at the top at Asian level.
So if they have the right kind of ENCOURAGEMENT, RECOGNITION,REMUNERATION, TRAINING AND FACILITIES they too can emulate the SUCCESS of their SISTERS IN THE FIELD OF BEAUTY PAGENTS viz 1.Lara Dutta 2. Priyanka Chopra and 3.Diya Mirza.
With Regard to this I had sent a letter to the magazine "FEMINA" ,who are the ORGANISERS of various Beauty pagnts in India.I paste Below the letter sent to the editor Ms Sathya Saran:-
Vijayakant menon,
Thane.
Date :- 15/12/2000.
TO,
MS. SATHYA SARAN,
(sathya.saran@timesgroup.com)
THE EDITOR, FEMINA,
TIMES GROUP,
MUMBAI 400001 .
SUBJECT :- MISS INDIA CONTEST SHOULD ALSO CONSIST OF CONTESTS OF STRENGTH & STAMINA.
RESPECTED MADAM,
At the outset I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of "Femina" for graciously giving me your E-Mail address and also the format in which the following article has to be typed.
I write to you in relation to a topic that means a great deal to me.Which I believe can eradicate a host of problems of our country's lady folk be they rich or poor, educated or uneducated or even in the field of sports.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO IMPLEMENT MY RECOMENDATIONS RATHER THAN JUST MAKE IT A POINT OF ACADEMIC INTEREST.
I have long since been of the opinion that if Indian girls and women were stronger and had a good knowledge of martial arts, many a problem of discrimination and harrassment can come to a quick and a decisive end.This opinion is derived from PAINFUL personal experience,observation and also from Ms.Kelsang a lady from Tibet who sells wool in winter, who told me and I quote " We are able to move freely,even alone, to all parts of India, Bhutan and even in tibet because we are strong and we know self defence techniques. We are not afraid of men or the ghosts". Even in India ladies of Manipur and nagaland have martial arts as a part to their traditional arts.It pays them rich dividends.
The year 2000 was once again a big moment of celeberation for all of us Indians .Congragulations to Ms Lara Dutta,Ms Priyanka Chopra and Ms. Diya Mirza for bringing the complete set of Beauty pagent Crowns to this country .
A HAT - TRICK WHCH THE NATION AND THE WORLD WILL REMEMBER FOR ALL TIMES TO COME, THUS SEALING INDIAN WOMEN'S COMPLETE DOMINANCE OF THE WORLD OF BEAUTY AND BRAINS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH EVENTS.
It is not only that the three "Devis" deserved the crown but the crown itself must have felt very proud to be placed on their worthy well coiffured heads.
The role played by your magazine FEMINA is of indispensable nature in this achievement and it can be HONESTLY said that but for "FEMINA'S" EFFORTS AND ENCOURAGEMENT this grand feat would not have been possible.
I WANT YOU TO DO SOMETHING MORE FOR INDIAN WOMENFOLK AND I BELIEVE ONLY THE " FEMINA" CAN !!!
The various beauty pagents,especially The "Miss India contest,is a real big trend setter for the Indian womankind.This is evidenced by the fact that so many similar contests are held at every community/housing colony festivals.Also this has determined the criteria of - beauty and smartness/intellegence etc.As the Miss Venezula said "The pagent looks at the complete woman-of beauty and intellegence".This shows that the present pagents look only for BEAUTY & BRAINS,considering only these two aspects as the "COMPLETENESS OF A WOMAN".Beauty and Brains alone are not suffecient,Brawn also matters a great deal.This is evidenced by the growing incidents of crimes against womenfolk especially in our beloved city of Mumbai,many of these incidents have had tragic consequenses as the victim had not been strong enough to defend herself for Eg. Ms Jayabala Asher's tragic incident.Again, the concept of present day beauty is such that school and college going girl children,shun nutritious food simply because they consider it to be detrimental to their perception of looks.
The "wafer thin Barbie Doll" concept of beauty often leads to Anorexia, weakness and fatigue.The perception of Beauty differs from race to race.The Taller western women can "afford "to have a slim Barbie-like figure,as thier muscle mass is spread over a bigger volume of body.Whereas an average Indian girl has a height of only 5ft 2 inches,consequently a smaller volume of body.Hence an average Indian girl trying for the precious 36-24-36 figure is heading for malnutrition.!!
We must sincerley and seriously get rid of "Beauty through emaciation and starvation" notion at the earliest. Secondly only those girls who are taller than 5 ft 7 inches can hope to be considered as good looking under the present beauty pagent standards.
My wish is that along with the various rounds for testing the contestants' Beauty and Brains,let there be tests to determine their STRENGTH ,STAMINA AND FITNESS.I request the conductors of Miss India to begin including events like:- Obstacle courses and Steeple Chase,weightlifting,arm-wrestling etc.The evaluation of the Pagent could be-Beauty 40%,Brains 30% and Brawn 30%.This will ensure that "the Laxmi,Saraswati and Durga" concepts of Indian Feminine-hood receive due and adequate attention.It will be quite a challenge for the ladies from the "land of Ganga",Who have done come out Victorious in these contests so far, to take a real "Panga" with those who represent other lands.
This will ensure that the objective criteria of the Beauty Pagents' contest is upheld.Now,the "worship worthy Idols " of the beauty pagents would have set a good trend of beauty without compromising on strength,Stamina and general fitness.
But Iam pretty certain, that even in this contest of Brawn added to Beauty and Brains,Indian ladyfolk shall come out triumphantly, as SHE deserves to!.The crown too must be feeling so, as it is at its happiest when worn by an Indian lady!!
I now turn to the field of sports where Indian Women have suffered VERY REAL TRAGEDIES.It is in this area that Indian womenfolk have been manipulated by the beurocracy and some male dominated officials.I'd like to state some prominent examples :-
1)Ms Kunjarani Devi :- She competes in the 48 kg catagory of the Weightlifting event.She can steadily lift a weight upwards of 200kg. She was not sent to represent India at the recent Olympics.The ultimate Gold Medal Winner in that event could not lift more than 190 kgs.
IT MEANS THAT HAD MS. KUNJURANI DEVI TAKEN PART SHE WOULD HAVE WON THE FIRST INDIVIDUAL GOLD MEDAL FOR THE COUNTRY.
2)Indian Women's hockey :- The Asian Games '98 and Asian Women's hockey tournament results show that Indian Women's hockey team is the best in Asia.True the Korean women beat them to the post. But this was only due to the superior STRENGTH AND STAMINA of the Koreans.This puts them ahead of their Indian rivals by a nose.But as far as skill and elegance of hockey is considered Indian Ladies are miles ahead of their blunt nosed korean rivals.I Simply dislike the way the (Tall and Strong) Koreans ladies use brute force ( Shoving and pushing) to defeat their petite Indian rivals.!
The same can be said to be true of Athletics, Martial arts events and even women's cricket.
The Punch Line is :- If Indian Ladies were stronger and fitter they could have won so many sports events.More importantly Encouragement in terms of - Recognition,Finance and training can make them emulate their sisters in the field of "Beauty Pagents".
IT IS MY ARDENT DESIRE THAT "FEMINA" GIVES TO OUR SPORTS LADIES THE SAME KIND OF EFFORT AND RECOGNITION IT GIVES TO LADIES PARTICIPATING IN BEAUTY PAGENTS!
I once again thank you for giving me this opportunity to write to you about something that I feel very strongly about viz the desire to make the lady folk of India - HEALTHY,STRONG AND CONFIDENT -so that they can come out triumphantly in every field of life be it domestic problems,harrasement by evil menfolk or even (especially) in the field of sports!
Thanking you in anticipation of having this article Published in your Esteemed Magazine "FEMINA",
Your's Sincerely,
Vijayakant.M.
P.S. :- PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN WHICH ISSUE OF "FEMINA" THE ABOVE ARTICLE WILL BE PUBLISHED.SO THAT I DO NOT MISS IT !!
I SHALL BE THRILLED TO RECEIVE YOUR MAIL AT :-
vijayakant@rediffmail.com OR
vijayakant@hotmail.com
ALSO, I have written a few articles in the INDIAN SPORTS SECTION OF forumhub.com". This is an interactive website.You can also visit this site by going to any search mediums like "indiatimes.com"and typing "indian sports discussion" in the Search Window.The articles may be slightly old, so click on the "Previous topics" box.
Thanking you in anticipation .
Your's Sincerely,
Vijayakant.
vijayakant@rediffmail.com or
vijayakant@hotmail.com
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