I was thinking today about the year that has passed. I was thinking what a very long way I have come and what a very long way, I have yet to go!

The themes for this year are simplicity, humility, friendships and discipline. Lets see how many I am able to stick to, all year.

Well, the Olympics is the apple of every sports-person's eye. Never mind that it is completely commercialized, totally lop-sided and would abuse any person's intelligence. Chris Rock (an American comic) has a great line about African-American people in sport.. that the only kind of sport they might do is something like running, or something which is free and can be done without exclusive memberships or expensive equipment. I feel exactly the same, being an Indian athlete. We do have all these compartments in our mind. Only those that have been in sport from age 3 can be athletes.. only those that play something like cricket will get their time of day in sponsorships, blah blah.. Thank goodness, I have some drastic friends who never say die and I refuse to fall for these compartments. How about our moms and daughters (when I should have such a privilege of being a mother)? How about our dads and our brothers and grand-parents? Do they not deserve a chance at health too? Sport can be every persons activity, if done for fun.. and sport should be every country's prerogative, if there are dedicated athletes wiling to go the distance in training.

I am so proud of our women athletes in Athletics, Badminton and Tennis. These kids are rock stars! All this latest rubbish about not wearing a saree to the Olympic opening ceremony is another example of idiotic press-coverage that again insults anyone's intelligence. Practice before looks, any athlete would choose the same way.

Talking about the Olympics once more, even though everything is lop-sided and our sports history is kind of nuts, I am still very thrilled to watch the news on this event. It does takes many years of hard-work, dedication and single-minded devotion to get anywhere close to the top of the game.. sure, its not all fair and people with more money and time ultimately seem to get "there" faster but, heck, Rome was not built in a day or something, right?

I am very optimistic today! Sometimes I get down and out thanks to several other people, some so weak that they dont take any accountability for any of their actions, thoughts or words but, optimism, like top-soil, in my mind is what you make of it. I hope we come out with flying colors in more than one event at the Games. I am so proud of our athletes for getting there and representing our country, with all its diversity and challenges. Hats off to them!