*India* and *winter* are not two words that really go together. Add Olympics to that, it becomes even more bizarre. While going through The Hindu today, I read that India is participating in this years winter Olympics! Big surprise! What’s more, India had been represented in the last two Olympics too. Guess by how many athletes? Yeah, just one! And his name is Shiva Kesavan. Never thought that winter sports existed in India, simply due to the fact that winter doesnt exist in most of India ;). I had my eyes pop out when I learned that his dad was from my very own Kerala – that’s as tropical as you can get in India! A winter athlete from Kerala? Not even in my dreams!!

He was also some sort of hero during the 2002 Salt Lake games. The American media, made this guy really famous, calling him one in a billion. How true! And amazingly I don’t remember a single mention of him here in the Indian media before.

He has turned out to be a hero to me instantly. How proud must he have been representing 1,000,000,000 people at not one but two (and soon three) Olympics. The guy obviously never got much support from our government and had to participate in his event with borrowed equipment… oh… and his event is called Luge. It is a high-speed race on a sled down a fixed track. I remember watching it once or twice on TV, seemed fun :D

In 2006 though, Shiva is not alone for India. The official site lists 3 more athletes. Good lord. Are winter sports catching up in India? :o

Anyway do support Shiva in his quest. The Turin games are live, here in India on DD Sports from February 10. Whether he wins or finishes last, he will be a big hero to me!

  Further Reading:

• India’s lone luger »     (the-south-asian.com)
• “900 MILLION STORIES: THIS IS THE BEST ONE” »     (Mitch Albom – Detroit Free Press)
• Did an Indian compete at Salt Lake? »     (melvindurai.com)
• Official Site »     (torino2006.org)