Most columnists and television anchors who have been foaming at the mouth over the national furore about which combinations will represent India in the tennis men’s doubles and mixed doubles in the XXX Olympic Games in London scheduled to begin later this month, seem to understand little about the nature of this game because they probably haven’t played it. At least not seriously. The issue which has galvanised them into print and/or screech is the great split between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi — India’s ace doubles pair which over a decade combined to win 30 international tennis tournaments worldwide, including three Grand Slam titles, not to speak of millions of dollars for themselves. After impacting the world of tennis as one of the finest men’s doubles duo, now they — not to mince words — hate each other. Therefore Bhupathi insists on pairing with his recently discovered partner Rohan Bopanna for the London Olympics. On the other hand, print media pundits and television anchors insist that Paes and Bhupathi set aside their differences in the national interest and bring home India’s first tennis gold medal. The plain truth is that the chances of the Bhupathi-Bopanna duo striking metal for India are better than of a Paes-Bhupathi combination. That’s because camaraderie, complementarity, affinity and empathy — call it what you will — in a doubles combination is the non-negotiable precondition of success. If it’s missing, play becomes agony and a resentful experience. Men’s doubles apart, India also has a good chance of bagging a medal in the mixed doubles because women’s tennis star Sania Mirza seems to have recovered her form in the nick of time. But as ‘compensation’ to Paes now that the Bhupathi-Bopanna pair has been confirmed as India’s men’s doubles A team in London, Sania may be paired with Paes in the mixed doubles, despite the Bhupathi-Mirza duo having won the French Open championship last month. Although Paes and Sania have won some minor tournaments together in the past, they are both deuce court players whereas Bhupathi is the world’s best left court doubles player. What a mess! Forget about gold — or any other medal. IGNOU ignoramus One of the wonders of the cock-eyed socialist state which has been fashioned by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and post-independence India’s complicit political and middle classes, is how individuals lacking even the merest general knowledge and intelligence rise to the very top of government (and private) organisations. A case in point is one Prof. M. Aslam — a reportedly eminent sociologist and pro tem (‘acting’) vice chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), billed the world’s largest distance education varsity by virtue of its 3.5 million students enroled in its 150-acre campus and 67 regional and 3,000 learner support centres. Despite numerous phone calls, letters of demand and legal notices, this learned academic refuses to discharge IGNOU’s debt of Rs.1.1 lakh owed to EducationWorld, pending for over six months on the ground that he is not bound by…
