THE SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD - India's Gold Medal

Melvin Durai is a Winnipeg-based writer and humorist. Born
in India and raised in Zambia, he has lived in North America
since 1982. Through the Internet, his column is read by
thousands of people in more than 90 countries.

This week's column hits the bull's eye! (pun intended)

THIS WEEK'S COLUMN:

'THE SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD'

In case you missed the news, in case you were sleeping under
a rock or just got released from Guantanamo, India won its
first-ever individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics,
causing 1.1 billion people to jump up and down with joy,
touching off a minor earthquake in California and a major
interruption in tech support.

Yes, an Indian man won an Olympic gold medal -- and without
all his opponents getting injured. Abhinav Bindra, a
25-year-old from Delhi, won first place in the 10m air rifle
event, beating 50 other shooters, including that great
Albanian marksman Imer Gudschot.

So excited were members of the Indian Olympic Association,
so taken in this moment of high-fives and champagne-popping,
that some of them checked the official medal table to see if
India had moved past America. No such luck, of course, but
that didn't stop Indians from celebrating like it was the
greatest Olympic achievement ever. And who can blame them?
After all, it was their first individual gold medal since
India began competing in the Olympics more than a century
ago, back in the days when 'catapulting' was an official
sport.

'The drought is over!' screamed one newspaper's headline,
causing even more celebration across the land, particularly
in the farming community.

It was a shining moment for India on the world's greatest
sporting stage. As one Indian politician eloquently put it,
'Abhinav Bindra has shooted us all into glory!'

Almost everyone in India, from the Prime Minister to the
church minister, heaped praise on Bindra. Even members of
the Indian Astronomers Association, attending a convention
in Pune, took a break from the proceedings to applaud the
'shooting star.'

Congratulatory messages poured into India from all over the
world. U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, hoping to
endear himself to Indian-American voters, sent a
congratulatory card that he said was 'from one straight
shooter to another.'

Indian legislators debated a motion to celebrate Aug. 11
every year as Gold Medal Day. They voted down a proposal to
display Bindra's medal at a national museum in Delhi, amid
fears that the building would not be able to handle the
millions who would come to view it.

The excitement and celebration may have seemed overblown,
but not to Indians. 'People around the world may not know
this,' a Chennai man said, 'but we Indians really love
gold!'

Bindra's victory, combined with shooter Rajyavardhan Singh
Rathore's silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, is expected to
increase the popularity of shooting in India, drawing
thousands of youngsters to shooting competitions and
exhibitions during breaks from cricket.

'We want shooting to be more popular in India,' said sports
administrator Baljit Singh, 'but not as popular as it is in
America.'

Hoping to match the success of TGC (The Golf Channel) in
America, media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that Indian
viewers would soon be treated to TSC (The Shooting Channel).
It's expected to feature various shooting competitions from
around the world, as well as reruns of the American shows
'Gunsmoke' and 'Have Gun Will Travel.'

Rajesh Patel, who has been hired as a TSC analyst, said
Bindra's victory will have a lasting impact in India, even
on sports announcing. 'We're not going to say that someone's
performance is 'simply wonderful' anymore,' he said. 'We're
going to say that it's 'simply Bindraful.''

Schoolchildren for years to come will learn about Bindra,
thanks partly to an Indian publisher who has already put out
a special alphabet book: 'A is for Abhinav. Abhinav is first
name of champion. B is for Bindra. Bindra is surname of
champion. C is for Chapati. Chapati is food of champion.'

Bindra has not just earned a lifetime of adulation, he has
become India's most eligible bachelor, receiving a flood of
marriage proposals. Said his proud mother: 'We have received
proposals from North Indians, South Indians, even West
Indians.'

Indeed, a Trinidad dairy farmer with a 20-year-old daughter
offered 1,000 cows in dowry, but Bindra turned down the
offer, saying he doesn't want to milk his fame.

That pleased Indian sports fans, who want Bindra to choose
his bride carefully, believing that the country's future
Olympic glory rests partly on what type of genes his
children inherit. Some are even dreaming of a match between
Bindra and badminton star Saina Nehwal, an Olympic
quarterfinalist. But that would be folly, according to one
Indian scientist, who said, 'If we match a badmintoner with
a shooter, we might end up with a badshooter.'