Poor Narain Karthikeyan has been putting a brave effort in a very difficult, demanding, risky and endurance sport and raising our Flag higher in spite of the fact that the media especially Television channels are not giving much time and space for him. The media went gaga when he became the First Formula 1 Driver from India and were expecting him to get podium finish in one of the races at least and when this has not happened, they have gone into a shell. Even on the Race day, the news you hear on TV Channels is that Raikkonnen or Alonso have won a spectacular race and they just add a line stating that Narain finished 15th or 16th.
Is this the news we want to hear or read in a Newspaper for the tremendous efforts that he is putting on the track on a very mediocre Car. If Alonso and Barrichello can overtake him on the Hungarian Grand Prix, It is not Narain’s fault and he kept them in bay for some time. Renault and Ferrari are much faster cars than Jordan and the companies spend ten times more money than Jordan on the car.
The unfortunate thing is our media looks for Hype and Stories more than good worthy content as this can be noticed on how they are hyping Sania’s breaking the 50 hurdle in Woman’s tennis. I am not taking anything away from Sania’s performance, but she is a young girl and we have to leave her alone to make higher strides with development of skills and athleticism which will surely help her if we do not overtly put her on the front pages which will only cause a burnout.
It is a pity that neither the Government nor the media is encouraging sports other than Cricket and Tennis and the same is the case with sponsors. What have we done with the lanky Anju George after her bronze winning performance in the last World Championship, the Govt should have targeted her as a strong medal prospect and should have made an investment on her through sponsors to reach greater heights. She finished fifth yesterday with a 6.6 m jump in the same championship.
What we can do for Narain now?!
This is a crucial stage of his first F 1 Season and what the Motor sport world is looking at is how much interest he is generating in India and Asia more than what he is achieving on the Track. He needs all the attention from the media as well as we the people because this will help him to get into a better car like Red Bull or Sauber instead of breaking his F 1 carrier abruptly. No doubt we should thank Jordan on the first count of giving an Indian the opportunity to drive with the best. But if they cannot bring their new car this year which it looks unlikely as they are having problems with delays in the last 5 races trying to introduce this car, he should move.
How funny our Governments both central and State are waging battles to bring Formula 1 to India (Such an expensive sport) when we are not sure what will be Narain’s status next year (Whether he will put us in World motor sporting map). It is like trying to host Olympics without a single medal prospect. Rather they should recognize and award Narain’s efforts and work on developing this sport among other kids.
I am watching this sport from the great Niki Lauda days and I was amazed to see a long stretch of Express highway in San Paulo in Brazil named after the legendary Ayrton Senna who lived and died for the sport, when I went to Brazil last year.
The Country plays a very vital role in making or breaking the carrier of the sports personality and Narain is not looking at financial support in such a rich sport but for sponsors who can keep him in Formula 1 longer. Mind you, in motor racing, the driver is only as good as his car (This is what Alonso is proving against a more talented Raikkonen and this is what happened to Ferrari’s after domination for 3 years) .Only Tata and The Hindu are playing a notable part for Narain and of course Sachin Tendulkar
Narain definitely needs a better car to drive next year.