Australia is certainly tasting success in cycling at the Commonwealth Games currently being held in Delhi, India. Earlier today I watched Rochelle Gilmore grab a Gold Medal in the women’s road race and a short time ago Australia claimed more gold thanks to Allan Davis and his win in the men’s road race.
The racing is taking place half a world away yet I’ve been able to keep up to date thanks to television and online coverage. It’s been amazing to watch some of the world’s best cyclists competing on some of the same streets I’ve cycled during my visits to India. Of course they didn’t have to negotiate the cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians and the many other categories of vehicles and wildlife that make up Indian traffic and give it such a wonderful, unique flavour.
While I’ve never won gold, I was awarded some silverware in Delhi back in 2003. That was the first time I’d ever met the Honourable Chief Minster of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit. The photo in this post shows her awarding me a silver platter at the end of a ride from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, to Delhi. The ride promoted Peace and Harmony within India and was arranged through the Bible Society of North West India.
Watching the games has me yearning for another visit to India. It’s a country that I’ve only visited twice and each time only for a couple of weeks, but it’s a country I’ve grown to love. That’s made it quite sad for me when I’ve seen reports that have unfairly criticised Delhi and India’s efforts to host the Commonwealth Games.
I’ve been especially disappointed by those who have sought to make jokes at the expense of Sheila Dikshit’s name (pronounced Dixit). I wonder if they’d be so keen to laugh at this incredibly gracious woman if they knew a little more about her. Ms Dikshit holds a Master of Arts degree. She is also the recipient of Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, from the University of Delhi. She was married into the family of Shri Umashankar Dikshit, a noted independence activist and a former Governor and Union Cabinet Minister. That’s just for starters.
She represented India on the U.N. Commission on Status of Women for five years (1984–89). In Uttar Pradesh, she and her 82 colleagues were jailed in August 1990 for 23 days by the state government when she led a movement against the atrocities being committed on women. Electrified by this, hundreds of thousands of citizens all over UP joined the movement and courted arrest. Earlier, in the early 1970s, she was chairperson of the Young Women’s Association and was instrumental in the setting up two of most successful hostels for working women in Delhi.
She is also the Secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. The trust has come to play a leading role in promotion of international understanding. It presents the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development and Organizes conferences on issues of the global concern. – Wiki
I’ve had the honour of meeting Sheila Dikshit on both my visits to India, in 2003 and 2005, and far from being someone who should be ridiculed, she is a courageous woman who should be admired and held up as an example of service for others.
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