I say this because when India Today sent out its correspondents to chart the condition of former Indian athletes, what we found was staggering. A World Cup hockey player who broke stones in a quarry. A footballer suffering from Parkinson's disease, too ashamed to explain how he met his expenses. Perhaps the most poignant story came from Punjab, where Principal Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak, who wrote the story with Associate Editor Rohit Brijnath, met former Asian Games gold medallist Makhan Singh. Says Vinayak flatly: "Men like him were my heroes. I could not reconcile his medals with his hardship. When I was leaving, he touched my feet and said, 'Do something for me'. I wept." It is unforgivable that in a land which has so few achievers we cast aside our only heroes.

Another story in this issue that tugs at the heartstrings comes from Rajasthan where village women are routinely bought and sold. Often husbands desert their wives and then push them into relationships with other men and collect money. What is bizarre is that the caste panchayats fix the price. Says Senior Correspondent Rohit Parihar, who toured numerous villages with Senior Photographer Sharad Saxena: "Some women are standing up. But since it has societal sanction it won't be easy to stop this primitive practice."

I have always believed that a country's progressiveness can be judged by the way it treats its women and takes care of its children. On both counts India's record remains shameful.

(Aroon Purie)