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From The Editor In Chief
 Sports
writer Frank Keating once called the Olympics a "quadrennial global
genuflection to gigantism" and it is difficult to disagree; over
the past decade, every Olympics has promised to be bigger, better, more
spectacular and more profitable than the last. So does Sydney,
host city to the 2000 Games. There are also, as routinely, scandals
erupting around the Olympics: corruption in the bidding process, organised
doping campaigns that beat the best testers and rampant commercialism.
In short, all the familiar blots of late 20th century life. But still
the Games endure because they are the playground of sporting giants.
India unfortunately
remains dwarfed and invisible in such company; every four years our sports
officials try to make up for their past omissions and implore our athletes
to perform miracles. They never happen but that has not stopped Indians
from tuning in to follow the Games. How is it that the Olympics manage
to remain so appealing and why is a sporting event being held thousands
of miles away, one where Indians will be but minor players, featured so
extensively this week?
The answer
lies in the Olympics themselves: more than any other event in the world,
the Games manage to capture the striving for individual excellence and
the spirit of global community, all at the same time. Strip them of their
commercial hype and they will still remain a riveting display of physical
skill and temperamental strength. The sporting superpowers of the world
may sweep up medals by the bucketful but at the Games it is the lone athlete
who is recognised, feted and remembered, whether he is from Thailand or
Turkey. Our coverage in this issue provides a range of insights into what
to expect and who to watch for in Sydney.
Back home
another kind of race took centre stage. As West Bengal's marathon man
Jyoti Basu, India's longest serving chief minister, made retirement plans,
his fiery competitor, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, turned the
heat on. Our in-depth report goes into the likely outcome of this no-holds
barred battle for supremacy in Bengal.
For us at
India Today the week began on a very sad note. Hemant Pithwa, 41, our
talented Mumbai-based photographer who had been with us for 11 years,
died suddenly of a heart attack. Hemant was a versatile professional whose
work was driven by an all-consuming passion. We will miss him dearly.
(Aroon
Purie)
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The
Government should encash at least a part of its stake in LIC and GIC before
its too late, suggests INDIA TODAY associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar
in 
