Is there nobody to replace PT Usha?
By T. V. R. Shenoy BEFORE Star TV began its ill-advised process of Hindification, it ran a sitcom called The Golden Girls . The girls were three grandmothers, very far from being spring-chickens. I am irresistibly reminded of that serial after the Indian women s performance in the Asian athletics meet. By the here-today-gone-tomorrow standards of modern sport, P.T. Usha is not just a mother, but a great-grandmother. It is a shame India had to depend on a 33-year-old lady coming out of retirement to win its solitary gold at Fukuoka. We must salute Usha s achievements. But what should sadden us is that there is no young man or woman in the teens or twenties who is ready to take the Golden Girl s place when her feet finally surrender to time. If we can stop drooling over India s cricketers long enough, we should be concerned at how far the gap is widening between Indian athletes and their contemporaries. Forget the traditional sporting powerhouses in Europe and the United States. Forget e
