Three-in-won!

NAGPUR, October 12: There are plenty of lousy jobs out here in India: Asia Cup-winning hockey player, world chess champion - occupations so unrewarded by public sentiment that it is a wonder such people force themselves to get up in the morning and read newspapers detailing how winning the World T20 has made India's already rich cricketers richer.
And there are plenty of lousy hoardings out there.But the 'Big Three' hoarding, flanking the boundary wall that circumvents the Maharajabag Club here, comes as a pleasant surprise. There's Dhoni strangling Dhoni. And just next to it is a hoarding of hockey players with the slogan 'Chak De' and one of world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand.
In these times when hockey players threaten to launch a hunger-strike in protest against officialdom's failure to reward their feat of being the continent's best, and Viswanathan Anand indiactes that the magnitude of the reception he would receive on his homecoming after being crowned king would be Lilliputian compared to how the cricketers were recently welcomed back from South Africa, the 'Big Three' hoarding brings a smile to your face. So let's thank this city's spirit, which celebrates all sports, the Hockey Lovers' Association, the Nagpur District Chess Association (NDCA), and the club which gives to these hoardings their address.
"The Indian public being more than familiar with cricket, our objective is to promote other sports while appreciating individuals and teams that bring glory to the country," explains Vinod Trivedi, executive secretary of the club. According to KK Barat, secretary of the NDCA, "Anand is an asset to the country; it is essential that every Indian knows that he is world champion."
For those doubting the authenticity of these sentiments, let it be known that these hoardings were put up in chronological order, following each feat - be it in hockey, cricket or chess - as it was accomplished, and not as a follow-up to the discontent in certain quarters against cricket hogging the limelight and money.