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about Asia Buzz
Subcontinental Drift: South Asian of the Year
...and why the heavyweights failed to make the grade
By APARISIM GHOSH
December
27, 2000
Web posted at 12:45 p.m. Hong Kong time, 11:45 p.m. EDT
And the winner is... Karnam Malleshwari. Subcontinental Drift hereby names the
Indian weightlifter as South Asian of the Year 2000. Take a minute to sputter in
your coffee.
Done? O.K., here's why: the 25-year-old won bronze in the 69-kg category
in Sydney this summer, becoming the first woman from the region to stand on an
Olympic podium.
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 ASIA BUZZ
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Subcontinental Drift: Movers and Shakers
Your nominations for the South Asian of the Year
- Wednesday,
December 6, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Picking Winners
Name your own South Asian of the Year
- Wednesday,
November 29, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Queering the Pitch
Ending Indo-Pakistani cricketing ties is a mistake
- Wednesday,
November 22, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Musharraf's Mind
The General has some pretty strange -- and dangerous -- notions
- Wednesday,
October 25, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Year of the General, Part Two
In which I offer (faint) praise of Pakistan's dictator
- Wednesday,
October 18, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Year of the General, Part One
Musharraf began with promise: he hasn't kept it
- Thursday,
October 12, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Games Plan
How to improve South Asia's Olympic medal haul
- Thursday,
September 28, 2000
Subcontinental Drift: Bronze Goddess
An Indian athlete lifts the Olympic gloom
- Thursday,
September 21, 2000
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 ASIAWEEK
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Malleswari overcame incredible odds on her way to the Olympic medal, among them
a humble background (she is the daughter of a railway policeman in an
economically backward district of Andhra Pradesh state) and perfidious Indian
sports authorities.
She has represented India since 1990, winning a clutch of medals in world
wrestling championships: 2 gold and a bronze in Turkey in 1994, three golds in
China the following year. She also three golds at the Asian championships in
Korea in 1995 and another in Japan in 1996.
Despite this impressive track record, however, few Indian sports pundits
expected her to win anything at the Olympics. One magazine even carped at her
private life, implying she lacked the will to win because—get this—she drank
beer! Malleswari also had to overcome intense politicking within the Indian
weightlifting federation which almost denied her a ticket to Sydney. In the end,
though, she showed them all.
It is a sad state of affairs that only months after making her country
proud, Malleswari has once again been cast into the shadows, forgotten
by the media and the politicians who had basked in her reflected glory.
But she'll be back. In an exclusive interview, she told TIME of her
plans for the future. Click here for
the full text.
Over the past month, legions of readers have written in to nominate their South
Asian of the Year. Others have posted nominations on the Subcontinental Drift
bulletin board. Here, in the order of votes polled, are your favorites -- and why
I think they fell short of the mark.
Velupillai Prabhakaran: A concerted campaign by his supporters took the
secretive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers to the head of the pack. Most
nominators cited Prabhakaran's recent call for peace negotiations with Colombo.
Sadly, we live in a times when a call for peace is frequently followed by the
sound of gunfire (see Palestine, Kashmir and, for that matter, Sri Lanka
itself). If Prabahkaran proves true to his word and negotiations do begin in the
months ahead, he will be a strong candidate for South Asian of the Year 2001.
Atal Behari Vajpayee: The Indian Prime Minister's admirers also cite his two
attempts this year to open dialogue with Kashmiri separatist groups. Full marks
to Vajpayee for persistence. But simply calling for an end to the fighting isn't
enough: Kashmiris have many genuine grievances that need to be addressed.
Vajpayee hasn't yet indicated how and when he plans to do this. Nor has he
helped matters by continuing to prop up the deeply unpopular—and morally
illegitimate—state government of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. That's why I
remain skeptical of his ability to deliver peace in the disputed territory.
Vajpayee's case is also weakened by his past missteps: this is the man,
remember, who dragged South Asia to the nuclear precipice two years ago. Again,
if the ceasefire in Kashmir holds and negotiations get off the ground, Vajpayee
will be a contender in 2001.
Chandrababu Naidu: The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, who was South Asian
of the Year 1999, continues to draw praise at home and abroad for his visionary
leadership. But while Naidu remains a shining icon in Indian politics, he didn't
achieve enough this year to retain his title.
Incidentally, Malleswari is the second person from Andhra Pradesh to be named
South Asian of the year. Go Golties!
Write
to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com
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