The Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo is the spiritual home of sumo wrestling, the national sport of the 2020 Olympics host country. It has hosted every legendary national sumo fight since it was rebuilt in 1985. Few stadia in Japan are as iconic as the kokugikan (translates to ‘stadium of national sport’), despite its capacity of just 11,000 people.
At the 2020 Olympics, boxing is the only sport that will be hosted at the kokugikan. But the significance of the arena might be lost on the pugilists. Vijender Singh, India’s first Olympic boxing medallist, told THE WEEK that he does not care for venues. “I never remember the city name, place name…. It’s all about boxing. Go into the ring, beat that guy, come out with the medal,” he said.
Perhaps it sums up a boxer’s mentality. A single-minded focus to win that shuts off everything else around them. In that moment, everything outside the 6.1sqm ring fades to black. Andre Agassi in his book, Open, said that only boxers could understand the loneliness that tennis players experience on the court. For that 11-minute-long bout, they undergo a lifetime of training and struggle. And struggle really is the thread that runs through the current Indian contingent.
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Denne historien er fra August 01, 2021-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
