VANCOUVER - They call him India's fastest man.

And when veteran luger and perennial underdog KANNAN PALAN Shiva Keshavan strides into BC Place Stadium this evening for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games, it will be with some last-minute help from Vancouver's sizable Indo-Canadian community.

India's Winter Olympic team faced considerable challenges just to make it to here. Mr. Keshavan broke both a bone in his back and his only sled in a nasty crash less than two months ago.

Adding further stress, the uniforms supplied to the athletes and their coaches for tonight's event were mismatched and in poor condition.

Yet South Asians in Greater Vancouver are rallying around Mr. Keshavan and the two skiers who fellow athletes that make up India's tiny Winter Olympic team.

This week, an event in Surrey, B.C., raised more than $8,000 for the delegation - money that will be used for new equipment, future training and spending money while in Vancouver. A local sporting goods manufacturer has even donated fresh uniforms to be worn at the opening ceremonies.

"It's the first time we are participating in a place that has such a large Indian population ... to feel this kind of support from our community on the other side of the world from India, it is such a great feeling," Mr. Keshavan said in an interview yesterday.

While India's strong economy and growing middle class have greatly improved the country's standing on the world stage, winter sports and their athletes receive scant attention and funding in the country, where a national obsession with cricket rivals Canada's fixation on hockey. Mr. Keshavan, however, said that he and his teammates have been embraced since arriving in British Columbia to prepare for their events. There are about 250,000 people of South Asian descent in Greater Vancouver.

"People here understand that there is a lot more to sport. And maybe they also know the hardships we face being Indian," he said.

At 28, and competing in his fourth Olympic Games (he qualified for the Nagano Games at just 16), Mr. Keshavan, who is 28 and competing in his fourth Olympic Games (he qualified for the Nagano Games at just 16), said the Indian team feared their mismatched and unbranded uniforms would embarrass the athletes, coaches and supporters when they carried the country's flag into the stadium for the opening ceremonies.

"The organization has been very bad. Some people had some uniforms, other people had other uniforms. There was no uniform uniform," he said.

Fortunately, with the help of an old school friend from India who is now based in British Columbia, Mr. Keshavan and the Indian team will be wearing brand new, matching track suits tonight.

The outfits will allow the athletes, which in addition to - Mr. Keshavan and includes skiers Jamyang Namgialv and Tashi Lundupv, - to put their best foot forward in front of the world before they turn their attention to competition.

Even with the new-found local support, India's only Olympic luge athlete is facing a daunting challenge to win a medal in the harrowing event, which begins tomorrow.

In December, Mr. Keshavan suffered a serious crash that not only cracked a vertebra, setting vertebrae that set-back his training regime, it also destroyed his aging sled. While he is receiving funding from the Indian government for the first time this year, it took about $15,000 in donations from a group of lawyers in India who heard about Mr. Keshavan's predicament for him to afford a new sled.

Mr. Keshavan is hoping to crack the Top 10 in the luge event. It won't be easy. In a sport where even North American countries have started to catch up to traditional powerhouses such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland - Germany has been reported to spend between €2-million to €3 million on development of sleds alone - sliders such as Mr. Kashavan are treated almost as hobbyists - even though it's his fourth Olympics.

It has become a moneyed sport, so much so that flavours of the month such as the Jamaican bobsled team no longer have the resources to qualify for the games.

Indo-Canadian business leaders in Vancouver, including Shushma Datt, the CEO of i.t. Media Broadcasting, which operates two Indian radio stations and produces local Indian television programs, have been pitching in to help India keep pace. Ms. Datt organized the gathering in Surrey that raised the $8,000 for India's Winter Olympians.

"The athletes that have come here have had very little funds for their training and equipment," she said in an interview. "The money we raised will certainly help."

With a report from Jeff Blair in Whistler

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/luge/news/newsid=38841.html

சோனியாவின் சீலையையும், சிங்கின் தலைப்பாகையையும், கருணா நிதியின் கண்ணாடியையும் பிடித்தால் கடைசியில் இப்படிதான் கோ...... தையும் உருவி விடுவாங்கள்.

இதைதான் வாழ்க இந்தியா! ஜெய் ஹிந்த் என்று சொல்லுவதோ

இண்டியாவுலை , பாகிஸ்தானை சேர்ந்த காஷ்மீரல சறுக்கி விளையாடிப் போட்டு வந்த வீரர்களுக்கு பாராட்டு.

சிங்களவனுக்கு ரசாயன ஆயுதமும், ராடர் கருவிகளும், நூற்றுக்கணக்கான யுத்தத் தாங்கிகளும், ரோந்துக்கப்பல்களும் அள்ளி அள்ளிக் கொடுக்க பணம் இருந்தது, ஆனால் தனது விளையாட்டு வீரரின் மானத்தை மறைக்க ஆடை கொடுக்கப் பணமில்லை??!!!!!

சிலவேளை மும்பாய் சிவப்பு விளக்குப் பகுதியிலிருந்து கூட்டி வரப்பட்டவர்களாக இருக்கலாம். எதற்குச் சிரமம் என்று ஆடை இன்றிக்கூட வந்திருக்கலாம். கெட்ட கேட்டிற்கு ஒலிம்பிக்கில் வேறு பதக்கம் வேண்டுமா??

பரதேசிகள், இவர்கள் அழியும் நாளிற்காகப் பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.

வெட்கக்கேடான செய்தி, இந்தியா உலக தரத்தில் குப்பைதான் கூட்டலாம். இந்த கேவலமான செய்தியை துர்தர்ஷன் போட்டுக் காட்டுமா.

வெட்கக்கேடான செய்தி, இந்தியா உலக தரத்தில் குப்பைதான் கூட்டலாம். இந்த கேவலமான செய்தியை துர்தர்ஷன் போட்டுக் காட்டுமா.

அவங்கள் போட மாட்டாங்கள்.நாங்கள்தான் ஊதிப்பெருப்பிக்க வேண்டும்.

இதை மாதிரி உள்ள தளங்களில சிங்களப் பெயர்களில கருத்தை எழுதி விடுங்கோ..! ஏதோ எங்களால முடிஞ்ச ஆறுதல்..!

இதை மாதிரி உள்ள தளங்களில சிங்களப் பெயர்களில கருத்தை எழுதி விடுங்கோ..! ஏதோ எங்களால முடிஞ்ச ஆறுதல்..!

சகோதரர் இசைக்கலைஞர், இப்படி தடியையும் தந்து காலையும் காட்டினால்??? என்னால் பொறுக்கமுடியவில்லை, சிங்கள பேரில் கருத்து போட்டுடன்.