“The next few months will decide what the future of this Project (Promoting Indian Hockey)is and whether or not India is willing to embrace change”. This is what Charlesworth said Sekhar Gupta, Editor in Chief of Indian Express in a television talk show.
In the long one-to-one programme, Rich seemed to be slightly pessimistic on current state of affairs in India. As all we know, each passing day is becoming more difficult for him, because he was not given clear objective or mandate on what for he is in India — to advice, to coach or simply wander around.
The archtypical Indian mindset that why a gora should coach us, refuses to go. Touching on the subject in the context of India not qualifying for the Olympics, Ric said in the chat: ” That should send the message. May be it’s the failure to qualify for the Olympics is the catalyst for the change that needs to occur because that in itself was such a great shock to the system. It’s like a patient who has a cardiac risk and until they have a heart-attack they they don’t change their dietary habits, and exercise, they don’t stop smoking, they don’t start taking the medication. It’s the shock of the event that brings about the change”
You can access the total discussion at MediaWatch.