A recognition draped in gratitude

If you are someone who wants to be updated with current world events, then your Saturday morning started with two very bad news -- Friday night's terror attack in Paris which left at least 128 people dead and the provisional ban on athletics giants Russia by the IAAF.

The Paris attack is a rude reminder of how volatile and unsafe the world is increasingly becoming with every passing day. The IAAF ban on Russian athletics federation is a testimony of how deeply the evil of doping in sport is rooted.

Confounded with the two seriously damaging issues, firstly as a peace-loving human being and secondly as a sports lover, it was perhaps the wisest move for you to seek refuge in something that might eventually allow you to regain your positive energy.

And one of those places you should have been was certainly the NSC Auditorium, where the Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) accorded a reception to as many as 86 organisers, who are now above 65 and have served the country's sports in different capacities for 25 or more years.

It was not like any other traditional and cliché receptions, where we often have a chief guest and a deputy to make it academic and to some extent very boring. It was recognition in its truest sense and at times inflicting when an octogenarian organiser, who served as the first sectary of NSC, choked with emotion while making a brief speech.

They were presented with scarves and crests, a very ordinary gift in terms of price. But they will definitely keep those mementos for as long as they live as gestures of genuine respect. The list is big, but still missed some more selfless organisers. However, the effort, the first of its kind, of the BSPA deserves plaudits in a sporting culture where we are very miser in recognising an individual achiever and even when we recognize, it is often judged by the individual's political affiliation.

There were so many selfless organiers and as they stood together for photos during the final part of the programme, the history of Bangladesh's sports was projected in one frame. They are the building blocks of what our sporting institutions are now. Ironically, they were under the roof of the NSC, the custodian of country's sports, which has hardly tried to bring all those selfless souls together to be the true centre of sporting excellence.

NB: As the unique event was coming to a close, Zobera Rahman Linu, the most magnificent table tennis player the country has ever produced, made her debut as singer with a beautiful old Bangla song.