India does not have welfare system and hence the middle class parents in India are scared about their old age and the diseases at the old age. What is the best solution: have a son, who will go to Med School or IIT. Why does this culture not change, when Indians migrate to west? Do not have space.

Bhupinder, Basking Ridge, NJ, US

In response to the ignoramus below yes, in fact, Indians have been at the forefront of many developments:

- An Indian invented Hotmail
- Pioneered plastic surgery (the surgeon Susruta, in the 5th Century BC nonetheless)
- Had the world's first ever university (in Taxila, now part of Pakistan)..

Malika Rai, London , United Kingdom

- Has managed to preserve 5,000-year old traditions by absorbing customs and ideas from natives, immigrants, and invaders - the only ancient civilisation to do so.

- Has given the world Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Is a paragon of religious tolerance. The Dalai Lama's adopted home.

Malika Rai, London , United Kingdom

- Yoga and Ayurvedic medicine, anyone?

- Not to mention some of the msot amazing and diverse cuisine in the world...

- Is the world's largest vegetarian country

- Is also the world's largest democracy

- Invented chess

India has the third largest scientific and technical English speaking manpower in the world

Malika Rai, London , United Kingdom

With all that brain power, you'd think they'd have come up with ways to improve the lot of their miserable masses of people. Did Indians with all their brain power invent the computer? The automobile? The airplane? Anything?

John McNally, San Francisco, USA

Quite a good, funny, article.

My own simple answer to a complex topic is that Indians are more risk averse. Indian parents focus their kids on academic pursuits as education and hard work pretty much guarantee a decent career. A football career is far riskier (injury, failure to be scouted etc).

Aman Singh, London,

In other words, you guys are the New Jews. Yeah, and as a rule they weren't much good at sports either, except for Sandy Koufax and that dishy Mark Spitz,

Allie, New York City,

Whats wrong with being a nation of people who are pushed into academics and the pursuit of success in a career.

In the world we live in TODAY i am proud that India has become a country that leads the world yes we have issues .

Britian has a serious problems too.

Atwal Singh

Baljit Singh, Reading, Berkshire

Far be it from me to pour scorn in the (rightful) pride taken by Indians in their ability to spell correctly, but must you use an American event to show it? That a nation who uniformly think that "Thru" and "center" are real words and feel the the letter "u" should be omitted when following "o".

Bob Finbow, Haverhill, England

Maybe it's time to begin a Cerebral Olympics, where brainiacs from all over the world compete in the more "cerebral" sports such as speech and debate or complex mathematical problem solving. Indians should do quite nicely in the Cerebral Olympics I think.

Lou, Los Angeles, USA

Hmm...perhaps this cerebral attribute, which India, in common, with most of the rest of south and south east asia has, is responsible for the decline of the UK, Europe and the US relative to them? How much did an olympic gold add to GDP anyway?

Peter, london,

Marie in Boston... what a ridiculous statement.

Sarah, London,

What you on about - I'm a champion at standing long jump, that was like an olympic sport in the 80s in the East Midlands!

Ku, London, UK

Marie, Boston - The point the author was trying to prove: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E5DD1338F936A25752C1A9659C8B63
BTW "Untouchability" is as prevalent in India as polygamy is in the US (the Texas compounds) i.e a small % age of the population. No Iam not rationalizing..

Leela, Fremont, USA

Tina (Germany) - English, not 'British'. They invented football, rugby, cricket (a billion Indians can't be wrong), snooker, modern tennis and badminton, hockey etc. Wm. Penny Brookes 'Olympic Games' in Shropshire were what inspired Baron de Coubertin. We invent. We are not obliged to do everything.

Edward, Lincoln, England

I think 'Cornish' very cerebral. They think carefully about how to deny their undeniable Englishness in pursuit of a lucrative 'independence' (i.e. bleeding the Euro taxpayer dry instead of the English variety). Let us hope they continue graciously to accept funding from London for the moment.

Edward, Lincoln, England

How "cerebral" is a culture that rationalizes slavery, oppression and exploitation? Where some of it's population are labeled "untouchables"? Where the vast majority of the population is illiterate.

Marie, Boston, MA US

G. Singh:

I was joking with my post. Although not about my husband being a nerd. Perhaps we should move to India where he will fit in better. Again, another joke!

Mary, Atlanta, US

I just wish the British excelled at anything. They can't do sports despite inventing them (tennis, anyone?) and they can't spell either (definately seems to be common these days).

Tina, Dusseldorf, Germany

As an Australian I wish my culture and country was more obsessed with its cerebral achievements than this ridiculous emphasis on sport. Nerds like Bill Gates have changed the world far more than overglorified, overpaid ball kickers such as David Beckham.

David Lea-Smith, Edinburgh, U.K.

Hi,
The charioteer of nations is complicated. I Speak French to my wife , Italian to God and German to may horse.
Regards Dr Terence Hale

Terence Hale, zandvoort, Holland

The future of the world will certainly NOT be secured by having a lot of badly behaved citizens watching others kicking a ball from one end of a field and back.
Three cheers for nerds, engineers, farmers, doctors, and other practical realists!

David Vinter,, Louth, Lincs,, UK.

Mary Atlanta you miss the point - sathnam isn't talkin about one individual he is talking about the relative failures of the whole country in sports - your husband may be a unsporty nerd but the US and UK aren't unsporty nations - oh and Malini the article stated that Indians are good at cricket??

G Singh, Edinburgh, Scotland

One other point to consider is that I like the majority of indians was bought up sitting cross legged, spines arched for a few hours every sunday praying at the local temple - is it possible that we were born physically supreme but lost it during our upbringing?

G Singh, Edinburgh, Scotland

for many women "it is hard enough escaping the kitchen" - classic British Asian stereotype of Indian women. I don;t mean to sound disingenuous - it s hard for women in India, just as it is for women in the UK, US, wherever - but we've come a long way. This article in no way reflects that.

JB, London, UK

I am Cornish and I hereby claim the right (equal opportunities and all that) to be as useless at sport as any Asian.

Anthony Price, Truro, Cornwall, UK

Couldn't help but smile when I read this! But SS, have you ever played cricket? We won the T20 world cup last year! And plz kill these generalizations abt all Indian women hiding in kitchens. Wake up to New Young Urban India! (We're a fraction, but we count, & we're not what you NRIs think we are!)

Malini, New Delhi, India

As a white woman who SUCKS at sports, after reading this I'm starting to WISH I was Indian - like my sister-in-law! - because at least then I'd have an excuse for my lack of coordination and so on!!

Athena, London,

I understand this is meant to be humorous and not serious. My husband is a huge nerd, terrible at sports, and yes, won his state spelling bee. He has two degrees from MIT and is an engineer with many Asian friends. He is an American of British descent. Explain??
My point--it is not just Asians.

Mary, Atlanta, US

It is unfortunate, that in the land of the VEDAS, decendants of these people are interested in material acculumation and acclades instead of finding peace, enlightment and Moksha/Nirvana as the ultimate goal.

And they say INDIA is one of the most religious nation on the PLANET. OM SHANTI!!

Naleen Lal, Northern California,

"...areas as diverse as software programming, business, family interference and religious rioting!!"
:)) Couldn't help but smile while reading this. Like the tone of the story, fun to read and true.

AK, Bay Area, USA

Bob-

80% of US doctors are not Indian. Indians may make up that percentage of foreign-born doctors, but I assure you that "fact" is untrue.

KM, Chicago, USA

The only other article on India I read in the papers this week is how Indians kill their girl babies.

How do the two equate?

C Stewart, Edinburgh, UK

@John W Meadows, Los Altos Hills, California
"I am very glad that the principal factor in India being a united nation is the English language."
Ohh really? oops!! I never knew that. Why don't you write a thesis on it and publish it on lets say times UK. Its most ludicrous thing I heard in 2008.

Sachin, Jammu, India

Enjoyed this article. Laughed. The satire, poignant but true observations with a romantic view why we indians do somethings better but not likely in sports. Sathnam, if may be also a reflection 'coz sporting careers fail all too often, and dont last long. we Indians think lonngg term. good work!

Rahul Nayak, Cincinnati, usa

Its refreshing to read about a nation of over a billion people where winning gold medals at the olypics isn't seen as the defining factor in showing the world how "great" that country and its people are. All written with enjoyable self-depreciating humour too. Perhaps I should move....

DW, Beijing, China

Such obsessiveness is reflected by the majority of Indians and, dare I say, the majority of other Asians (Chinese, Koreans, et al). This cerebral revolution can surely be attributed towards Eastern social standards which promote one's desire to have status and succeed financially.

Jerry Darwin, Istak, Dublin, Ireland

How can one excel in something he dosn't compreende? Sport competition is a western "thing" and so is bewiond eastern cultures. Why is it that the Olimpic Games is called "Olimpic"? Why is it that the "Marathon" is called the "Marathon"? Why is it that the "Marathon" is 4051m?

Fabio C, London, UK

Eh? Anyone for cricket?

James, London,

There is no such thing as a race of Indian people. Even Sathnam isn't silly enough to not know that. India is a diverse mix of people, some races are physically larger, taller than others that may be stronger or skinnier. Same goes for skin tone, culture and occupation in wider Indian society.

P Singh, Mumbai, India

Shall the meek (nerds) inherit the Earth? I am very glad that the principal factor in India being a united nation is the English language.
I hope that means they will be nice to us as they create their new World Empire.

John W Meadows, Los Altos Hills, California

A few years ago, my niece in Bangalore told me (in response to an idle question) told me she was studying "...theory of driving".

The whole system rewards 'virtuality' . Make it like the US where you get a leg up if you are an athlete and you'll start to see more Olympians.

Till then, spectator

Jack, New York, USA

yes Jayil, that is a joke.
A very, very old one.

Geoff, Birmingham, UK

Back on form with witty insights SS....

Kavita, London, UK

Good article. If cooking was a sport, no one could touch India. The Chinese would come second place.
:-)

jayil, london, uk

One more thing. What causes Indians to work 24/7 days in corner shops? Time for a joke-

Q) Why does India not have a football team?
A) Because everytime they get a corner, they open up a shop

jayil, london, uk

Cerebral people like the Indians are more use to humanity as a whole than those who only excel at sport. The cure for cancer will not be found on the race track. Long live nerds!

Janet, London,

Yes, it would be great if this trend of unsportiness could be reversed or atleast adressed.. particularly by the Indian male population. They could potentially be such a good-looking lot if only they would lose their potbellies .. oh and their moustaches.

Reena, Vienna,

Could genetics possibly be a reason why Indian people (and any other race for that matter) excel in some things and not others.

Andrew, Salford, UK

I think this article is quite funny, especially after the previous debacle on poshness. Beyond the tongue-in-cheek style and the sarcasm, there are so many things that are true in it. Obsessiveness, and indeed obsession, are part of the Indian psyche. If only they could transfer these to sports....

Vinay , Egham, UK

This is an excellent piece even though it states the obvious - I went to a Jesuit School in small town in India with great facilities for sport. But our aims from sport were always modest - the glory was only in acads with admission to an IIT considered the nirvana!

Sanjay Singh, Stanmore, UK

If one defines yoga mastery more prosaically as "The ability to tie one's self in knots and walk away afterward.", then Olympic yoga starts to make sense.

Michael, Pueblo, Colorado, US

On three separate occasions here in Australia, Indian migrants have earnestly reported to me that Indians make up 80% of doctors in the US. Three times, 80%. I'm keen to know where this figure was reported in the Indian media, and why it seems to have become a sort of creed.

Bob, Melbourne, Australia

Excellent article!

Kaush, Caterham, UK