Chinese people are not known to be generally war-loving either, so the argument that MAs died out in India coz Indians are peaceful is cr*p. I agree there’s not much of an exercise culture among Indian middle-class. But to say that Indians are not physical is simply dumb, given the amount of physical/manual labor that many many people simply have to perform to survive.

I’ve always heard from my grandfather that the Brits destroyed a lot of local Indian MAs after the original SM (forms of stick and sword fighting etc) that were common in several parts of India, similar to the way they allegedly wiped out Indian competitors to their products (muslin, anyone?) Dunno the history behind this but it would be interesting!

IMHO, the reason India was dominated by foreign powers is NOT that we were less war-like, but coz we were divided into small warring principalities.

And bong-breaker, Olympic medals are not just a product of great talent, but a system that nurtures athletes, funding, attitudes and so on. Wait, didn’t some Chinese win several track and field medals in the last Olympics??? The 110 meter hurdle sprint in particular?? So much for your racial theory…

Growing up in India, I can tell you that sports (other than cricket) was and still is not a great priority here. Other than a few intellectual circles, people rarely agonise over winning Olympic medals, it is seen as a “western” thing.

I’m willing the bet a lot that this will change soon, and within 20 or so years you’ll see a lot more Indian presence in world sport. Attitudes are changing here and more and more parents are willing to “risk” their children to a sporting career.

Long post, sorry!

They also put on more fat than most. Gurinder Chadha is a very typical Punjabi girl. Putting and muscle and losing fat don’t always go and in hand. Which is why you see so many guys (Punjabi or otherwise)with huge arms and huge bellys.

“Jeremy Wariner is fast—and white.

If the 20-year-old Baylor University junior wins the 400-meter gold as expected Monday night, he would be the first white American man to win a sprint medal since Mike LarabeeÂ’s 400 gold in 1964.”

Race is a made-up thing and you can’t tell people’s attributes by making them into a race

Anyway, we’ll leave it there. I do just want to say that I am not sizing anyone up by their race. But as someone who considered pursuing a career in athletics, I find the subject of genetic athletic ability interesting and am sometimes frustrated by political correctness obscuring debate.

Oh and you think Justin Gatlin is white? How do you figure?

DesiDancer, Hrithik is a freak. That’s why he’s more cut and can dance (don’t think I rate him as highly as you though!) Having three thumbs discounts you from any conventional classification. Why didn’t they ever remove it? Because some Indians think it’s lucky. Eesh. I like the wiki link ninjas; he would’ve been burnt at the stake in the past!

In fact his polydactyly (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/handsurgery/EJHS/wend.htm) is often associated with other chromosomal problems. Having an extra pinky is common, but a split thumb is sometimes bad news.

the extra thumb contains a secret potion, which when consumed, gives one super dance abilities. Does MJ have an extra thumb?

Check out these x-rays of polydactyls, though!

Boy, how did we get from Aishwarya to muscular Punjabis to people with too many digits?

Actually, that’s terrible to say; I read an interview where HR was saying that as a child, all the other kids didn’t want to play with him because of his freaky thumbs Poor little guy.