A visionary's take on Make in India

A visionary's take on Make in India

Although meant for the Indian political and economical transformation, it can be very well applied to any other subject concerning national pride, progress and integrity. They say some things are meant to be impossible.Fortunately for us in the country of dreams, there is no such delusion, we are doers and believers and once we take on something, sky is the limit. Until quite recently we believed that India would be incapable of holding world-class tournaments with the same quality and class that is provided to players abroad, and then this myth was shattered very recently. 

52 year old Praful Zaveri ,a man of multifarious talents and resources, who has vigorously been working for the cause of chess,has finally created the yardstick against which all future tournaments will be measured. His own contribution to Chess had been explicit and significant. He is a Mumbai based professional coach, has authored couple of books on Chess, and a FIDE arbiter, and now he adds another badge to his coat, as the organiser of the grandest Chess tournaments, the country has ever seen. Which has been his vision and his mission for Chess in India, which he has almost single-handedly accomplished with the success of IIFLW event.

World class tournaments are complete with facilities such as a high quality venue, with added amenities such as the game analysis room,media room, live streaming of top games, availability of snacks and beverages, coverage from National and local media, akin to what the Indians are used to seeing for cricket.

Those who have the power and thus the responsibility to take action, always try to subvert from the discussion on our inability to hold such tournaments due to lack of infrastructure, must take note from his endeavour that where there is a will there is a way. 

Praful organised one of the world's biggest junior Chess Championship with the highest prize fund we have ever seen in an Indian based tournaments with the aid of corporate giant 'India Info Line Wealth' (IIFLW) and went on to turn his dream into reality with a one of a kind tournament. 

The event which is nearing its conclusion has won praises and has been acknowledged both nationally and internationally for its management and organisational fluency. It was held at Mumbai's prime location-BKC in the campus of Mount Litera School. It was complete with mandatory high security checks for all players and accompanying persons, who were issued I-cards before entering the tournament area, a step missing in most of our tournaments which can potentially jeopardise the fairness of results. 

However like any remarkable event this too came to concrete reality after a long and tedious journey of 10 odd months recounts Praful.

Bhumika Shah, one of the chess parents at the venue blissfully expresses “Its a great service to us and our kids, Praful sir has truly shown how intent can make a make a difference, by association with corporates he has organised a dream come true tournament for our kids”.

Praful books have in a similar manner inspired many junior Chess players across the country for years. Being both instructive and awe-inspiring to many youngsters, who live by it, including Priyadarshan Banjan, a former student of praful's chess academy who is currently the editor of Chess Base India. 

The best of the things in the world have been the result of ideas, Make in India was one such idea that has conceptualised the union of the public and the private sector, and if we can only think of the idea behind the campaign we will realise that it can be used for other significant causes too. Praful has underlined one such cause that has previously been neglected, but one man's devotion has proved every excuse implausible. We hope he continues his noble work that will change the lives and dreams of the generation to come, and accelerate their journey towards the international platform in Chess. Making India the hub of future Chess champions.