INDImag – Contemporary fiction | Motivational short stories | Social stories | Short story criticism

China, India’s arch rival in development,technology and politics is in the media glare. Publications and sites in India are waxing eloquent about the infrastructure China has stood up for the upcoming 2008 Olympics. The elaborate arrangements from ridding it’s cities of beggars to banning spitting on streets to erecting immaculate stadias has come in for much scrutiny and praise. All this frenzy culminates in a much awaited Olympics meet.

Various countries, India included will grace the meet. For India and it’s billion plus residents, it will be a great opportunity to cheer it’s apna ‘India  Shining’ winning kudos, leaving the rest of the world in dust..

Damn those detractors of India who decry India’s notable performances at the Olympics. This hue and cry despite the progress we have made from meet to meet ? We moved up from solo bronze medals in Atlanta(1996) and Sydney(2000) Olympics to a solo silver at Athens in 2004. I do not know about you, but bronze to silver while maintaining the tally is an improvement in my book !  Aim low and bolo mera Bharath Mahaan…

Ok, you get the picture. Hockey eons ago, and a few flashes in athletics apart, India’s record in the Olympics has been spectacular — spectacularly pathetic. Our impressive haul includes 8 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes in hockey ; 2 silvers in athletics ; Lt. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s 2004 silver in shooting ; bronzes by Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (Wrestling – Helsinki) , Dr Karni Singh (Shooting-Tokyo), Leander Paes (Tennis-Atlanta) and Karnam Malleswari (Weightlifting-Sydney).  

There you have it ! That’s India’s achievement in the Olympics in the last century, all surmised in a succinct minuscule paragraph. One cannot thank these winners enough, especially the solo ones in the last three meets. Without their lone wins, we would have represented the greatest contribution of India to science – 0.

When one dares to explore why we fail at sports like our politicians toeing Gandhian principles, there are excuses aplenty.

Did you say many Indians are vegetarians, they do not consume as much protein as their western counterparts and hence are not athletic enough ? Only about 30-40 % of Indians are pure vegetarians, and not all sports need you to be a hunk. Then again, if most Indians have a wiry slim body-type, we should have been good at say, gymnastics ? Tying oneself to knots is an ancient Indian talent — pun or no pun.

India lacks the infrastructure you whine ? Sure, sports are for the rich in India while the poor and middle class has to fend for it’s next meal. True. But how about our NRI brethren ? Have they, with all the resources made a mark ? In the US you routinely hear about people of other origins make it big : Michael Chang ,Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan among Asian-Americans, Pete Sampras for the Greek-Americans, Andre Agassis for Iranian-Americans and a whole bunch of people for the Latin-Americans. How many Indian-Americans have you heard that have made it big in sports ? Mohini Bhardwaj came close, but not quite. Now, do Indian-Americans lack cash (richest class of immigrants) or proteins ?

India is enormous. The bludgeoning population compounded with other crippling factors like poverty, illiteracy and corruption plague this land. These factors do put brakes on excellence in sports. But then again, how come we do not have cricket suffer from the same ills ? If anything, almost every other game suffers because of cricket, and this suffering stands out like a sore thumb, woefully exposed, at international sports meets like the Olympics.

We as a nation do not believe we can be good in other sports. Sure the rotten politicians who have infested most sports bodies do their bit to harm the game, but looking inward, we citizens do not seem to believe in much sports sans cricket. That rings true for most Indians.

State sponsored programmes that truly unearth, train and foster talent is necessary. TIME’s recent article on China’s medal machinery gives an in-depth analysis on this. India with it’s crop of corrupt politicians may never get anywhere close to being decent in Olympics ; but if the people demand it, netas can do little to stop the surge. A case in point is how India has made Formula-1 a much loved, much viewed sport while it was just a filler news 10 years ago.  

Sports for an average Indian is a costly affair ; it is a costly exercise for the Government as well. But it is much more costlier to make a half hearted attempt at participation, fail miserably time after time, and in the process cause kids – youngsters to lose hope in sports. 

Sports bring joy. At times it has provided the sole reason and goal for impoverished people to pursue a dream in the west. Sometimes we need sports to bring us together, despite all that plagues our nation. As a matter of fact, this happens today — via cricket. We need to break free of ‘ our sports start and end with cricket’ shackles.

If we are in doubt of funding, just look at the obscene money generated and spent in cricket. The same can be true for other games as well. No, it does not need Tendulkars. It needs you and me — the paying public. We have the power. The next time you buy a cricket bat, maybe pick a table tennis bat as well ? We can make this happen, or another route is if Pakistan develops a strong Olympic program ! If that happens, you can bet your bottom rupee that India will get a better one !   

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