Today morning, yours truly was having a discussion with his students over the discriminatory treatment that non-cricketers get in India. As a teacher, the writer was impressed at the varied views that came up. Needless to say, he was pleasantly surprised. Freshers, they might be, but there was no dearth of enthusiasm when it came to voicing their opinions.
So, PV Sindhu has created history for being the first Indian woman to win a silver at the Olympics. Wrestler Sakshi Malik too has had her name written on walls marked for legends by winning a bronze, a first for an Indian woman wrestler in the Olympics. In the coming days, there will be felicitations galore for both. Monetary rewards (Sakshi has already gained some), interviews, endorsement offers and the common eulogising on the streets are waiting to welcome the two medal winners once they are back.
But, delve deep: A country that boasts 125 crore people still is content with a bronze. A silver is a bonus and if at all a gold comes our way, we cut loose. Compare this to USA, China, Russia and Great Britain, their athletes talk of gold and not just a medal at any international sporting event.
At the time of writing this article, India is placed 62nd in the list of medal winners even behind Jamaica, Colombia, Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus, Argentina, Chinese Taipei, Ethiopia and Georgia to mention a few. A country like Azerbaijan has more in its kitty than India. Oh come on, even Venezuela that is fighting an acute food crisis is ahead of India.
Our sports minister Vijay Goel revels in taking selfies with some members of the Indian contingent. He hardly has any concrete solution to a menace called "abysmal performance.' Trust me, even a Sindhu will be lost in oblivion, if we don't focus on the road ahead. The likes of Karnam Malleswari, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Mary Kom, Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra and Sushil Kumar who have earned the country laurels in previous Olympics are nowhere to be seen.
Some like Kom and Kumar didn't even qualify for Rio. But what we have done with Kom seems 'laudable.' A film has been made on her and she is even a Rajya Sabha MP. And Rathore by the way is a union minister in the current regime. Well, we have honoured our sporting heroes in our own way.
The problem with Indian sports other than cricket is lack of vision. The government still thinks a hundred times before investing in wrestling, badminton, athletics and even hockey. Forget, the government, what exactly is the role of the media? When it comes to Olympics, a glimmer of hope to bag a bronze, and the media goes crazy. Olympics over, if you have won a medal, the brief celebration and it's back to the 22-yards. It's back to Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, MS Dhoni and the other megastars who are part of a game called cricket.
Spare a thought for Sakshi Malik who has fought gender discrimination to flutter the tri-colour atop in Rio. Accepted that she is going to be financially better placed post her triumph, but what next? Will she set a trend and pave way for a couple of more Sakshis to step in and aim at a gold in 2020? There's no comprehensive policy in sports in India, so what do you expect?
It may be disheartening, but thanks to our mindset, beyond felicitations, we will hardly look at the larger picture. Sindhu makes it to the finals and her senior Saina who won an Olympic bronze in London (2012) is advised to hang up her boots on Twitter. Come on, we Indians love to run our heroes down.
Don't blame the Koms, Kumars and Dutts. Even they are not oblivious to the fact that a place in the top three in the Olympics will assure them of a stable future because even a bronze is worth a million in India.
Just one gold since 2008 thanks to Bindra and seven bronze medals and three silvers are all what we have till 2016. And a country like Kazakhastan has won 17 medals in one Olympic event (2016).
The article doesn't intend to undermine the efforts of Sakshi and Sindhu. But what it tries to point fingers at is the psyche of an Indian mind that's elated at being number four or three and just refuses to raise the bar.
To wind up on a positive note, let's hope and pray that Sindhu and Sakshi lead from the front and inspire many more Sindhus and Sakshis to emerge and eye a gold and not just a silver or a bronze.
Leave it to the government to aim higher or else, don't castigate our successful cricketers for being darlings of the nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment