It was Sunday. The football match had just begun when I came to know about the post match plans of swimming. I was thrilled, after all it had been quite a long time since I last swam. The game got over. We packed our things and moved out of green. We headed to Talkatora stadium only to find out that the pool was not open for us. The guards didn't let us in for some unknown reasons. Instead of losing our brains on the guards after an exhausting game of football we politely headed over to YMCA. On reaching there we came to know that swimming pool stays closed on Sundays so it was not an option for us. We rolled over and headed for the grand stop Commonwealth Games village. It was my first time, I saw a team of widely spread players on the ground playing cricket. My hopes raised more when I saw groups of young people relaxing in the main lobby. We headed towards the reception and enquired about the pool. We were late. The swimming pool was closed as per the timings. We thought of playing table tennis until we can get in later batch of swimming. This was not entertained either by the receptionist who said that we needed different kind of shoes to be able to play here and a medical slip for swimming if we intend on coming back there. That is when most guys lost their patience and acted all insane on the way to the parking lot. This was turning out to be a really shitty day. The same thing happened at Kendriya Vidyalya in AGCR colony. We stepped back and grabbed a beer and talked about the sporting culture of the country. We finally went to Yamuna sports complex, where we enjoyed an hour of swimming confirming the timings and every possible situation on the phone before going there.
This is just the tip of the ice berg and It happened in the capital of India. It wouldn't take a commission or a research to understand how downtrodden is the condition of sports infrastructure in India. What we as as non-athletes faced was the poor management and the lack of sports infrastructure. Imagine what it's like being an athlete in a country that doesn't recognise your efforts and but is eager to judge you in the instantaneous performance that has taken years of blood and sweat to do right without the proper resources, ample time and constant support of the people. Everyone wants their piece in the celebrations but no one wants you down in your hustle until it means something to them.
Government has an easy way out of this pandemonium. When an athlete brings a medal. They have a sure shot way of gaining good press by announcing financial incentives that involves crores of rupees, government jobs and flats as rewards for their performance at Olympics. Silver medal winner, P.V Sindu aquired more than 10 crores INR for her impressive feat at Rio Olympics. There was a queue of gifts presented by various governments that included 5 crores by Telanga government, 3 crores Andhra Pradesh government and 2 crores by Delhi government. Money is definitely important incentive to give new impetus to the players but we need to ask ourselves if the responsibility ends there. If government keeps filling the pockets of sport stars selectively it will not breed a sporting culture that would set out to touch new heights in their sports but a set of players performing better for money.
Where is this hefty amounts of money coming from. If we are not mistaken it is from the government treasury that the government is splurging on the medal winners to get good first page covers. There is no vision for sports in our country. It is working at the behest of frail academies and associations that lacks government support and the support of media in highlighting the sporting events across the country. This happens because the sports other than cricket lack commercial appeal so there are no sponsors or corporations that are willing to put money to promote sport series and leagues. Government can establish stadiums under the names of winners who bring laurels for the country to pay their tributes and create a name for them in sporting era that can continue to inspire more people into sports but since government has a knack of doing things without seeking public opinion it can spend the money any way it pleases to do. Government can start new academies and stadiums under the names of our winners but doling out 5 crores seem rather easier. Recently a minister from Haryana government awarded Dera Sacha Sauda chief with a bounty of 50 lac rupees for promoting sports. It is a good step by BJP in Haryana to consolidate the votes of MSG's disciples by using the public money. If democratically elected leaders want only want our votes as our part of representation but not our criticism and dissent then there's something fundamentally wrong with the biggest democracy in the world.
I was pleasantly elevated at hearing prime minister Narendra Modi's announcement of creating a task force of professionals, experts, mentors and a set of qualified individuals to run a team to head the a committee who can look over the proceedings of proper training of athletes in Olympics 2020, 2024 and 2028 that may ensure more medals for India. The vision is grand but we have to see it happen so can we definitely aim higher in Olympics on an international stage. The attitude of the Prime minister is not yet reflected in the sports ministry and it is yet to show the same conviction and grip the mood of the nation with its long term plans and objectives.
Sports is dumbed down as show business in India where the commerce takes an edge over the game. Cricket has ruled as the most celebrated game in the nation. Cricketers enjoy the same eminence as the stars of movies in the country. The sporting culture has not evolved in the country of billion plus people because it has been reduced to some kind of television reality show. Our perception of sports has to evolve to bring greater recognition to sports as space of people with dynamism. One medal and there would be fleet of Bollywood stars waiting at your door, wanting to rub shoulders with you, media glares and cameras making you blind and lucrative offers from all directions that can make any sportsperson lose grit over their field of expertise.
This is what happened with boxer Vijender Singh, when he was pounced with advertisements, shows, live promotional events and Bollywood movies. Similarly, Sushil Kumar who had won two medals for India at Olympics in wrestling met a similar fate when he couldn't make it to the selection board of the contingent representing India. Citing foul play against his opponent, he went all out in high court seeking a re-match but what seemed to be a misfortune was events felt like lack of preparations. Sushil Kumar had prior commitments to TV shows like Roadies and other commercial endorsements. He had participated in commonwealth games at Glasgow and won a gold medal after moving from 66kg category to 74kg division. He participated in couple of other tournaments, other than that he didn't participate in other major events citing his injuries. Before world championship last year, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had conducted trails but Sushil Kumar chose to opt out of the competition for his shoulder injuries. Also, he didn't participate in inaugural Pro wrestling league honouring to the same reasons of injury. The lustre of the gold medal corroded the mind of the player with growing fortunes of media frenzy. He was probably expecting a special attention of being boarded to a plane to Rio without having to get on ground and fighting on the spot until it happened and he was not selected. It is hard to manage the new found fame. It can rattle anyone, these are people form rural parts of India who can be fazed with the fast lives of metros cities. It took some time for boxer Vijendra Singh to be back on his training and it hopefully it will happen with wrestler Sushil Kumar as well.
It would take a collective effort on our side to get past our apathy towards the sports. One of the coach or mentor of the sportsperson made a very sensible remark for the players to not be jumbled into the web of government bodies and focus on their game because it can ruin their chances as they make easy targets for chairpersons of athletic federations, Olympics associations and sports ministries. A sportsperson is meant to play a sport not become a politician. Therefore, it becomes our duty as the people of this nation to shake the Netas from their high chairs and make them for what they have been elected to do. Only then we can expect to have a sporting culture in our country where sports is not looked down upon as a means of avoiding a good life after admissions in IITs and IIMs of the country. Sports builds mental strength, character, team work and leadership. Things that ought to nurtured and valued, not be treated as a reality show on TV that jerks our players into the spot light and berates them to perform and win medals for the country with the snap of Lights, camera and action.
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