A twitter post I saw today went thus – “Just to put a
perspective to the Indian Olympic performance - 6 medals from 1984-2008 & 6
in 2012”. Even without that perspective, this has been a phenomenal
Olympics. I still remember the joy of the lone bronze won by Leander back in
1996. Since then, it’s always been waiting for that one elusive medal while
seeing with heartburn much smaller countries winning lots of medals. That ways,
this Olympics indeed marks a new turning point in Indian sport. With the
exception of tennis and hockey, even the athletes who did not win any medals
gave it their all – Kashyap’s was a heartwarming performance and all the male boxers put up a brave
show(better refereeing would have given different results). The medals will not only ensure better
funding and sponsorship for these sports but will ensure greater mindspace in media and the
powers that be. The debate in media has already started
about how to take sports in India
There are two main things I want to take away from this
Olympics – first, the spirit of the Indian woman. I think every woman who is
successful in any field in India needs to be lauded for the simple fact that it
isn’t enough that she needs to be good enough in her respective field but she
also needs to overcome the societal barriers associated with it(Yes, they exist
to a large extent even today). That ways, every achievement by them needs to be
celebrated ten times more than a similar achievement by men. So Hats off, Saina
Nehwal and Mary Kom! (BTW, Mary is my new favorite sportsperson - Sorry Saina!)
The second is about inspiring a new generation. Sachin/Dravid
in one of their interviews long back had said that watching Kapil and his team
lift the 1983 World Cup was an important reason for them taking up the game.
That World cup victory had inspired an entire generation of cricketers and
produced the Kumbles and Gangulys of last decade. It wasn’t that cricket wasn’t
popular before (Gavaskar was a household name at least a decade before) but the
WC win inspired a whole generation of youngsters to take up the game. The same way, I hope this Olympics inspire an
entire new generation to take up new sports. The challenges still remain (making
a career out of these sports is still not easy today) but if you are a parent
reading this, let’s try and develop a Usain Bolt from our midst in the next
twenty years. What’s the fun in sending your kid to IIT/IIM when they can be a
Roger Federer instead? J
So let’s celebrate this great performance but more
importantly let’s use them as a stepping stone for a brighter future in Indian
sports!
