Parading the Goalless Endeavour
First of all let us highlight, admire and cheer the half a dozen torch
bearers of Indian contingent who had gladdened and propelled the hearts of 1.2
billion nation waiting anxiously for the last two weeks with silent whispers,
prayers and sleepless nights, watching
the rise and fall of Sportsindia in the quadrennial sports carnival on the
banks of Thames. Even though they did not set Thames on fire, it did bring
considerable relief, belief, consolation
and admiration to this otherwise mighty nation which has or had nothing to rave
about save cricket and of course a few isolated individual achievements brought
by a handful of dedicated sportspersons now and then.
A lot will be discussed in the weeks to come as to how to honour these deservedly gallant heroes, only ways of
doing so will differ. Showering heaps of adjectives as to who did this and the
ways of showering gifts in quantitative terms to showcase their never so die interest
in the welfare of Indian sports will be the order of the day. All said and done,
victory has many fathers and defeat is an orphan. A lot of mudslinging will take
place across the table as to find fault with what went wrong, who did the wrong
and to add insult to injury, finding and nailing some foreign coach as to the
cause of this shame and debacle.
But let us not forget to introspect ourselves. Where does the fault lie?
It may range from murky politics,
mundane politicians, lack of facilities or lack of the will to win or a mixture
of all in different ratios and proportions, all ending before a committee of
persons who may know no more than the spelling of sport discipline. They judge
as to what went wrong and what to do
next to achieve the impossible again.
Let us rewind our Cricketing history. Are we not beaten umpteen times, by
all nations till 1983 and all our foreign tours ending in a fiasco and disaster.
For a nation to rise from nadir to the pinnacle of glory, there should be a catalytic
pump. For cricket, it came in the form of 1983 World Cup. It was the victory of
a dedicated group with the sole purpose of a will to win. So was 2011. Between
1983 & 2011, Indian cricket saw many ups and downs while Indian fans
continued to patronize the game faithfully.
Need of the hour is some radical thinking. We have to have sports
schools in every town, with the best in infrastructure ,facilities, coaches and
all prerequisite. Sports and primary education should be hand in glove. The incentives
should be based on performances strictly on merit basis not on bias. Teachers
should be promoted on basis of their ward’s laurels than the yearly routine. The
education should be result oriented rather than job. The whole system must be
supervised by a dedicated bunch of organizers including the political bigwigs, corporate
giants to monitor, guide and look after the trainee’s welfare and to unearth
raw talents and sustain their tempo with all its sincerity.
Till such thing happens, though not a distant dream, we Indians have to
look far down the long list of nations to track the name India and be satisfied
that it is not first from the rear and let Bindras, Sainas ,Sushil Kumars, Mary
Koms blossom in our hearts to pump faster, higher and stronger. Compare our neighbor
China, first in terms of populace, second in the medal table. If such a miracle
if you have to say so, can happen in China it can and should happen in India as
well.
I still believe that all is not lost yet. I perceive the light at the end of the tunnel.
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