India will Never be a Sports Nation
"Kotla pitch shames BCCI, nation" says the Times of India. One week from now the Times of India will not be covering this story. Or if they are, there will be a small snippet hidden somewhere in the sports section. However, you will still find articles on how India is the # 1 Test Cricket team in the world. At the end of the day, no one really cares for sports in this country. That concept does not exist. We care about a victory, a great innings, a world record and a number one ranking. But we don't care about sports. There is a difference. What happened in Kotla was in line with expectations so don't get angry. As a country, we will never be a sports nation.India has never been a sports nation and in my life time I don't think we ever will be. We have memorable victories, we have super stars, we have small inconsistent successes but we are not a sports nation. To be a sports nation we need a full proof plan for talent and facilities development. We need a vision that in 20 years we want to produce x, y and z in terms of sports achievements. And we need to implement the plan to perfection. We need coaches, talent scouts, training facilities, gyms, stadiums, grounds, leagues, equipment and a will to win. We have none. We will never be a sports nation.
Just take a look around. Abhinav Bindra had to build his own training facility. In an earlier blog I had written how the Indian football team had to go to Dubai to train because there was not a single suitable training facility in the entire country. This was in June and I bet 6 months later there still isn't a decent facility. But does anybody care? A few months ago the Hindustan Times had done a pictorial of the facilities for boxing. The Indian boxers did not have enough money to buy boxing gloves. The fact that we have succeeded in boxing is only due to individual perseverance and will. We will never be a sports nation.
I started off with the Times of India reference because that is what is going to happen. Let me ask you this, how many of you can tell me what the update is on the preparations of Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games? Can anyone? Well I can't, and I read the sports section of the paper everyday. It is shocking that we don't know because the last time the papers wrote about it, there were red flag every where. The stadiums were not ready, we were well behind schedule, there were concerns that we had no shot at completing things on time. And then what happened? Radio silence. We have not heard any update since. Who knows if there is work actually going on? No one is taking accountability of the games. The people don't care, the politicians don't care, the press and media don't care. We will never be a sports nation.
This embarrassing pitch incident will soon be forgotten. Since it is about our beloved cricket we might see some coverage for a day or two more. But that is it. Ironically, the Delhi Cricket Association has had problems before. I had blogged about it too. But it didn't matter what happened, the press stopped covering it, the corruption continued, a person who had never been curator was appointed to lay the pitch and the match was abandoned. We will never be a sports nation.
Here is one more point, I can assure you, Delhi WILL host a world cup match. There is too much political muscle in that town for it not to happen.
What we need is a revolutionary change. Like the one we had for the economy in 1991. We need an overhaul in the entire approach toward sports in India. We need to realize the potential of sports to impact the moral, attitude and largely the economy of the country. For this we need a leader. Dr. M.S. Gill has shown no signs that he can get anything done. He appears to be completely useless. Do we have a leader who can make this change in sports? I don't know. But until we find one, we will never be a sports nation.
Photo Credit- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/sri-lanka-in-india-2009/top-stories/India-Lanka-ODI-abandoned-Delhi-shamed/articleshow/5385909.cms
Dude, agree with you 100%. It is pathetic how bad we are. In India the chalta hai attitude is disgusting and nobody gives a shit what happens
ReplyDeleteWell put. I am disgusted..
PRG we suck. I mean just look how the system is in the US. You and I have talked about it before. We just dont have the system.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that we got a guy like Dhoni from Jharkhand is pure luck. How many undeveloped talents are out there like that. We are not a sports nation, I agree. We are shitty. Why do you think most indians follow the EPL and other sports. Cause cricket gets boring after a point.
Well put...In all seriousness, no jokes, we need someone like you to be in charge of sports in India. You understand how it works around the world, you know what we need, you are young and will do it brilliantly. UNfort they put an old man like Gill in charge. that is the tragedy.
ReplyDeleteOk enough sucking up to you...Good article..
we are a country of doctors, engineers, scientists, accountants, businesspeople,now BPO workers, cricketers and bollywood stars are foolish careers for a few lucky demi gods etc. etc. Did any of our parents give us options outside of these when we got to 16? Why didn't they? Bec we didn't have access to the courts at the nearest country club or at our fancy schools? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteAs a MAJORITY of people, We have lived upto now through necessity, the necessity to survive, to get past that poverty line, to put food on the table. One has to understand the history of this democracy to understand. I am not make an excuse for the pathetic current situation - that is a reality. But to uproot the disease you have to get to the cause of it.
EVERYONE go see 3 Idiots - we will fully understand why sports isn't considered a big deal, the blame lies in our homes, in our schools, in our history, in our fears. Mr Gill is part of the CAUSE and definately all of the SYMPTOM but he isn't to blame for where we are today - we are.
We have to dig deeper. The ans are there. I think the solutions are there too - our time will come but like everythign else it will be slow and it will be corruptable at all times.
I couldn't agree with you more. However, it is incorrect to blame just cricket for the debacle in other sports. I think we should look at our social structure, which is inherently biased towards "BABU" culture, at the cost of humanity, humility & straightforwardness.
DeleteSports is more of a natural way of life than any other profession or means of livelihood. If a 3 year old kid is let loose on a large field, then he or she starts running blindly. If the same kid is given a ball, then he or she would love to hurl the ball as far as possible. This is simply an example of following one's own natural instincts. However, in India, we would all want our children to be just like us, to be calm, quite, physically inactive, just to show how well behaved we are. In Bengal, we like to use the word "Bhaddrolok", which means someone who is a true gentleman(to the contrary, I find these people to be the rowdiest, unkindest and the most ruthless type in our species). These people do nothing but become replicas of their ancestors. They might have high educational qualifications and hold high paying jobs(thereby improving their positions in the Matrimonial Ads), but they dont add value to the economy or society. This is the preferred type in our society. Sports is left for those who dont have the above mentioned so-called "Bhaddrolok " like qualities. Even if they make it to the top of pyramid, we still seem to adore our next door Computer/Software Engineer/KPO/BPO Executive/Reality TV star or someone with some other university degree.
So, just blaming Mr. Gill or Mr. Kalmadi woudln't help in the long run. We need to remove those Kalmadi's or Gill's who control the social structure in our country.
And to think of it at one time the BCCI was considering hosting the World Cup Finals in Delhi.
ReplyDelete