India - Olympics 2012

Dear All,

How are the monsoons treating you? I am having a gala time enjoying the lovely weather. Having said its 'lovely weather' I wonder how the monsoons play a tricky game with the farmers. They don't shower where the farmer desperately needs them but pour down in excess,...flooding and damaging the crop in some regions. Wish the monsoons realise this and substantiate accordingly!!!

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Well, what's the hot topic these days??? OLYMPICS-what would be a better a hot topic than this currently. And India in OLYMPICS is even more better topic. Are we happy with the bronze bites? Are we not craving and raving for Gold??? Or do we have enough of Gold with our ladies, and so we are too relaxed to get the Gold which wouldn't even account as much as weight as the typical mangalsutra would be. May be Silver n Bronze seemed a little fancy these days, hence we grabbed 4. Why is that we Indians with a 1.2billion population could hardly afford to bring 1 silver and 3 bronze??? (I am not blaming the hard tried participants for not winning but trying to analyse the reasons behind) We say India is booming, in terms of what? Information technologists only..I guess! or a recent techno advancement is a Nano car may be, n what else. Where do we stand in the International Map??? Are sports not an integral part of a nation's pride? We shower kudos n greetings after the sportsmen win a medal, but we don't care to acknowledge when they are striving hard for one. Nor do our over curious media throw any limelight. I have had this discussion many a times with friends n colleagues, most of them say...cricket is over shadowing all other sports, or India lacks support system for such sports. Well, the truth in my opinion is that, we don't encourage other sports. Even USA has NFL n NBA, UK has Football leagues, China has Ping Pong and most of the European countries have football as their major sport...but do they overshadow other sports??? Although they have most watched sports/games, they are still standing high in Olympic medal charts. So thats not a valid reason. When it comes to support system, well, the support system is automatically created when there is value and encouragement for that sport. But, we hardly encourage different sports. May be we think it takes us nowhere.

Recently I have watched a video bite about a Triathlon athlete, a woman from south India(Anu Vaidyanathan), who is silently cruising forward in this sport. How many of us know about her,...she had won titles in many such marathons. And most importantly Triathlon is not an ordinary sport. It needs immense strength and vigorous training. What gave her that??? Just the determination that she had. If one observes our medalists, except Saina, the other 3 do not have big support system. It is their sheer determination that pushed them forward. Thanks to Gopichand academy for nurturing gems like Saina. 

So now, lets play the blame game...who should be at gunpoint??? The system or society??? Can't judge really. I knew lot of parents who wanted their children to get into a sports school and excel in sports and on the other hand there are lot of parents who pull out their kids from sports and put them in a hectic study circle. How many sports schools do we have in India??? or academies that are aimed at training kids in sports??? At least how many schools encourage games and sports today?? This goes back to the previous post of mine about the basic amenities in today's schools. Forget about teaching sports, many schools do not have a playground. They are meant to make bookworms, nothing else. A neighbour of mine who had taken her kid out of a sports school (where he was performing very well in Tennis and was about to represent the state) and put him into a only study school. I always say, had he been encouraged, he would have been a Tennis star. I still see his love for sports although he scores good in studies. My neighbour regrets her act now but complains, even though she encouraged, it would have costed her a lot to put him into a proper Tennis academy. I really don't think so. Saina, after winning the medal  mentioned in her interview that  her father and mother dreamt of her winning an Olympic medal more than her. And they have equally worked hard to put her into right track in spite of coming from a very ordinary family. Take the case of Mary Kom.. is she coming from a wealthy family that she could happily box her way to Olympics?? Again its her strong will that put her on an international platform. Not an easy task though. Of course, for that matter studies are also not so easy and affordable today. Why name only sports?

 

At least now, with the bronze inspiration, we better encourage other sports too. As our part, keep sharing budding sports stars and start spreading a word about them. It definitely boosts their spirits when there are so many cheering hands. May be we could see more Vishwanathan Anands, Hampis, Sainas, Koms n Narangs not only Tendulkars. To all those determined sportsmen and medalists, take a bow. U r truly inspiring!!! 

P.S: I have never been a sportier myself for which I regret, but I do love to support n cheer those for those who are interested.  

Cheers

Jyostna