Indian Sports

The last 2 months have been great for sports lovers like me with the just concluded Commonwealth Games and the on-going Asian Games.

Now, almost everyone has blasted the Commonwealth Games organisation. Although there were shortcomings and the corrupt people need to be punished, I think the media did create a mountain out of a molehill. There were problems but they are present in almost all international events. Probably there were some more problems in the Delhi games but there was massive exagerrations e.g. the reported expenditure was Rs. 60000 crores - a figure which included the cost of flyovers, the Delhi metro - much of which would have been spent even if the games were not being held. I agree that the culprits need to be punished, but I would not question the rationale of hosting the games.

I attended a number of events during the Commonwealth games and the experience was simply great. I had only watched cricket live at a stadium before that but I have now realized the experience of watching any sport live is a very different one. The atmosphere at the India-Pakistan hockey match surpassed any experience I had at any cricket stadium and nothing beats the experience of hearing your National Anthem play when one of the country's athletes wins a Gold medal. Hence, it was a shame to learn that many events saw empty stadiums. There is a serious problem of marketing events in India. An example would be the Asian Badminton Championship held in Delhi in May. Not many people would be aware of the fact that many greats such as Lin Dan etc. were taking part in the event. The visibility of the event was so low that a policeman standing at a crossing just before the Siri Fort Sports Complex did not know about the event. Hence, I feel that small improvements such as better marketing of events could help raise the profile of sports in the country.

During the Commonwealth games, the Indian contingent, buoyed by the crowds, put up their best ever performance in the Commonwealth Games. I agree that the Commonwealth games are nowhere in comparison to the Olympics or even the Asian games for that matter, but these games do help in building the infrastructure as well as provide much-needed recognition to our neglected sports people. Such recognition along with the support of the government only would encourage parents to encourage their children to take up sport as a career.

Many people would be disappointed with the performance of the Indian contingent in the Asian Games. But people do need to see everything rationally. There are a number of sports like Shooting, TT, Badminton, Archery competition is nearly as good as world class whereas that was not the case in the CWG. Furthermore, all countries tend to do well in home condition which was the reason of the great performance of India in CWG and maybe the reason for China beating USA in the last Olympics. We need to take heart from the fact that young and talented sports persons are coming up in sports like Boxing and Wrestling and we are now one of the contenders in world shooting. The emergence of youngsters like Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics) and Khade (Swimming) also shows that with right kind of support we can produce world-class sportspersons just as China is doing. The primary difference between India and China is the organised nature of their sports setup from the great infrastructure and coaching facilities to the fact that all the sportspersons are taken care of right from childhood and sports is a viable career choice.

So, with a bit more effort and planning, India can dream of becoming a force (maybe not the top force as US or China) in world sports in the next 10-12 years time.

One more encouraging development was the inclusion of cricket in the Asian Games which according to me is the first step in getting cricket to the Olympics. All countries lobby for their strong sports to be included in the Olympics, so I see no reason why India should not do the same. The same efforts also need to be made for Cue Sports as well as Chess where Indians are world beaters or are among the top nations.

The only disappointing response in this regard seems to be from the BCCI. The Indian Cricket board does seem to be following a law of their own. India being one of the 4 top nations in Asia in cricket was expected to send a team for a sport which was included in the Asian Games after much hard-work . China needs to be commended for including it as it had nothing to gain by cricket's inclusion in Asian Games. India for its part did not even try for cricket's inclusion in Commonwealth games being held in Delhi. Incidentally the commonwealth includes 7 test playing nations (Australia, England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand,South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh), Kenya and also West Indian countries such as Antigua,Jamica and Trinidad & Tobago. So, it made much more sense for it to be included there. The Indian Cricket Board seems least bit interested to make cricket global. The sole aim seems to be money-making. The board's argument about prior commitments also seem to e hollow to say the least as even Pakistan and Sri Lana have sent teams even though they are involved in Test series against South Africa and West Indies respectively and the Indian women's team is not playing any series. India sure let 2 medals go as India would have surely won in women's category and even with a second-string would have atleast earned a bronze. I don't know why the MS Gill who seems to be the outspoken sports minister is mum on this matter. Is it because Sharad Pawar runs BCCI as opposed to KPS Gill.

Hence, I feel that with better administration and a greater intent on the part of the people running sports at present could help in improving the condition of sports in India. I would like to be cautiously optimistic in this regard hoping that the Indian sports structure becomes more professional and our sports persons are better treated and supported.

Elections India

Its Election time again in India and this election is expected to throw the most divided verdict ever. There has been a lot of talk in the media about how development is now the poll issue rather than caste and religion. I respectfully disagree with that. Although, in the campaigns there has been a lot of talk about development (to add to all that mud-slinging), almost all the major parties that has fielded its candidates has done so on the basis of which parts of the community would vote for that candidate. May be caste has been an undertone for most campaigns rather than the main poll pitch but all parties realize that without getting the caste equations right, its difficult to win in most parts of the country. We are still far from the times when caste would not be a major issue in the elections.

The Lok Sabha elections have once again demonstrated the diversity that exists in our country. The turnout trends in places with similar demographics illustrate the point I am trying to make.

West Bengal, which is supposed to be under-developed came out and had a voter turnout of 75% in phase 4 whereas in neighboring Bihar,which is equally under-developed has a combined voter turnout of less than 50% over the 4 phases.

Urban areas been more interesting than the rural centers. Mumbai especially forms a interesting case to follow. Mumbai has traditionally had very low voter turnouts. After 26/11, when the dormant public which seldom participates in the electoral process came out on the streets to vent out their anger at the government, the media predicted never-seen-before turnouts for the next elections in Mumbai. Every second day, there was some Page 3 socialite on the Panel discussions on television, confidently claiming that the rich of the city had transformed. The Media gave too much of importance to these people who were very articulate and confident on television but had no connections at all with the pulse of the city. Add to these, the vociferous campaigns like 'jaagore' etc., and in everyone's eyes, Mumbai was ready to show to the country that it is still very much a part of the Indian electoral system. But that was not to be, Mumbai recorded similar turnout of 44% this time too, not withstanding the fact that the heat factor which affected the voters at most places was not a big deterrent there. I have been for times immemorial been harassed by my cousins from Mumbai about how Mumbai contributes so much to Indian economy and gets nothing in return. The question is, is contributing economically good enough?

Contrast this with another metropolitan city, Delhi. The voter turnout in Delhi in 1999 elections was an equally abysmal 43% but that has been rising steadily and this time Delhi polled a respectable 54%. A noticeable fact is that this time has coincided with the best development phase for the city. Delhi, which was as infra structurally challenged as Mumbai is currently, is known as the city of great roads and flyovers now. Although, there are still huge number of problems in the city, but one can see that the shortcomings are being overcome gradually.

That leads to an interesting question - Did the development in Delhi lead to the increased voter turnouts or was it the other way round or was some 3rd factor responsible for this change. I guess when we find the answer to this question, we would be able to work towards greater participation in the electoral process from the disillusioned Indian citizens.

The Constitution of our country states that the Government of India is - of the people, by the people and for the people. But is that really so? When the best minds of the country decide not to enter politics, the government is hardly of the people. When only about 50% of people vote and the people coming to power do not even have the mandate of even 25% of the country, the government can hardly be called by the people and when in 60 years of independence, a majority of peope still live without the basic requirements for survival its hardly for the people.

Maybe, a lot of improvements are required in the system and I agree with a lot of suggestions given by the politicians which they are so ready to suggest but so afraid of implementing :
1. Having a fixed tenure for the state assemblies and Lok Sabha so that the country is spared of having elections every year and having them in a cooler month so that the people can come out and vote.
2. A strict policy of no criminals in politics i.e. they should not be allowed to contest and the major parties should also ensure that they are not a part of their parties as well.
3. Making postal ballot an option - as a large part of the country does not live in their hometowns (including me), which does not allow them to vote. (not everyone has money like SRK or Aamir to fly down from their work to vote)

I know a lot of what I have said has been repeated a number of times and a lot of my suggestions are very very difficult to implement, but they may be necessary if we want to have a truly Indian Government.

P.S. Any suggestions to add to the 3 I have given will be appreciated

Just and addition to the post : I feel that the only the people who vote should be given an off day and those who don't should have a paid leave reduced not not be paid the salary for that day.

The Olympic Dream

I have always been a sports freak and liked watching all sports, even those other than cricket. The problem has always been that the other sports don't have the media coverage one would like. Some years back, there was at least hockey, but even that has disappeared out of sight. So, it was kind of refreshing to watch the Olympics and I particularly liked the media coverage it got.
India - expectedly for me and unexpectedly for many of my friends improved its tally significantly over the previous editions. But is that enough, 3 medals for a country of a billion people. I don't think its enough, but its certainly an improvement and India should build on the success of these Olympics to become a nation with a decent haul of medals over the next couple of decades.
The best part about the current haul of three medals was that all the three medals came in different disciplines. So, now at least there can be three different disciplines in the government's radar for development. There have always been about 5-6 disciplines in which India had a realistic chance. Apart from Shooting,Wrestling and Boxing where we won medals, we came close in Badminton and Tennis too. Though the Archers failed to impress, they have the potential.
The role of the government is very important now. It should not forget the achievements of the medal winners. IT can use this opportunity to push for better popularity of non-cricket sports in the country. The country's sportspeople need to be treated well. India can do a lot better if the government provides better facilities and just support the talent India has.
I am in IIM-Bangalore and I had in my batch Kutraleeshwaran, who at the age of 13 swam across 6 channels and is a Guinness record holder. But he left swimming as there wasn't proper infrastructure in the country and the government didn't support him when he required it. He had offers from other counties to use their training facilities provided he represented them in the Olympics. If the other countries can see such talent why can't India? He refused and concentrated on his academics and India lost a potential sporting Icon.
I myself have seen small 4-5 year old children performing acrobatics at traffic signals in Delhi and Bangalore. Such children should be groomed from a young age as they can be future gymnasts. This is what China does best and look at their medals tally. If I could spot such children just in a couple of cities, I can't even begin to imagine the kind of talent that can be hidden across the Indian landscape. Its just a matter of spotting it and nurturing it.
A couple of private companies have come ahead to support non-traditional sports. I hope this trend continues. Its just that sports has to be made a viable profession in India. For that everyone's role is very important, from the government and private companies who need to build infrastructure and support the talent to the people who genuinely need to respect its sportspeople and not just start to memorize their names once every four years.
I have great hope in the current scenario and sincerely hope that this time we definitely don't miss out and see a bag of medals by 2020 or 2024 when I hope that India would be hosting an Olympics of its own.