1.2 billion people and only six Olympic medals? This has become a template question and everyday debates take place as to why India with such a huge population have only one Olympic gold medal till date. The answer is simple, that India is not a sporting country.
There is an old saying in India culture which says “Kheloge kudoge hoge kharab, likhoge padhoge banoge nawab” (study is all that one has to do as sports will take you nowhere). And most of the Indians live by this idiom which is the main reason that India never made it big in sports.
Cricket is an exception and barring that there are only few sportsperson in the country who have carved a niche for themselves, but then the number is too small for anything to boost of.
Whenever there is a bad performance by Indians at a global meet, critics all over the country get their act together to humiliate the players but then they never make it a point to try and figure out the adversities that these players go through to even represent the country. Even when things are changing socially and economically, there is still no end to apathy towards sports.
Classic example is the case of India U-19 skipper Unmukt Chand, who played a marvellous innings to lead India to their third ICC Under-19 World Cup crown. He made the whole country proud, but has been debarred from his college St Stephen’s from writing his exams because of short of attendance. Well it is a rule, but then the college authorities should have made an exception for a guy who has toiled day in and day out to bring the coveted trophy to the country.
Unmukt has received support from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sports Minister Ajay Maken and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, and there is a probability that the college might overturn the decision and allow him to write his exams. But then will it set a good precedent for someone like Unmukt or some upcoming athletes who want to make it big through sports? Anyone will think twice before putting their education on hold for sports.
The issue caught the eyeballs only because India returned successfully from Australia. Had it been otherwise, no one would have been speaking about Unmukt and he could have become a case where he had to choose between sports and education. The question that arises here is that if a boy bringing laurels to the country is facing the ignominy of being debarred from writing his papers, the condition of a normal guy choosing sports over studies can well imagined. There is always a fear that if they do so and do not come back on a good note, first it will be the people and then their respective educational institutes that would make their life very difficult. And this reflects in their sporting spirits that can been hardly seen amongst most of the Indians.
Unmukt’s incidence is a classic example of why India is a country which is lagging behind in terms of sports and next time before criticising the athletes, everyone should look deep down within and ask a question to themselves as to how much have they done for making India a sporting powerhouse.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News Network
