Hello! There is a World Beyond Cricket in India…

All those people who exhibit traumatic reactions watching our guys getting out in cricket matches, have suddenly gone into slow motion action-replay, given what’s happening in the Indian test cricket One-Day-Internationals today. There is an entire population of Sachin-disciples, age-no-bar, who look accusatively at folks, and act defensive whenever Sachin gets out in 50’s. You get these dismissing looks when you shake your head seeing Ganguly getting out to a typical shot.

One doesn’t hear a squeak from the esteemed Indian parliamentarians either; I suppose, throats become sore due to excess sports related, mindless shouting, sometimes, about Greg Chapell, and sometimes-about Ganguly. I don’t remember hearing anything about cricketing ability, in either the election posters, or speeches, and one certainly did NOT elect one’s representative, so he could waste time on cricket, given that he could spend it more productively, supporting the 33% reservation for women Bill.

Whenever India win an exciting series, telegrams and calls l go forth from folks in Delhi, planes are diverted to Delhi, and parliamentarians who straddle sport and legislation with consummate ease appear benignly smiling in photographs when the team poses with the PM.

And then there is this stunning silence post the Asian Games in Doha.

Hello? There is a huge world out there besides cricket.

Our athletes run and jump their hearts out, and get medals. One of our runners runs with a burn injury, (scalding hot soup spilt during the previous day dinner) on her thigh. Koneru Humpy and two others, get medals in Chess. The Women’s Hockey team gets a medal, showing the Men’s team how it’s done. Anju Bobby George leaps her best for a medal. Our Archers and shooters show that they are among the best medal winners.

Even our rowers, all psyched up, were in contention for a medal. And who can forget Tennis? Sania very much amongst the precious metal medals, and Mahesh and Leander pick up their doubles gold, and never mind that the luster may appear slightly diminished by the petulant cribbing and fighting amongst the two. Harshavardhan Singh Rathore shows what tough army disciplined practice can produce in terms of medals.

Jaspal Rana shoots for 2 golds, and is nominated and is in contention for the Best Athlete of the Games award.

So what do the powers-that-be do? Indian Parliamentarians have their fingers on their lips. The Sports officials, in a not so surprising display of INATTENTION to detail, inform Jaspal Rana that he IS declared the best athlete of the games, and start getting organized to rush him back to Doha. Only to find out that a Korean swimmer has beaten him to it. And never mind the mental trauma of the shooter.

(Turns out, the Indian sports persons are so used to careless handling of equipment, visa delays, arbitrary refusal of permissions, disgusting travel, boarding and lodging arrangements, that they are probably expected to be everlastingly grateful that they can go anywhere at all….)

The Indian elected representatives discuss Greg Chapell in parliament; the Speaker actively participates. Please. The MP’s are elected by folks to REPRESENT them. One expects the MP from a given region to take cognizance of those athletes that hail from his constituency, and try his best to help them when they are in need. One does not vote for one’s MP , so he can participate in a totally unqualified manner in deciding about coaches in sports.

What we need is a “sports constituency”, just like they have a “graduates constituency”. We need eminent senior sportspersons to be nominated/elected to such parliamentary posts. Just like the Indian government has GoM (Group-of-Ministers) that works in a group for a specific project, we need to have these sports persons have a group that actively decides on allocation of sports resources.

How come we never hear about ace shooter and Olympic medallist Anjali Bhagwat being nominated to the upper house or Rajya Sabha? Has anyone ever thought that badminton ace, and former All England Badminton Champion, Prakash Padukone could be an asset in sports related decisions at the highest level? What is the rationale behind going gaga appointing actors and actresses to the upper house /Raya Sabha ?

Until then , be prepared to see a spectacle at the next Games, where the Indian contingent arrives with more officials than athletes; IOU’s and quid-pro-quids are the order of the day ; I have often wondered at the proliferation of middle aged pot bellied people marching in, tugging their sports coats with one hand, and waving at the stadium with the other. They let some well-known athlete function as the flag bearer; shows their benevolence, you know.

And forget about the runners who travel 4 ours everyday through super crowded trains to train, swimmers who attend meets, get back to their hostels, and find that they need to pretend that the cold hard floor is really a comfortable bed at night; hockey players who end up drinking polluted infected water at their camps in our leading stadiums, as some guy who was supposed to repair the water tank, simply pretended to do so, and was paid for it on a priority basis; and never mind whose priority. Kabaddi players access first aid boxes, grandly labeled, only to realize that it’s not in their interest to get hurt; medicines are bought, but they never reach the first aid box.

Hmm. And the Indian Cricket team, during some home series gets really upset, because in a recent series against, I forget which country; they were put up at a hotel with lesser stars than the visiting team hotel…

Words fail.