In the recently concluded Olympic games India did really well by winning their largest haul of medals ever. We won 6 medals - 2 silver and 4 bronze medals. I am really proud of the sportsmen/women who won us these medals but to be honest I am a bit ashamed that we only managed 6 medals. The very statement "India did really well by winning 6 medals" is something not to be proud of. For crying out loud we are a country of billions and yet we only managed to come 55th at this foregone Olympics.
This begs for the question to be asked.. whose fault is this? Our ever responsible government or does the fault lie within in each of us. I believe and I am up for debate for this but the fault lies in each and everyone of us. We all are ready to run the rat race for engineers and doctors and lawyers that we miss out on expanding our view and look at sports also as an option. If you throw a stone in Bangalore 9 out of 10 it will hit a Software Engineer. I agree there is a shortage of doctors in rural areas but there are thousands of doctors in our urban cities. Where as you can count the number of Olympic winners we have in our hand.
The reason is very simple... it is the Indian parenting that is at fault over here. Parents always push their kids to excel in studies and rarely ask them to concentrate on sports. I do not have to look far for examples for this. In school when I was selected for a under 12 all India Football tournament for my school and went home with the request to buy boots for the same, that request was thrown out of the window by my mom and another guy who bought boots took my place in the team. When you look at this from her point of view, that sports does not pay but a doctor or an engineer is set for life seems very straight forward choice and simple decision. Cricket is one game in India where the same thought process is not applied.
This idea that "Sports does not PAY" is that one that needs to be changed. Not everything is about earning money and be set for life. Some times we need to look at the big picture and see how we can improve ourselves and the society as a whole. But here lies the dilemma that scares every parent. If your kid concentrates on sports and not studies and eventually does not make it as a sportsman then what. This is where the government should step in. The government just needs to look across the border for inspiration.
China's medal tally has increased exponentially since their first participation in 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At one point of time the Olympics reflected the cold war with USA Vs USSR but after the Soviet union was divided for a few Olympics the USA has a clear run but since 2000 Sydney Olympics on China gave the US a run for their money eventually overhauling them at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. How did China achieve this? Then answer is simple, because the government started getting young kids to the extend of forcing kids to join government backed training facilities where they were taught the finer details and groomed to compete against the rest of the world. The result is for everyone to see. Li Na the first Asian women to win a grand slam is a product of such an institute. The sportsperson from these institute till a certain age have to give 50% of their winnings back to the government so that they can continue running such training institutes. To be honest this model can work only in China and used to work for USSR due to the communist regime which to a certain extend is autocratic.
The model that should work for India is that the government already has many institutes like Navodaya, Kendriya Vidhyala, Government Schools that should be used to find the kids that have potential and groom them. Should they not succeed they should be give opportunities to succeed in life like give them job security in govt sector. The Armed Forces should also be used to start up institutes where kids of the defence community and others can be trained and imparted the skills required to succeed in sports.
I recently became a father and if my kids want to pursue a life in sports then I will do everything in my reach to help them succeed and hopefully every parent does the same. A small change made my many will become a big change and could lead some thing better. Maybe then we might some day in the future topple China and USA in the Olympics. That is My Olympic Dream!.
This begs for the question to be asked.. whose fault is this? Our ever responsible government or does the fault lie within in each of us. I believe and I am up for debate for this but the fault lies in each and everyone of us. We all are ready to run the rat race for engineers and doctors and lawyers that we miss out on expanding our view and look at sports also as an option. If you throw a stone in Bangalore 9 out of 10 it will hit a Software Engineer. I agree there is a shortage of doctors in rural areas but there are thousands of doctors in our urban cities. Where as you can count the number of Olympic winners we have in our hand.
The reason is very simple... it is the Indian parenting that is at fault over here. Parents always push their kids to excel in studies and rarely ask them to concentrate on sports. I do not have to look far for examples for this. In school when I was selected for a under 12 all India Football tournament for my school and went home with the request to buy boots for the same, that request was thrown out of the window by my mom and another guy who bought boots took my place in the team. When you look at this from her point of view, that sports does not pay but a doctor or an engineer is set for life seems very straight forward choice and simple decision. Cricket is one game in India where the same thought process is not applied.
This idea that "Sports does not PAY" is that one that needs to be changed. Not everything is about earning money and be set for life. Some times we need to look at the big picture and see how we can improve ourselves and the society as a whole. But here lies the dilemma that scares every parent. If your kid concentrates on sports and not studies and eventually does not make it as a sportsman then what. This is where the government should step in. The government just needs to look across the border for inspiration.
China's medal tally has increased exponentially since their first participation in 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At one point of time the Olympics reflected the cold war with USA Vs USSR but after the Soviet union was divided for a few Olympics the USA has a clear run but since 2000 Sydney Olympics on China gave the US a run for their money eventually overhauling them at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. How did China achieve this? Then answer is simple, because the government started getting young kids to the extend of forcing kids to join government backed training facilities where they were taught the finer details and groomed to compete against the rest of the world. The result is for everyone to see. Li Na the first Asian women to win a grand slam is a product of such an institute. The sportsperson from these institute till a certain age have to give 50% of their winnings back to the government so that they can continue running such training institutes. To be honest this model can work only in China and used to work for USSR due to the communist regime which to a certain extend is autocratic.
The model that should work for India is that the government already has many institutes like Navodaya, Kendriya Vidhyala, Government Schools that should be used to find the kids that have potential and groom them. Should they not succeed they should be give opportunities to succeed in life like give them job security in govt sector. The Armed Forces should also be used to start up institutes where kids of the defence community and others can be trained and imparted the skills required to succeed in sports.
I recently became a father and if my kids want to pursue a life in sports then I will do everything in my reach to help them succeed and hopefully every parent does the same. A small change made my many will become a big change and could lead some thing better. Maybe then we might some day in the future topple China and USA in the Olympics. That is My Olympic Dream!.
Nice dream and we all have the same...
ReplyDeleteAs per me means for achieving it should be stringent like China and USSR. Kendriya Vidyalayas are having facilities of Sports Hostel. There is one in Delhi KV for Cricket and in Gwalior for Athletics. But the lope holes in democracy is creating hindrance for the parents to send their child there as the facilities are not as per standard and rules are not so stringent which can easily spoil them. Some day we will have to adopt hard steps to excel as per China and USSR...
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ReplyDeleteWell said Jay and Vivek!!....Am happy we have atleast some people amongst us who think on better other than just bugs fixes and releases.... :P:P
ReplyDelete