The year was 1984. In the general election following Indira Gandhi's tragic assassination, Congress made a bumper harvest, came to power winning around 425 seats. BJP was reduced to only two MPs, far below the rest of the major opposition parties.
The two members of BJP in Lok Sabha were mocked at as HUM DO, HUMARE DO (We two, ours two), taking a cue from the famous Family Planning Campaign of that era. By 2019, BJP increased its tally to 300 plus leaving Congress gasping for Silver medal way behind.
The same innuendo was reserved for our performance in the Olympics games. HUM DO, HUMARE DO - as we won 2 medals on average in the Olympics, sometime increasing the number a bit, sometime back to square one again. This year we made substantial improvements in our medal tally though not at BJPsque scale. We won a gold medal after 12 years while Americans and Chinese win golds in Olympics on daily basis.
Million analysis have been done about India's performance attributing the causes for our failure - from apathetic Politicians and Officials who are considered part of the problem rather than solution (the usual disclaimers apply), to our poor genes and diet.
The myth about the genes is as vague as the myth during my childhood days - that there is no Business in the blood of Odias, who are destined to fail as businessmen and entrepreneurs. I was never aware of any Business Blood Group, nor checked the blood group of my numerous Odia friends who are now successful businessmen.
But our millieu never encouraged to excel in Sports.Summing up this attitude is what I heard in Odia mumerous times during my childhood - "CHHATARA MANE KHELANTI, SUNA PILA MANE PATHA PADHANTI. KHELA RU KANA MILIBA. PATHA PADHI OFFICER HELE LOKE MUNDIA MARIBE" - Only girl chasing vagabonds indulge in Sports. Golden kids focus on studies. What is there in sports and games ? If you succeed in academics and become an officer, hundreds will bow before you". A clearly feudal mindset, where sportpersons are demeaned.
A song from Odia hit movie JAJABARA (Vagabond) aptly describes this mindset.
GURU NKARA ACCHI MATARA GADI, GURUKARA ACHHI KOTHA BADI. CHAKARA BAKARA DHADI KI DHADI, HUKUMA CHHUTE GHADIKI GHADI.
Our boss has a fleet of motor vehicles, Our boss has bunch land and buildings, Servants in drove line up in front for him, Orders are given to them time to time.
Being an Officer brings you servants, orderlies, lands, buildings etc. Being a Sportsperson fetches none of the above.
This is not just limited to Odisha. In North India there is a saying,
KHELOGE KUDOGE TO HOGE KHARAB, PADHOGE LIKHOGE BANOGE NAWAAB.
Roughly translated it means,
Sports & games make you a commoner,
Excel in academics, become an emperor.
It speaks volumes about where our priorities lie. Those blamed for our debacles aren't any aliens from another planet, they come from the same milieu. No system will succeed without the participation and cooperation of the common men and women (Our women left their indelible mark in this game. They won medals, our women's hockey team and Golfer Aditi Ashok came tantalizingly close to winning a medal by ending in 4th position).
In the world of competitive sports, at the highest level where class and quality matters, it needs a lot more skill and steely nerve to make the difference, not age or background. It needs a lot of commitment, dedication, consistency. A 14 year old from our Northern neighbor China won a Gold medal. Many swimming medal winners are in their teens. Once out of curiosity I visited the website of the Swimming Federation of India. Their achievements section is blank, with a picture of Michael Phelps on its web page. That pretty much tells we swim aimlessly like CHATARA (Vagabond).
When we won a gold in 2008, thanks to shooter Arvind Bindra, I thought a new era has dawned, when more Golds will follow in the following Olympics. No golds came in 2012 and 2016, but finally during the final days of 2020 Olympics. Like the proverbial monkey climbing a bamboo pole, we climb 2 feet up and then 3 feet down. The saga continues till date.
It would be heartbreaking for me not to have the high expectations, especially when the China and Britain have already done so in last few years. We sure can, provided, as we studied in Intermediate Physics - our immense potential energy is converted to kinetic energy extended to the Sports arena.
Better late than never. If tiny Ecuador can win 2 Gold medals we can do better (Not sure the fugitive Baba Nityananda who has found his abode in Equador is claiming credit for Equator's success).If we sow the seeds now and rightly nurture the plant, it will bear fruit in due time. It won't happen overnight, its a long term project which will take decades to yield some tangible results. Hope our monkey keeps on climbing the bamboo pole, and keep climbing and climbing, as slipping is not an option.
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