It's time for other sports to show their mettle. Don't just blame Cricket

So this Mr. Babumoshai from Bengal is a great fan of futbol. His favorite team is Mohun Bagan, he never misses their game but his son is totally opposite. Much to his hatred he likes Cricket, he has even enrolled himself in one of the clubs in Maidan. Babumoshai hates to see him in whites. He swears in the name of kali whenever he sees his son watching an IPL T20 match of his favorite team KKR while he has to call his friend on phone to get the score of the futbol match. He would say to his son, "Beta you are not letting me watch an el Classico of India - the great MOhun Bagan is playing against East Bengal today" Beta Moshai would smirk and reply "Elclassico? eh?" "Do you even know what glorious past we had in futbol? Your generation - the generation of Cricket has destroyed other sports in India"


This is what most of us feel here in India. When something goes wrong, we find some to put the blame unto, when something does not go right then also we find some to put the blame in. Rarely do we find mistakes in oursleves. It is like if some sports are not able to come up, you blame the other popular sports.

"Cricket is over!" - declared IOA President Suresh Kalmadi after India returned with three Olympic medals from Beijing in 2008. Like Kalmadi, many other sports officials as well as current and ex-sportspersons share this animosity for cricket, for the prime reason that it is the most followed game in India, whose popularity supersedes any other sport. But the question is, if other sports have been struggling to make their mark, why blame cricket for it?

People here are obssessed with Cricket for 3 years and 11 months while Olympics just deserve their 1 month hence critics also tend to say that we should not expect those shining medals with these kind of support.

Ha, yes ! Cricket is the root cause of all evils plaguing other sports in the country. Well someone who is just not infatuated by Sports in general but instead do love them with their hearts in and out would definitely say it is not cricket that is damaging other sports. It is our addiction to cricket that is damaging other sports. Indians largely are so addicted to cricket that they do not have the time or interest for other sports. The real problem is not the obsession with cricket but the ignorance of all other sports.

Now ask the Cricket lovers and they would say "Cricket is nowhere related in damaging other sports. We are praising it because we are winning it. Let other sports win something at highest level then they will get their reserved respect. Once other sports start to get top rank in the world list, people will also take interest in watching them. These kind of mentality are hard-wired into the minds of Indian. Cricket became popular after India won 1983 world cup. Similarly Tennis became popular after Leander Paes won bronze medal in Olympics and when he and Mahesh Bhupathi started winning major grand slams. Also, it may be observed that boxing and wrestling has gained decent popularity after Vijender Singh, Mary Kom and Sushilkumar won medals in recent Olympics. Take the case of Saina Nehwal, we didn't know who is she at the beginning when she joined badminton, but later when she continued to win more number of games, we all had a look at her and in Olympics everyone expected a gold from her. Take chess, for us Vishwanath Anand will be the winner always, everyone in India knows about him. Now about hockey, once upon a time we had lot of victories so we praised about it. Hockey became our national game post-Independence because we dominated the sport for decades with six consecutive Olympic Gold medals. But now we are debating that whether hockey should be our national game or not.

medallions in 2012 Olympic

Even the exagerrating numbers that millions of Indian are being passionate about Cricket one may wonder what about the remaing ones. Why not dip into them? Cricket did not become the reigning sport overnight. How does my love of cricket come in the way of progress of other games? Does it act as a negative catalyst for other sports or does it create a pitch in between the astro turf of Hockey or nail the nets for practice at the shooting arena? As a Cricket lover I respect the struggle of other sports and can assure them that Cricket have not caused them any problem. Just play your respective games at your respective arena and bring glory to the nation.

Let's get back to the 1980s, the decade that catapulted Indian cricket's arrival on the global stage. It was the sheer timing of events that elevated cricket to the top. It was perhaps a mere coincidence that the 1983 World Cup win coincided with the arrival of television and the decline of hockey. The Indian victory at the World Cup in 1983 just acted as a catalyst which pushed Cricket as the most popular sports in the modern era of India. Cricket, like any other sport in the country, is not unscathed by politics and corruption but despite all the odds, it has grown impressively.

The transit of viewership and shift in support has been phenomenal. We have started loving and appreciating other sports too.  I see this changing at this point in time but the change is subtle. There are numerous reasons to loathe the Indian cricket board but at the same time there are sufficient lessons for other sports bodies and federations in the country to learn from them on how to grow into a strong sports body. Hence, instead, we should encourage co existence of cricket with other sports and try to pull other sports up instead of pulling down a big institute of cricket. If we are hell bent on blaming Cricket for all the ills then we will never get out of the misery.

Hakuna Matata!!!!
Respond instead of reacting

I posted this article in Sportskeeda as well.

How patriotic are we? Is it moral?

Try remembering Independence Day and what do you recollect? Drums at school? Flag hoisting? Drill Display? National Anthem and sweets to eat? This is my own distinctive experience of what we call "Patriotism" and celebrating Independence Day and I suspect that many Indians experience something similar and acknowledge it in their own ways. Independence Day is one of those days (26th January and 2nd October are the others) for which we eagerly wait for to arrive. It comes and what do we do? Keep the answers to yourselves as of now. 

Is Our Patriotism Moral?

This the day when people imagine that people of all faith will unite and hoist the tricolor together. We are secular and we will show that to the world. But the 65th Independence Day is not being welcomed as it has always been. Patriotism is losing its definition over smaller things. Majority or minority, the word "Indian" is lost somewhere. The question to ask here, "Is our patriotism moral?" If an eye is to be believed then it's easy to assume that all is not well. But the moral problem for patriotism arises at a deeper level. Suppose the question is not about blatantly immoral means but simply about whether our country should flourish at the expense of matters which were for so long the strength? There remains the option of denying that morality has the universal, all-inclusive nature modern philosophers think it has. It may seem, then, that we must either accept modern universalist ethics and reject patriotism as a basic moral virtue or accept patriotism along with traditional localist morality.

I do not know what other religions says about patriotism but I would like to share what my religion says about it in Quran:

"Love for one's country, loyalty to it, desire to the community grow and prosper." Al Quraan says plenty about that.

"When people think highly of themselves and lowly of others, that's not patriotism."

"49:13. O mankind, indeed We created you from the male and the female, and made you into peoples and tribes , that you may know. Truly, the most noble of you in the sight of the God is the most righteous of you. Truly, the God is knowing, acquainted."

"49:10. But the faithful are brothers, so make settlement between your brothers and fear the God; perhaps you may receive mercy."

"49:11. O you who accept faith, let not people ridicule other people. Perhaps that they may be better than them and nor let women other women. Perhaps that they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by nicknames. Wretched is the name of profanity/disobedience after the faith, and whoever repents not, those, they are the unjust."

To quote from the writings of one of the famous poet, philosopher and politician, Allama Iqbal:

mazhab nahiñ sikhata apas meñ bair rakhna

hindi haiñ ham, vatan hai hindustañ hamara

or,

Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves

We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.

True patriotism is that stemming from religion and controlled in men's hearts by its teachings. Patriotism is not a commodity of verbosity imported - among others - and then translated literally and stuffed into minds without any refining or polishing processes.

Our Country needs us

You have done nothing for which you should be ashamed. I have done nothing. And for that I am ashamed. 

Our biggest problem as a nation is – we believe that all we are required to do as citizens of our country is to vote and then the government will do everything for us. For example if the team loses, sack the coach. If the same thing repeats itself, remove the skipper. This is what we have done and noticed all our lives, blamed the people in control and later penalized them. I find it almost nauseating. How about taking a dip in the muddy  water for once? How about taking the onus on ourselves? Long after you become old, your grandchildren will question you to which you would answer this, "I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear."

Behind our freedom

We say that we are born in free state without imperialism but have we taken time to think about that women who picks the oranges for you so that you can have a drink to cool yourself but she works for 7 days a week for meager wage, the shirt we wear were sewn under forced labor conditions by people working for 16 hours a day while being unable to send their children to school, the jewellery we show off in parties was made by the stones mined children as young as 7 working in dangerous condition for 6 days a week. Well it's nothing but natural to ignore all these questions. We don't really care neither do we have enough time for this.

Hide and seek

In a country obsessed with its IITs and IIMs it is just not hard, but impossible to nurture a breed of sportsmen who can win medals for us at the grandest stage of all. We are not short of talent and we have never been that way, we just need to realize that it takes a great deal of grooming to take that talent to its required performing level. And if we are still not willing to give up our traditional outlook and continue giving step child treatment to sports then it’s better to learn to keep our mouths shut and appreciate the efforts of people who go out there carrying the mantle of a nation. Another disgusting character of us comes out when we say our sportsmen are not consistent with their performance while we ourselves are not consistent while showing our support to them. We are a nation which will party with you in celebration but show its back when you’re down.

Rome was not built in a day

Rome was not built in a day.. drops will make an ocean.. All is not lost... People will connect not only in Facebook but also in real world. Just show them a result however small it is and they will connect. We have seen that when India won the World Cup Cricket 2011, people were all out on streets celebrating like anything. They will again come out, this time to change India for good, the water will take time to boil but before that it needs to have the fire. Just a small result and it will kindle the fire and you will see the change. All this while we were admitting defeat, it was moral slavery. It is nothing more than compromising with evil. Take a stand, let the chips fall where they may, at least you can go to bed at night in peace. You can tell your posterity that you rejected evil, and no matter what the cost, you rejected it, you would not consent. This takes much more inner fortitude than following the masses and being a state-owned serf. This requires one to be moral, to be strong, to be one who stands for that which is Right no matter what the consequences are. 

Think I am being melodramatic? Try telling your friends you refuse to participate in this evil. They will mock you and hate you for it. Why? They have no moral fortitude themselves. No matter what the cost, do Right. Do good. Fight for good, reject evil. Don't get caught up in the futile attempts to control the state. Reject it. Refuse Consent. Then, you will see change. At least in your life. And you can look in the mirror, and know you did more than 10 million voters. You said NO!

(inspired by  Is Our Patriotism Moral?)

What excuse do you have? (funny)

The headmaster entered the class with a slightly flushed and a hard ominous look in his eyes. He surveyed the class for a few minutes and asked, "Are you not ashamed to come and sit here after what you did yesterday?" Just as a special honor to them, he read out the names of a dozen or so that had attended the class. After that he read out the names of those that had kept away, and asked them to stand up on the benches. He felt the punishement was not severe and asked them to stand on their desks.

Then they were lectured. When it was over, they were asked to offer an explantion one by one. One said that he had an attack of headache so could not come. He was asked to bring medical certificate. The second said as he was coming someone told him to go back home. The headmaster replied that if he was going to listen to every loafer, he deserve to be flogged. The punishment was pronounced 10 days attendance cancelled, two rupees fine. The third said he had an attack of headache. The fourth said he had stomach ache. The fifth said his grandmother died suddenly when he was starting for school. The headmaster asked if he could bring a letter from his father. No. He had no father. Then, who was his guardian? His grandmother. But the grandmother was dead, was she not? No. It was another grandmother. The headmaster asked how many grandmothers a person could have. No answer. Could he bring a letter from his neighbours? No, he could not. None of his neighbours could read or write, because he lived in one of the most illeterate parts of the street. Then the headmaster offered to send the teacher to this illiterate part of the locality to ascertain from the boy's neighbour if the death of his grandmother was a fact. A pause, some perspiration and then the answer that the neighbours could  not possibly know anything, since the grandmother died in the village. The headmaster hit him on the knuckles with his cane, called him the street dog and pronounced the punishment 15 days' suspension.

(the above part has been extracted from a famous novel Swami and Friends written by one of the most acclaimed authors of India R. K. Narayan)

Because we need to look beyond the positive side of everything

Gone are the days when our parents used to say "Padhoge likhoge banage Nawab, kheloge kudoge banoge Kaharab (Studies will make you King, Sports will make you bad)". Sports are trending in our lives. Children in our country are encouraged to take any sports of their choice and parents are playing a very important role. But all these have started to happen just a Couple of years ago when names like Saina, Sania, Vijendra, Bindra started to come up. With more than a billion population this is not what a neutral guy would have expected. Any intellectual individual would expect India to have atleast 0.1 % of their population to be involved in sports and from that 0.001% to compete at international level. Leave out the individaul, any normal being with a very rare but common sense would say that with so many people living in India, more glory should be attached with the sports.

We Indians tend to become very happy with our smaller or little succes, if not happy then I would say complacent. Latest generations are taking things seriously. But this was not the case some few years ago. Who is to blame? Is it Parents? Yes! Why? you may have heard "Strike when the iron is hot" why? because then only you get the desire shape. Parents, leave out moulding them into shape, they try to put cold water and cool them off. If you could remember once in your childhood you asked your mother to buy you a notebook, she must have felt glad to spent that special Rs.10 on that notebook but for obvious reasons, but try to remember that cold look you got when you asked her to buy a racket, bat or ball or anything related to sports. Your parents must have said, "Complete your exams first", "Bring a good rank", "What will you do with that?","Oh, we have an old one of your elder brother, play with that", "Why do you want join that club? there're so many players, you won't get a chance", "I can't afford that", "Padhoge likhoge banage Nawab, kheloge kudoge banoge Kharab" and the list continues.

We Indians have always been about individuals. We are more concerned about Leanders and Sainas, or the Bindras or Vijenders, or the Sachins or Bhuttias. Rather than the sport or the main objective behind cheering for the athletes we want our little knowing brain to filter out some name so that we have someone to support. By doing so we have suppressed our expectations. We first check what is the athlete rank in the world, did he/she won any medal previously, if the answer is affirmative they get our full support and cheer if not then who cares. Rarely do we try get to know them or promote them. A great Humanist and ethicist once said, "Social acceptance is the first thing everyone asks for without even asking".

In such high level competitions which is not neck to neck but nose to nose, winners are decided based on fraction of difference. A single medal would call for celebrations and a sense of satisfaction is seen among the fans. Those who miss out are not known and hence forgotten before even coming into the picture, even though they were not less by any means. With over a billion people, it is needless to say that we can achieve far better heights only iff....

Cricket is blamed and made the scapegoat everytime when some sport is not being pulled up. My dear it is a vicious cycle, you do well - you get awards - you get money - you get good coaching, infrastructure - you do well. So one must say there is not only competition inside the sports but also in between two sports, which hogs more limelight. And yes our parents too think that way. "So no one plays hockey these days and who the hell watches it? C'mon ignore it take swimming. Badminton ? Oh! there is Saina Nehwal you won't get much chance to win, take Tennis, but wait Sania Mirza plays tennis, not much of a chance there also, TT? not much good coaching, Kabaddi? not enough money, football? not good team, cricket? so many players already waiting for their chance....and so they wait for all the signals to turn green which never happen and they decide "LET'S CHECK WHAT THE NEIGHBOURS HAVE DECIDED"

Hey! but wait parents are not the only one to blame, I told they do not strike when the iron is hot. Here the primary and secondary schools are also to be looked after. How many schools take sports seriously? Countries like USA, China and Australia are famous to have some schools which have created some teen sensation in many sports. In India we have never heard about any such schools. What to expect from a government who is known to have created only 7 IITs (and 9 new) and 6 IIMs (an 7 new) in the whole of India with a population of more than1.2 billion. Corrupt is the only adjective that describes them. Politicians who do not even know what "S" stands for in Sports are made Sports minister. Barely knowing the National Sports of our country they are invited to present some lakh of rupees to the winners of Olympics. The winners are congratualted and showered incentives and motivated, but what about the athletes or sportsperson who missed narrowly. They too worked hard, why were their efforts not appreciated. They had to go home demotivated. Former players work hard to restore the glory of their sports while government sleeps.

some of our stars

Sports channel showing quality sports with quality commentry and quality host are rare too. Whenever some celebrity try to promote some game it looks like that is the best game of India. There is not a single sports website which will give regular updates on all sports and Indian athletes. They try to block some website, cut the power but never do anything that would encourage or motivate the young generations by coming up with some good website website because majority of youngsters are netizen). We should appreciate to what Facebook has done which our so called Sports union could not do. Through Facebook the news reach quickly to our youngsters than by any other channel. People are getting interested to know what's happening around and so it is helping.

But why would we look onto the bright side ??? Why not remove the darkness altogether??? Why to believe in satatements like, "we are improving every day..... yes the rate is low but definitely we are improving...", "Before the olympics, how many knew about Deepika, Kashyap, Jwala, Jai bhagwan, Vijay Kumar, Thapa and many more...", "We came close of winning a medal", "He is young he is bound to improve next time", "Movies are bringing out the truth, things will now change"

The winners are not different from us. China know how to use their most powerful resourse that is Human Resource, it's high time we too start using it instead of just misusing it in studies.

(The fact that I am writing this article at the time Olympics goes on to prove that I am also an Indian)