Last week I happened to bump into a thinking civil servant, who in turn made me ponder along a dimension I had never pondered before. Its like this – countries which have a successful sporting track record, have people/communities with a certain degree of nationalistic pride. Well, I wanted to re-articulate and internalize different adjectives - such as a certain character, excellence orientation et al. [For, after having read - almost 2 decades earlier - Nobel Laureate Tagore’s essay titled ‘Patriotism’, I always have tend to nod with him that patriotism / nationalism is/are tinged with a wee bit of insularity].
I ran through a quick test – countries like USA, Germany, now China, S Korea, Japan, Netherlands, Australia and to some extent Great Britain…was a revelation. Noteworthy, is the rise of China as an economic and a sporting superpower has coincided. So has the relative of fall of Great Britain on both dimensions.
Quite interesting really. Also when one checks this against certain Asian countries with were historically healthy races [Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq etc] but poor sporting records at a global level is interesting. Going by this logic, I would expect Sri Lanka to rise in both economic as well and sporting prowess quite significantly – post the busting of the LTTE. Similarly, as a corollary, Russia would have hurtled down hill much faster after the CIS disintegration / economic downfall; - think it got saved by strong leadership at the top.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Where does it place India? 4 olympic medals [or thereabouts], 4 games. One team sport in which we are a feared force and beyond the willow wielders / cherry hurlers; just 10 sportsmen who command international respect. The writing is on the wall. Lemme not rub it in. Lets wink sideways ;).
And come to Pyka [Purna Yuva Krida Abhigyan, go to www.pyka.gov.in]. This is the equivalent of SSA [Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan] for primary education in terms of conception. Execution is the bane in the country in all walks. We have spawned a few hundred thousand arm chair critics [and cricketers] but far far less execution experts. But if even if very slowly, PYKA sows the seeds of eagerness and enthusiasm for serious physical activity at the school level a huge difference will have been made to the collective national psyche in the next 30 years. In fact, in that sense, Baba Ramdev is according to me – by head and shoulders – has made the biggest contribution to the national character and nation building. Yoga hasn’t just given health and happiness to millions, it has also given character and positive energy.
PYKA is trying to institutionalize sporting activities at the micro level and its also try to create basic minimum sporting infrastructure at such levels. Time will tell how well it gets executed. But it ll certainly make a dent to our sloth and may just give a push to sporting excellence [not just interest].
Coming back to our quest for Olympic golds, I sincerely hope India’s new found economic gain is an outcome of an upsurge in national gumption. Hopefully the seeds of assurance and character have been positively [albeit, quiet probably quite tardily] sown. And in the next 4 olympics lets crack 14 medals [maybe too 40!] and not 4. And spare us the side winks in posterity – our vibes not just limited sporting encomiums or economic prowess but importantly in a sense of purpose, positive energy and panache in all walks of life at all levels. Way to go!!
Feels good to paint such stories in the year of New Delhi, Common Wealth Games - an event in which we have normally done well.
For records sake, person being referred to earlier in the story is Mr. Injeti Srinivas. An IAS officer with a top that talks and makes eminent sense in multitude areas of interest. Good to see an IAS officer, not bogged down by the bureaucracy and keen to look at things from the first principle and paint a dreamy picture.
BBSR
May 06, 2010
I ran through a quick test – countries like USA, Germany, now China, S Korea, Japan, Netherlands, Australia and to some extent Great Britain…was a revelation. Noteworthy, is the rise of China as an economic and a sporting superpower has coincided. So has the relative of fall of Great Britain on both dimensions.
Quite interesting really. Also when one checks this against certain Asian countries with were historically healthy races [Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq etc] but poor sporting records at a global level is interesting. Going by this logic, I would expect Sri Lanka to rise in both economic as well and sporting prowess quite significantly – post the busting of the LTTE. Similarly, as a corollary, Russia would have hurtled down hill much faster after the CIS disintegration / economic downfall; - think it got saved by strong leadership at the top.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Where does it place India? 4 olympic medals [or thereabouts], 4 games. One team sport in which we are a feared force and beyond the willow wielders / cherry hurlers; just 10 sportsmen who command international respect. The writing is on the wall. Lemme not rub it in. Lets wink sideways ;).
And come to Pyka [Purna Yuva Krida Abhigyan, go to www.pyka.gov.in]. This is the equivalent of SSA [Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan] for primary education in terms of conception. Execution is the bane in the country in all walks. We have spawned a few hundred thousand arm chair critics [and cricketers] but far far less execution experts. But if even if very slowly, PYKA sows the seeds of eagerness and enthusiasm for serious physical activity at the school level a huge difference will have been made to the collective national psyche in the next 30 years. In fact, in that sense, Baba Ramdev is according to me – by head and shoulders – has made the biggest contribution to the national character and nation building. Yoga hasn’t just given health and happiness to millions, it has also given character and positive energy.
PYKA is trying to institutionalize sporting activities at the micro level and its also try to create basic minimum sporting infrastructure at such levels. Time will tell how well it gets executed. But it ll certainly make a dent to our sloth and may just give a push to sporting excellence [not just interest].
Coming back to our quest for Olympic golds, I sincerely hope India’s new found economic gain is an outcome of an upsurge in national gumption. Hopefully the seeds of assurance and character have been positively [albeit, quiet probably quite tardily] sown. And in the next 4 olympics lets crack 14 medals [maybe too 40!] and not 4. And spare us the side winks in posterity – our vibes not just limited sporting encomiums or economic prowess but importantly in a sense of purpose, positive energy and panache in all walks of life at all levels. Way to go!!
Feels good to paint such stories in the year of New Delhi, Common Wealth Games - an event in which we have normally done well.
For records sake, person being referred to earlier in the story is Mr. Injeti Srinivas. An IAS officer with a top that talks and makes eminent sense in multitude areas of interest. Good to see an IAS officer, not bogged down by the bureaucracy and keen to look at things from the first principle and paint a dreamy picture.
BBSR
May 06, 2010
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