Poor Olympic medal record: Blame it on lack of sporting culture, not just government

The best of intentions are not good enough. Neither are the jubilant headlines celebrating the two Olympic medal achievements of a country with 1.25 billion people.

In all the garlanding and twitterfare that have accompanied Sakshi Malik’s bronze medal in wrestling and PV Sindhu’s shinier one in badminton, two things are clear. One, whatever sporting glory comes India’s way is despite the system, not because of it.

Two, there is no real intent to correct the anomaly of India being the world’s worst per capita Olympic medal-gatherer. India is certainly not ‘saare jahan se achha’ in the sporting arena.

India’s non-cricket sporting culture is as palpable as a midget on a basketball court. Sports, in this country, is overwhelmingly yet another vehicle for doling out and receiving favours.

There is no point just blaming governments here. Schools and parents find any sports or physical culture a diversion from the real mission in hand: getting the right marks.

Unlike countries that imbibe sports and games as part of a youngster’s experiential curve, sports here are semi-taboo. Official apathy and hostility are simply symptoms of water seeking its own level.

But it is the matter of India not having any real desire to be a sporting nation that provides rightful fodder to the cynic. Instead, we are happily delusional. One would think, going by the interest in the media coverage of cheques and endorsements being doled out to our medal-winning athletes, that we are a world-beating bunch.

After the Olympics are done, the dust will settle and we’ll again turn our backs to the stats. If we are to learn anything from the likes of the supremely gifted Malik and Sindhu and the valiant Dipa Karmakar — who almost brought India its first Olympic medal in gymnastics — it is this: one needs to want something bad enough to get it.

Just cheering on and waving the tricolour simply won’t do the trick. Lay out a modern, professional sporting system while gritty, talented individuals keep giving their best. And while at it, on the lines of Lakshmi and Saraswati, let’s invent a goddess of sports.