Indians as a race....

Olympics 2008 is well underway.... Opening ceremony was simply an awesome visual and intellectual treat; it was a massive human effort and a display of perfection and timing; India has gotten itself her first Gold; Phelps has created history with 8 on 8 wins; Bolt’s record sprint - this Olympics has proved to be the best ever sports array already.

In the opening ceremony, when the different participating countries walked down with the field carrying the flags, the commentary covered details like the population of the country versus the number of people representing the country. As we already know, this ratio is staggeringly low for India.

Since then, I have always heard my folks talking about how embarrassing it is to have such a low representation from a country that houses one fourth of the world’s population. But I have been thinking about this for a while now and I differ.

I am ashamed about a lot of things that could have been better in India, but this is not one of them.

Think about this – every year, I mean EVERY year the record for fastest sprint or the heaviest weight has always been re-set for the better. How is it possible? How is it that the mankind is becoming faster and smarter by the day? When I do acknowledge that the part of the reason for this is advancements in science and technology in terms of better tracks, shoes and swim suits, I cannot be blind to the nutrition that comes in capsules. Is this healthy competition? And are Indians’ genetic, physical and cultural make up allow this?

While the excessive importance given to academic education as against sports or arts is a big reason for the lack of competitive sportsmen from India, for a nation that is in its age, size, needs and challenges, it is a natural choice. One of the two has to be true for somebody to take up competitive sports. Either his family is so financially stable, that he does not have to worry about winning the bread for his children, or his learning capabilities in traditional academics is so bad, that he will not get a stable career to make his ends meet. While the second point might be true for a large section of Indian populace, by the time people acknowledge that they will not have a stable livelihood, they are past the prime and their dream of a stable career is passed on to their children.

Also, competitive sports calls for a very well balanced diet and good nutrition, which can be very hard to come by for a country that feeds only half a stomach for a big section of the population. Also as vegetarians, the balanced diet we get is meant for Saatvik lifestyle. As history shows, Indians have produced great astronomers, computer scientists, doctors, economists and scientists; we have not invaded outside of the subcontinent; though we have pursued sports for recreation, it has never been a profession of respect.

Our mental faculty is world class to compete in the International arena; and I am proud of that fact; but our physical faculty is not our forte and I willingly accept it. And hence, I believe spending vital resources in building sports infrastructure allowing all the corruption amongst the middle men (now this is something that I am essentially ashamed of) is not in the best interests right now; I would gladly allow the same to build various other things like education and empowering women.

I am not saying its never going to be possible for India to compete in Olympics, am just saying we are not there yet. We have been the ones that sit back and enjoy and not the ones that sweat it out in the middle.

Amidst all this, kudos to Abhinav Bindra!!