The Great Indian 'Olympic' Dream

We have all heard of ‘The American Dream’. The dream that brought America immense prosperity, which is there for all of us to see and envy. To dream is a good thing, and many great men would vouch for this. In fact, there is a vast treasure trove of unforgettable quotes exalting dream and it’s potency, thanks to the great men. Certainly a dream is that first step towards actually achieving. So, I was just thinking if there is something called ‘The Indian Dream’? You would say, “Obviously, vision 2020 is what you are looking for”. However, I am not convinced and I prefer to move on and find answers for myself. It is then that I chance upon this column in my copy of the reliable The Times Of India and can’t help but get convinced that this certainly qualifies to be ‘The Indian Dream’ or more precisely ‘The Great Indian “Olympic” Dream’. This occurred to me as a great dream not for it’s mammoth proportions, but for some reasons best known to me, which I shall attempt to share with you.

The headline read ‘SAI to spend $ 178 m for “vision 2020″‘. Does it sound familiar? Of course vision 2020 does, but what about the additional rider of ‘SAI’ that it comes with. I guess for the Sportskeedas, it definitely rings a bell when I say SAI. The vision seems to be in place. Now for the means and methods. Sports Authority Of India (SAI, expanded for the benefit of others) has come up with an ambitious plan, under which it wants to spend a whopping sum to the tune of $ 178 m (approx Rs. 984 crores) to prepare athletes for for the 2020 Olympics. The catchphrase of the vision seems to be ‘catch them young’. It encompasses all the aspects viz. training, global exposure and the like. So this is the vision (or I would say a dream), whose greatness I shall attempt to explore.

The question that bothers me is – ‘ Is the idea original?’ or say has the vision been weaved by the imagination and creative genius of our honorable authorities (read visionaries)? I’m afraid, the whole thing sounds familiar to me. China! Do you see it now? Yes, the vision is inspired by our illustrious neighbor up above (in all respects not just geographic location). China has been brilliant at the Games, when it comes to the medals tally. They have certainly raised the bar of accomplishment. Our authorities are therefore doing a wonderful job by choosing the right role model, getting their priorities right. China does indeed ‘catch them young’ and does the needful to churn out medal winners by the numbers. Obviously, the country is done proud and glory bestowed on it. One of the illustrious quotes in my copy of the reliable The Times Of India sums up the Chinese ideology, ‘ If religion is the opium for the masses, then utopia is the crack for the Marxists (or Maoists)’ or Chinese I would add. Inference: China concerns itself with the ends not giving damn to the means thereof. And the China that we all know doesn’t always care for the civil rights or liberties when it comes to ‘The Greater Good’. So it seems all justified that we follow China blindly and achieve ‘The Greater Good’( Hitler is not a far cry). So India is headed well. Just in – “China pips India to top the corruption index charts”, now we definitely have a lot of catching up to do.

So catch them young, train them and produce medal winners. Bring glory to the nation and achieve ‘The Greater Good’. I guess I will look forward to enrolling my son under this scheme. And why shouldn’t I? For the rosy picture that it paints and the bright incentives that it promises.

Talking of incentives; the incentives that our sports persons are given is a well known fact. In fact, I have come across a couple of really good articles on Sportskeeda which suitably highlight this aspect. You can refer to them in your leisure for the entire picture. Essentially, the sports persons are not given adequate remuneration and their successful feats are not duly rewarded. Probably, it’s for their own good, for adversity makes men tough and resolute. Also, the honorable authorities seem to follow the tried and tested maxim: ‘Success should not go to the head’. No wonder that they are all honorable men. I was going through an article where the reporter was pouring out his anguish, that two of our very own athletes (names? not that anyone cares), had to literally beg for funds, while a hoard of Kerala Babus had comfortably got their tickets to London. Representatives, they say. Sure, their presence at the Games is more important, for they present India in such glorious light, and the athletes, anyway are not medal material. Last heard, Suresh Kalmadi is cleared for a trip to the Games. And one wise man duly remarked ‘Kalmadi has been there at the IAAF for around 15 years, and he knows the sport inside out. His presence will do our athletes a world of good.’ Not to forget, the honorable Suresh Kalmadi was instrumental in getting worldwide recognition for the committee he formerly headed during the Commonwealth games, trust me the committee was in doldrums until then.

Yet another organization that deserves a special mention for bringing India worldwide acclaim in the run-up to the games – the AITA. Their exceptional way of handling a complex situation, which threatened to destroy our Olympic medal hopes, and the decision-making thereafter can put to shame even the executives in the boardrooms representing the highest echelons of our society. The other illustrious party to this complex situation, our dear players, have exercised their democratic rights to the fullest. The rights that every citizen of India ‘The world’s largest democracy’ is entitled to. Both the honorable parties have done what’s right, and yet a crisis of such proportions arose? Heaven knows why?

I hope you are starting to see the greatness of the vision (read dream). Therefore, I guess India is well headed on the track to fulfill a well conceived vision (read dream).

Just hold on..It won’t be right on my part to discount the rich contribution made by our honorable government in this regard. As you all know, Sachin Tendulkar has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha on the back of his contributions to Indian cricket. Does it help the vision? I don’t know. But what I definitely know is that sportsmen are getting to play a role in the administrative affairs of the country. In fact, I just heard that the government has made Sachin a member of the parliamentary panel on IT. Sachin getting to play a role in mainstream administration! Good news for sports, in general, right? Does it benefit sports or IT? No idea! For all I know, there must be a symbiotic relationship between sports and IT and the interaction makes both of them better off. After all, our parliamentarians are all illustrious, honorable men and they concern themselves only with the best interests of the country.

I guess, with such telling contributions being made by all the concerned parties, it’s only a matter of time before the vision 2020 (read – ‘The Great Indian “Olympic” dream’) sees the light of the day. I think I should pledge my support to this cause. I will dutifully enroll my son under this scheme (seriously?). Will you?

With due apologies to Arindam Chaudhary( The author of ‘The Great Indian Dream’).