The Time Has Come

Not long ago, the president of Indian Olympics Association, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi had told the press not to expect any medals from the India’s Olympic contingent and now when the euphoria is over, we have three to boast of. India- a nation of more than a billion, India - a nation of three Olympic medals. It’s so heartening and yet so poignant that even after 61 years of our independence all we get is a piece of gold and two bronze honors. Considering our track record, Beijing 2008 was the best Olympics for the motherland but is it apposite to credit these medals to India Inc? I dare say no. All we got were three individual medals, one because of impeccable training and planning and two because of sheer fighting spirit of those two athletes who punched their way to glory, fame and national reverence. Just three podium finishes have given us joy of a lifetime and India has marked its presence in sporting fraternity big time. But, is it because of our transparent sports policies? Or is it because the authorities gave athletes best possible exposure? Or is it because Mr. Kalmadi slogged really hard to ensure that these athletes were well trained? I leave it up to you to decide over this. Personally I feel that if IOA or any other authority tries to take credit for this, I would be snubbed.

I dare say that the Kings of Beijing are kings on their own and its time to concede that. None of the major players of Indian thought process i.e. the media , the authorities and the politicians cared for them even a fortnight before the Olympics and it was no exaggeration when the golden boy Abhinav Bindra said that he would be forgotten in two weeks. The statement reflects the agony and the mindset of a true Indian sportsman (not a cricketer….Yuvraj-Dhoni-Deepika were in news for more than three months!) who even after achieving the impossible feels that he would be forgotten in less than a fortnight.

It is an eye opener. Our system has always valued money and politics over the exuberance of the sportsmanship and the one game that we have mastered and are assured of gold medal if included in Olympics is the blame game. We have been so bashful that it would be really tough for us to feel ashamed of ourselves. Some things must be free from politics and sports are one such fraternity. How can individual interests and aspirations surpass a nation’s aspirations and success? Being a literate person, it’s really obscure to accept the fact that a talent hub such as India gets medals in single digits. Something somewhere is drastically wrong and I think the time has come that we begin to ram ourselves and the authorities to make amends. Let’s take up the challenge, let’s do the impossible. I know many issues will arise when we will try, but we have some of the brightest minds in the country. Rope in the corporate biggies; rope in the IITians and the management gurus from IIM. After all some will choose ‘country winning the gold fest’ over investing time and energy in disastrous soaps and channels or selling oils and toothpastes.
The idea is to turn this spark into a new torch, a torch that would cast away the darkness that had engulfed the Indian sports long back and has had shown no signs of fading away. But now we have a glimpse of hope and let’s work in a wholly professional and non political way to give this current system a jolt and shake off all the discrepancies. Lets Rock On !

Are We There Yet?

Whenever I a meet an aspirant (could be any Indian), I usually find him/her engrossed in a very intriguing dilemma. The question that I am usually asked is “Am I going to succeed”? And the obvious answer that I come up with is “It’s up to you”. I have always been an admirer of talent and creativity and I firmly believe that an individual is at his productive best when he does something which he really loves to do. This is not a myth but a fact which has been proven time and again over the years. The parameters for success may vary from an individual to individual but still there is one aspect common to everyone’s success and that is love for the job and may be that’s why an individual called Harsha Bhogle thought cricket talk was far more fulfilling than creating ads even though he post graduated from a top notch business school. I see two reasons behind his unprecedented success, one he really loves to do what he does and second he was and is fearless. The love factor is obvious but I found Harsha fearless because he dared to choose a field which was in no way related to his academic background and that’s the essence of the story, “Do what you really love to do and be fearless”.
Sometimes I get engrossed into deep thoughts when I see young assiduous Indians being apprehensive about their future. Planning and thought process are important but just thinking won’t help. There is an adage that hard work pays dividends but I dare say that mere hard work is not enough, hard work in right direction coupled with timeliness pays dividends. The world is fast paced and no matter at what speed you run, you will always have a notion that you are lagging behind and in such circumstances a directionless run would lead you absolutely no where. It’s really simple, if you want to be a goldsmith, you will have to be patient and persevering. Using the techniques of a blacksmith just won’t fetch you the desired result no matter how hard you work. Thus it’s obvious that it’s really important that you realize your potential and work in the right direction to harness it in a true sense. Doing what you really love to do will increase your productivity and it will suffice for any other shortcomings. In this era of cut throat competition, you are the one cutting your own throat, making decisions out of fear, doing things that you really do not want yourself to be doing. At times you are helpless and this fact drives you away from your passion. But always remind yourself that this has to be temporary, be optimistic, be spontaneous, be smart to finally bail yourself out of the situation and the most important thing is to never give up. If Lance Armstrong can fight cancer to win Tour de France, one of the most coveted cycling races, then why can’t you? It’s much more psychological then physiological. It’s all in the mind and the mind is within you and thus everything is in you. Just discover yourself to rediscover your life.
Coming down to current scenario, I think a good part of our youth is getting mislead, it would be wrong to point out a single source of such misleading forces but it’s possible to say that they are prevailing and they are prevailing big time. Take a bout, spend time with yourself and find out what you really want from life, do you actually want to spend time listening to pseudo journalists and mass communicators who have become as threatening as the threats they blabber about, or do you want to be creative and give something to the nation which has tremendous talent and a lot to offer. Get your life back. Fight hard against all the odds.
Pondering over the present situation, I feel that every Indian involved in constructive work must ask himself/herself, are we there yet?