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“My name is Inderjeet Singh and I represent India in Shot put.
“My friends and I grew up with a dream. It was to stand on the podium one day with the tricolour flag wrapped around my shoulders. While many of my friends did really well in sports and in life, it was I who was supposed to be the chosen one, or at least I like to believe so as there is no bigger pride than representing one’s country at an event like Olympics.
“I recently won a bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games and before that, India's first and only medal at the World University Games (WUG) 2013 in Kazan which is considered second only to Olympics. I won the silver medal there, but it was hardly noticed as the government deems the World University Games and this rare achievement unworthy, for reasons unfathomable.
“When an athlete is performing at the international stage, there are various thoughts that dominate his mind: the thought to perform or perish, the thought of his late father’s dream of seeing his son win a medal for India, the thought of the loan his family took to support him or the thought of the shops his family had sell to fund him. Trust me, an athlete without this burden on his shoulders would perform much better.
“One thing has surely changed after the Asian Games medal. Now I get attention on the popular media and the masses support me, for which I pay my sincerest gratitude. But apart from that, everything else is the way it was. I am still unemployed and I still battle hard to practise every day as I don’t have the necessary facilities and equipment which can help me take my game to the next level.
“The government always looks the other way when it comes to rewards or recognitions, and most corporates don't sponsor unless an athlete gives them higher returns than what they invest in him in the first place. Apparently, Shot put is not as popular as cricket.
“People look at only the result to judge an athlete. It doesn't matter the number of hours that he spent training or the lack of infrastructure. Needless to say, the irony is that the same people expect nothing less than a gold medal!
“But this letter is not for those people. It's an open letter to all the real sports enthusiasts who wish India win more medals at the international stage; to all those people who really mean ‘We are with you’ when they say so; to all those people who want to help and to all those people who are desperate for change.
“I wish to offer you change. I wish to work with you to get India the highly coveted Olympic medal. And I have decided to do it the way many athletes have done in the west: a fundraising campaign. My official fundraising project has been a ray of hope for me and if it works out well, we can work together to fulfill the Indian Olympic dream in 2016.
Patriotically yours,
Inderjeet Singh,
Asian Games Bronze medalist, 2014”
