As India’s campaign at the Rio Olympic Games nears its finish, it is increasingly becoming clear how precious a medal at these Games is. Years and years of training with one sole aim in mind might be good enough to win any other race in life. But when it comes to the grandest stage of them all, the podium can accommodate only three pairs of feet.
It has been discussed to death why Indians have not been able to step on to any Rio 2016 podium yet, despite the frequently changing national records at all age levels suggesting that the state of Indian sports is at an all-time high. The most number of fourth-placed finishes have come for India at 2016, but as the saying goes, nobody remembers fourth.
Of all the issues that are being seen as possible reasons for India’s failings, one less mentioned aspect is how the average Indian parent does not see pursuit of sports as a viable career choice. In a wealthier country, the failed pursuit of a sport can still afford somebody a second chance at happiness and success. But for the majority in our country, the security of a second career choice is unheard of.
And so, while Dipa Karmakar and Lalita Babar and their ilk make the nation proud by pushing their bodies to the limits, the average Indian teenager struggles to touch his or her own feet.
Unless a situation is reached where more parents are open to the idea of their children taking up sports as a profession, India is unlikely to have a wealth of competitors vying with each other in all Olympic sports, like is the case with countries like USA and China.
An example for all Indian parents to follow
PV Sindhu, who has just rejuvenated India’s flailing medal hopes by progressing to the badminton final, is a case in point.
Sindhu’s father P.V. Ramanna and mother Vijaya Ramanna are not with Sindhu as she charts what could be a historic course in Brazil; they opted to cheer her on from their suburban residence around 20 kilometres from Hyderabad. But what they have done in terms of preparing Sindhu for the Rio Olympics and her career in general needs to be valourised as an example for all Indian parents to follow.
A Railways employee and a former national volleyball player, Sindhu’s father had taken an eight-month leave before the Rio Games, as his daughter trained for a maiden Olympics appearance. During this period, Ramanna drove his daughter to Pullela Gopichand’s training academy at 4 am every morning. He also frequently discussed details of Sindhu’s game with her, a practice followed since the earliest days of the shuttler’s career.
Sindhu’s mother, who thinks that her daughter is a champion already – no matter how far she progresses – said this before the Rio Olympics: “She does not find the time to do what other kids of her age do as she is busy practising most of the time. The last five months have been really tough on her.”
At some level, it also must have been tough for Sindhu's parents. 'She plays badminton' is still not a very acceptable answer to the question 'What is your daughter doing?' in most Indian social circles. But they persisted with her choice, and the results are there for everyone to see.
Will other Indians parents learn from their example?
