Why sports is still just an extra-curricular activity?
Cricket is not just a game, it is a religion in the Indian Subcontinent.
People of all age groups always wait eagerly for any Indian Cricket match. A
lot of emotions are running through our minds as we see our team heading
towards victory. Sports have always been an essential part of our lives,
whether it be playing in childhood in the streets or watching them on our
television sets. But why out of the 130+ crore population only 118
athletes qualified and participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics?
This clearly indicates that sports is appreciated by all but not
encouraged to all.
A toddler is handed over many toys to play with for fun. Later in
his/her age he/she is being taught to ride a bicycle and even introduced to
other sports and games. But one thing never changed was that all sports he
played during the day were just meant for fun and entertainment. As soon as
parents realize that he had his enough time playing games, they hand him over
the books. Despite of being very good at some game, most of the parents always refrain
from encouraging them from opting for sports as a career. A week long of 7
hours school daily also comprise only a single period of sports in the whole
week.The emphasis has only been on studies. "Kheloge kudoge
banogey kharaab, padhoge likhogey to banoge nawab" has been
the sole motto.
The onset of technological era in India has somewhat also contributed in
children not playing games. Rather than playing the real sports outside with
friends,they are playing it over their smartphones and laptops. No doubt
this era made the young minds more smart and made them mentally strong, but not
physically fit.
Those who are encouraged by their parents to go for sports, are not
welcomed by good platforms at rookie level. The schools and community lack
essential platforms to boost up the skill in a player in a specific sport. The
local or school sports academies either don't have skilled coach or the
necessary equipments. With most of his energy being drained up in the school in
his study , he is not able to give his best at the sports, hence he finds
difficulty in coping up by the academic as well as to his passion. Sooner or
later he has to give up his passion with a mindset that there is no scope of
sports in future as a career.
Nothing is more patriotic than representing your nation at an
international game. One stands an opportunity to represent a country with 130+
crores of people cheering up for them. But one question arises that
whether the nation is doing enough for them, for their hardwork? India
has been spending crores of money to space research, new development projects,
to helathcare and education, but they hadn't been quite good at spending money
for the athletes. All the international Indian athletes have accused that if
they would have been provided with good facilities then, they would have
performed well.
Shiva Keshavan , an Indian Winter Olympic athlete once also mentioned
about the lack of funding provided to him. He said that he had to raise money
as charity for his ticket to Sochi(Japan) for Winter Olympics. There had been
many such incidents and what was common among them was that they all demanded
that the sports other than cricket should be treated equally and the prize
money should be raised as in cricket.
Recently when our India Women Cricket team performed great at the World
Cup, there raised a scope that now the government will focus on the betterment
of players especially women. But other than just applauding there had been no
initiative taken by the government.
The Indian athletes and the Indian soldiers are the
most suffering respectable people of our society. They spend so much
of their time, money and energy and in return , they just want that government
and the society must contribute their bit in encouraging the games , respecting
the game and providing sufficient fund for their upliftment. Many Bollywood
movies have also showcased about the current situation of the sports in India
and the career of athletes post retirement. For example Chakk De India , Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag and Paan Singh Tomar to name a few.
I hope that Sports in India will rise and will not remain just an extra
curricular activity for fun and entertainment purpose.
Jai Hind
Read More : Saving the Unreserved-Reservation-System
Read More: Digital Educaton - The Need of the Hour
Read More: Digital Educaton - The Need of the Hour
Comments
Post a Comment