It is early morning
and the stars are yet to vanish. But the 24 year old Mahadev Kurani has already
rolled out of his bed, settled himself on his Singapore made trek bicycle and
started his journey.
Racing against time
and paddling his way to Jamakhandi, his aim is to not miss a single day at work
and make sure he reaches on time. Not because he enjoys his job, but because he
has no other option!
Today the former
national level cyclist and 4 times gold medalist, is working as an ATM guard for
a nationalized bank! Drawing a salary of meager 4800 per month, he struggles to
make ends meet. Back in 2007, he mortgaged his land to take a loan of Rs.
60,000/- from a local lender to buy his new bicycle, which he is till today
repaying in installments… not to forget that it bears an interest of 18000
every year!
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Frustrated with his
circumstances he says, “What other option am I left with? No one gives value to
these medals, not even the government. I have to feed my family.”
This is just 1 of
the many similar “stories” that fall on our government’s dumb ears!
In spite of many
newspapers’s extensive coverage about Kurani’s life, not a single person having
the power has moved their butt!!! Why is it so difficult to acknowledge and
support someone who represented the nation and brought glory during their bad
times? Do the rights not prevail after their retirement? Or do they become worthless
as soon as they start losing tournaments?
This reminds me of
a dialog from the movie “Chak-de India” where the women’s hockey team’s captain
says, “India me sports khelna gunaah hai kya?”, “Nahi, yahan sirf hockey khelna
gunaah hai”, says her coach.
How true. In fact
we can add basketball, football, volleyball, table tennis and many more games in
this list apart from cricket! In spite of hockey being India’s national game,
cricket is the one that is worshipped. It has become a national obsession!!! People
barely even know the names of hockey players… whereas Dhoni and Sachin are
household names!
Even women’s boxing
came to limelight only after MC Mary Kom, 5 times world boxing champion finally
stood 3rd in the SUMMER OLYMPICS, 2012.
Any sportsperson
you ask, (a non-cricketer) will never miss telling you how difficult it was for
them to go through the bureaucracy in acquiring the required material and how
they had to scream on the top of their voice to make their presence felt! From sllooowww
procedures to sub standard quality of goods, no stone is left unturned in leaving
them frustrated.
India and its Ghajini
syndrome (of forgetting its hero) are only working together in making matters
worse. No wonder India stands way behind in whatever sports field you name…
But if the slack
attitude of government towards sports and sportsmen continues, do you think
changing our attitude towards sports will happen anytime sooner???
Even if a person
wants to be a player, the fear of getting lost somewhere and being helpless
post the golden years might stop him/her from being one! I now understand why
most of the Indian parents start worrying when their child has more inclination
towards sports, than studies. And especially if the interest is in any game
other than cricket!
Hats off to the
thousands of people who have represented the nation & made us proud. And all
the very best to those who are on their way. Staying optimistic amidst so many
hurdles is definitely not an easy task. I
totally respect your hard work and dedication and sincerely hope that you fare
well and stay healthy in every passing year… ;)
I respect your views but do u really think its just the government that is to be blamed?
ReplyDeleteNO, 1st of all, as my line of thinking goes any sportsperson plays a sport for the love of it and not for fame and money. these things come in later. So, talking about the glorification of a sport person, there should be a good amount of viewership as well, which is you and me and the rest of the population. Ill give u a simple instance, Many of us dont know our own hockey player, but i know Michael Phelps (ace swimmer). what do u think that i know a ace swimmer of another country and i dont know the players of our National Game? That is viewership what i am talking about. And the government no where comes into picture here, it is the Media.
2ndly, one cannot force you to watch a certain sport and not watch other. its totally personal choice. so if u like watching table tennis you would watch table tennis no matter what. But if you are struggling with the fact that people dont recognize sportsmen from other sports apart from circket, then there are many factors to it.
Infact i feel rather than giving them fame and money, they should be giving more platforms, where they can show off their talents, like the Indian premier league, badminton premier league etc. A sports man should be given opportunities and not money i feel, so that even if he earns 4800 per month as a salary, the sport in him will never die. :)
DeleteAbsolutely right Vaibhav.
Even though he is earning just 4800, the sport and the sportsman spirit in him will never die.
But the point that i intend to convey is that the government/media or who-so-ever is responsible, should give some kind of support to people who have brought Laurence to the nation when they are going through a bad phase.
I hope you have seen the movie "Pan Singh Tomar"... what did you notice? In spite of being an ace player and having represented the nation on an international level, he was ultimately not given any support when he needed it the most. Neither from the state or union government. He was forced to, under the given circumstances to resort to the "wrong" way.
In difficult times, the person should be given what he needs the most. Be it from the media...or the government or even the localites!
First of all, i haven't seen the movie, but since you told me i got the jist of it.
DeleteSo, you tell me that it is support that the players should be given, i agree, but what kind of support are you precisely talking about?
May be you should consider watching the movie first.
Delete:-)