Our country is making progress and we must feel happy about it. Sakshi Malik has made India proud by winning a medal at Rio Olympics for wrestling. She ended India’s medal drought after clinching bronze in the 58 kg category. Sakshi gave India the fifth bronze in wrestling since 1952 Helsinki Games. An ecstatic Sakshi celebrated her win by jumping on the mat with an Indian flag draped around her. She emerged from the shadow of Phogats to become India’s first woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal. Sakshi had to undergo various hardships to achieve success at the highest level. She hails from Haryana where women are not treated at par with men. It is hard for women to excel in sports or any other field in the state. She’s worked hard for 12 years and wants a calm post-sporting life, though she is focussed on another go in Tokyo 2020.
Now what about men? Obviously sportsmen did not prepare well and our government has failed to provide them with basic amenities. Recently, I was in Cambridge and noticed that the government had invested money for imparting training to swimmers and cyclists. These are two sports in which we should also have performed well but our government has failed to develop sports infrastructure for grooming sportsmen. Dedicated trainers are very necessary for grooming sportsmen if India wants to win more medals at Olympics.
There is dire need to control our population but no steps have been taken to curtail it. We need to have at least a few good play grounds where our sportsmen can play and run safely. I used to visit David Lloyds Club in Cambridge and was impressed with the wonderful facilities existing there. Why can’t we replicate these in our country? How will our youth remain physically fit and win medals? I witnessed a very good household trash recycling system where people carry their garbage and deposit in dedicated different big bins. This is besides the normal clearance of green and blue boxes.
I have been advocating at least one year national service for youth prior to taking up responsible postings in the government. This will surely instill discipline among them. Without this people get alienated and then indulge in slogan shouting and display rebellious behaviour. India is very big and diverse country and therefore our leadership must be very wise in carrying everyone together remembering that amidst us there are far competent and experienced persons whose expertise can be valuable. I will once again say, citizen development is the first priority of any developed nation. They should be able to eat well, have good physique and well trained vocationally. I shall once again request our government to check to see if we have genuine trainers in our polytechnics and engineering colleges or not.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
