Trailing 0-5 at the end of first half to come back 8-5 in the second and secure India’s first medal talks true grit, a fighting spirit, and dedication. I’m referring to the talk of the town, Sakshi Malik. A day later, P V Sindhu displayed similar qualities as she went down fighting Carolina Marin of Spain. It was a silver medal nonetheless and the whole nation went berserk, including me. It was a proud moment, to be honest. Amidst all the celebration, something struck me. As an international student studying in the United States, it got me drawing parallels to the road that leads to Olympics in the respective countries. India, a nation of 1.2 billion flipped at having won two medals while the United States won multiple gold medals each day. As I dug deeper, it isn’t a case of simple ratio and proportion here. Sure, having a large population does give us a better pool of athletes to pick from, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to winning medals. The answer behind this lies in the educational system of India. It isn’t politics; it isn’t corruption nor is it the fact that India’s a third world country.
Education and sports in India are mutually exclusive. One has to quit schooling in order to pursue a career in athletics. That’s where the problem lies. No parent or the student for that matter would want to compromise on education to pave his or her career in sports. It’s too big of a risk. And that’s where India loses to countries like Great Britain or the United States. We’ve lost before we can even compete. The educational system in the United States is built around athletics. One has to graduate high school to play for college and that’s where the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) steps in. The NCAA categorizes every accredited university in America into Division I, Divison II, and Division III. Athletes take classes during the day and head to the field on the weekends. At the end of senior year, Division I athletes typically go pro and play for the NBA, NFL or the NHL to name a few. With the grind that athletes go through, starting at high school, moving on to college while graduating with a college degree at the end of four years is something impressive and second to none.
Coming back to India, I still remember my days in high school where my professor would taunt me every parent teacher meeting to quit sports to get higher grades. Eventually, I had to quit varsity soccer to solely focus on academics. Now that I look back, I’m thankful I did but having experienced the educational system in both countries, I could’ve excelled at both in the States! There’s a lot to be done to bring about a revolution back in India but the least we can do is give an opportunity to the kids to take a shot at. The student needs the support of his or her school and their parents to ensure they have the resources available to practice. Had Dipa Karmarkar been given proper equipment to practice on (compared to a scooter) during her schooling days, the story could’ve been a podium finish.
Nevertheless, building castles in the air won’t help and the “what if” talks definitely wouldn’t, hence it’s time to get back to the drawing boards, reevaluate and realize our true potential.
