India needs sports culture in its true sense

Kaustov Kashyap

(The writer can be reached at pragatigroup08@gmail.com)

Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Mary Kom, Deepa Malik, Mithali Raj, Saina Nehwal and the list goes long. These are some of the names we often come across in our day-to-day life. Well, who are they? They are neither doctors nor engineers; they are sportspersons. Everyone appreciates them, loves them, but how many of us dare to become like them? What are the reasons that dissuade us from choosing sports as a career? What is the value and significance of sports in modern society? How do we contextualize sports to India and find ways to promote sports culture?

These are some of the questions that dive profoundly into the idea of sports culture, and the way we perceive sports in our society. The objective of this article is to promote sports culture among the people and integrate sports into their development process.

Sports are an integral part of our evolution and development as human beings. Running has substantially shaped human evolution (Bramble). The endurance running hypothesis illustrates the evolution of certain human peculiarities as adaptations to long-distance running. We can also experience this in our surrounding nature. If we observe pets or animals closely, especially during morning and evening, they play among each other in their unique ways. Nature is the same for all, and living beings are designed in such a way that we love to play. It is somewhere connected in the process of our development.

This is the reason why, when a child starts walking, they learn to run and jump gradually on their own. One of the main problems in our society is the age-old notion of showing sports as inferior to education. But, it can be argued that sports are an inevitable part of education. There is a local saying: "padhoge likhoge banoge nawab, kheloge kudoge banoge kharab." This proverb means that to achieve success in life, you have to study and at the same time, reflects that if you play, you will ruin your life.

If we analyse this phrase in our current times, it shows that most of our parents believe that sports are just a means of passing the time and that students should not devote their crucial time to playing. They suspect that sports are an excuse for children to escape their studies. The outcome of this mentality is quite apparent in our generation, especially at a time when virtual and mobile gaming devices have occupied a large part of one's life. It has significantly reduced the time children used to devote to fields and physical sports.

I reckon, everyone reading this article must have remembered the time when we used to get a free period during our school days or dedicated game period as such, how we used to run to the ground and play like it is the last day of our life. But as we grew old, we lost that sportsperson inside us. It is truly remarkable to realize what sports nurture inside us, and how it is as important as education for success.

Sports teach us many things in the process of playing, which also serve as an essential factor in our physical, mental and personal development. It teaches us valuable qualities like time management, leadership, responsibility-taking, teamwork, challenging authority and winning enthusiasm, excitement and confidence. These are some intangible advantages of sports that cannot be discovered in books or virtual gaming devices. Apart from this, it is not a hidden secret that sports keep us fit and healthy, and it helps us function better and perform well in our day-to-day routine.

It has been found in several studies that those who play sports are less prone to stress and other health disorders than those who do not. Sports can also serve as a critical suicide prevention mechanism. Nowadays, we hear a lot of students and young people ending their life due to an over-competitive environment and other societal pressures falling prey to worsened mental health conditions. Sports can be very much helpful to curb these kinds of difficulties.

In the context of India, sports is generally associated with cricket, where the majority of people follow the Indian cricket team. We are all aware of the excitement in the India-Pakistan match, and the Indian Premier League, which also gets worldwide attention. But, the subtle question is that: is it the only sport that deserves recognition? Even, when we say, Indian cricket team, how many of us think about the Indian women's cricket team? What about other sports, like swimming, shooting, badminton, volleyball, football etc.?

The answer lies in the question itself. It is that we do not appreciate these sports enough because we are relatively less familiar with them. This public opinion must be transformed to give an inclusive space to all kinds of sports, and every gender must get equal recognition. The very nature of sports is to unite. It doesn't discriminate, and it has no boundaries as such.

There are many hidden talents in our country especially in the rural regions, which, if provided with a platform and training, can make India proud in various national and international level events like the Olympics, the Commonwealth etc. For example, tribal children living in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand have enormous potential in terms of sports. They are very good at swimming, tree climbing, running etc., without any formal training. The need of the hour is to build a sports culture where proper coaching could be provided to the individuals that help them in their development. But, the idea of development here is different from the prevalent belief.

Instead of following some rigorous age-old learning, there should be a proper learning methodology, primarily driven by sports. It is a two-way exercise where both students and instructors participate in the learning process. People should come together so that they can impact the lives of each other for a positive change and a better future. Now, the problem is, how can we participate in the process and rebuild society to elevate the status of sports? How can we contribute to the change?

We need authentic platforms and NGOs that can serve the desired purpose. Some of the organizations like Play and Shine foundation are working tremendously at a pan-India level for the novel cause of social development by sports and reaching out to the most vulnerable and underprivileged children from time to time. It is a platform where each one of us can come together to promote sports as a means of development.

Change is a process, and it is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. Let's join our hands to bring out the change and come together to guarantee every individual the right to have an equal opportunity to play sports. And, expand the outreach of touching at least one million lives by the end of 2022.