Hey, be a sport, will you!

Indian sports is shining, if nothing else. Is that true? If Mary Kom has shone with her boxing skills, we have the Indian tennis team coming from behind to win over  Brazil in the Davis Cup and enter the World Group. Of course, we had Sushil Kumar shining last week and Bopanna along with Qureshi coming to US Open Finals, though they lost.
What does this say?
Over the decades, experts have been saying that the performance of a country in sports is an indicator of the country’s overall performance; that the standard of living is improving and individuals are able to devote more time towards the sport they are interested in, and excel.
Have we reached that threshold? Or are we still the flash-in-the-pan type of fluke masters who revel in the rare victory here and there?
If you see the vast Indian population, then you will realise how little sports is paid attention to -- by the government, by the schools, by parents.
China has a bigger population than India, but the determined efforts in sprucing up a variety of sports in that country have yielded results that may take several more decades to bear fruit here in India to make a permanent mark in the international arena. Like in soccer, for instance; or hockey (which we once ruled the roost); or even cricket, of which we boast of having the best of players (individual records) but fail to consistently make a mark as a team.
Athletics is one stream which is a surefire indicator of how well a country is doing. There should be a steady supply of quality athletes who can out-perform others at the global stage.
We can get that steady supply only when proper nutrition is guaranteed at the school level. But only nutrition is not enough; the kids need space too, and of course the mindset of teachers and parents needs to change to encourage children towards sports. That is still stuck within a marks-oriented time warp that does not allow children to look out of the window and at the world.
That is lacking in India.
Let’s face it. There is a lot to do to ensure that children grow up to be fit and healthy to beat others at it.
We can’t have just sparklers here and there and then say “hey, we are great at this sport!”.
Probably, that’s the reason why Indian hockey went the way it is going...on the decline. It may win here and there in future, too, but it’s on the decline.
It’s time we pulled up our socks and took sparring position to achieve that future of excellence in sports. When will that happen? Or should we wait and whine even more?