Generally, I do not react to any event immediately. I take my own time as to allow the issue gets settled down. This would give me more clarity on the picture, the real problems concerned etc.; Impulsive reaction is the result of heart ruling the brain that is quite common among us, Indians.
India has lost to Great Britain (is it still Great?) in the qualifier round for Olympics. Since 1928, this is the first time; India is not in the race for an Olympic Gold in hockey. Hockey is the national game of India. India has a great track record of winning the most number of Olympic Gold medals in hockey. Now we are not even in the race! Indeed it is saddening, very much. However, it seems that the entire media and the public (initiated by the media?) are going over-board in the manner they react to this.
At the outset, we should now stop the ugliest habit of basking in the past glory! We should start realizing the reality and accept it without any inhibitions. We might have won Hockey gold medals in the past but it does not mean that we are the juggernauts – we are no longer one. Past is past. In the hockey arena, the fact that Indian team does not pose even a mild threat to any of the professional teams is a bitter truth.
I don’t recollect that in the past decade we had won any major tournament in Hockey. The last Gold in hockey we won was in 1980 (7 Olympics ago) held at Moscow where the major half of the globe did not participate and we won over all small rivals. Nor in the recent past, we have defeated any major team in hockey, let alone winning a tournament!
We are forgetting another fact that Pakistan was a part of India when we won more Golds in Hockey. Pakistan is more talented team than Indian Hockey team. We have to accept this fact and there is no place for jingoism in this. Another sad aspect is, we had won the Gold medals when the hockey was played on grass grounds and not on astro-turfs. In grass ground, the wrist play is the key to win whereas in astro-turfs, one has to be athletic enough where Indians are pretty weak!
It would be an imaginary statement if someone said; India had 25 astro-turf grounds for hockey all over India. Let us not talk of IHF and its officials. If at all, we achieved some success, it is not because of IHF and the Govt but despite them!
I can’t help drawing a parallel to cricket. There is no room for a green-eyed monster here! However, the fact is, Hockey is not getting the requisite patronage to it despite being the national game of our country. The patronage to hockey vis-à-vis cricket is negligible. In all fairness, why one should choose a career in hockey? Just for the sake of government quota job and for the quarters (where one cannot even imagine living there) they provide? What other fringe benefits does one get if he chooses a career in sports other than cricket in India?
to be continued....
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