Well, when the Olympics were on, we were all a little disappointed that we missed on so many medals. As the games started, I did wonder why some noise, wind and crowd should affect a sportsman competing at International levels : these are not unknown or unexpected things. Surely, the team should have factored those in, right?And then, as the games progressed we won some, lost some more and the basic questions started coming up.
In a country with a population so large and so diverse, why are we missing out on these achievements? We see newly formed nations, countries that have come out of natural disasters, war and agitations showing amazing perfection and determination and winning laurels! So why do we fall so miserably behind? Hmm. So are we a sporting nation to begin with? Our national game is hockey and we know exactly how unpopular that is in the country. The only activity that gets all the Indians excited is cricket and that seems to be the only thing that the nation cares about.We do not get worked up about athletics, gymnastics or even sports like football or basketball. With a few determined players in tennis and badminton, those have come a little into the limelight, but again that is because of the efforts of the players not because of a structured program in society.
As Indians, very few of us are into physical fitness as a daily routine. In fact, that is the primary reason we have so much time dedicated to sports and activities in our school. It is such a good thing for the students helps develop fitness, thinking,teamwork, balance, personality and an outlet to distress and vent. We all know how important each of these attributes is in the real world, which means at Millennium our students are becoming life-ready. That is the thought process in Dr Phataks vision that has brought this whole program at our school together.
Overall, that gets us thinking do we as a country think of sports only when there are such high level international events? Is it fair to berate our sportsmen because they didnt make the cut? Do we care about events other than cricket? Do our policies encourage sports (suddenly, we hear of a decision to give 25 extra marks to sportsmen only if they are failing exams, which means smart kids are discouraged from playing). Its really a strange mindset we are caught up in. And its not just adults, the students have an opinion about all this too, as you shall find out in this issue!
– Arpita Karkare, Director
