By Aakriti Chowdhary
Choked drains, contaminated beds and sultry classrooms are just appetizers to the feast awaiting state level sports players. The Pandora’s box seems to have long been opened, but deep down, in a dark corner lays an ocean of unknown that is conveniently concealed by the overpowering, the powerful, and the influential. Lush green playing fields, new equipment, sponsors, dri-Fit jerseys seem to be far-flung dreams that are limited to a player’s television screen. There are a few rare moments, when a team player gets what he expects from an event of the stature of the National Games.
Prelude to the main competition, at the routine camp, is where it all begins. One fine day, after a month of gruelling training sessions, the team has an addition. An addition of a player just on paper, an addition of a player just to collect the certificate, an addition of a player who just knows how to play the “S” card, the “sifarish” card, an addition of a player whose money played one and all, an addition of a player who came into existence right before the tournament.
Additions and tampering are just the first step to the poisoned ladder of deceit. The explicit distinction between North India and South India extends way beyond the map; it extends even to the playing field. Amusingly, overarching bodies make sure that a tournament hosted in North India is under no circumstances won by any south state. With all their might, the authorities burn the midnight oil, to deliberate on the fact that how a fair stroke will bedeclared a foul. The whistle is their weapon to squash and wreck the spirit of the team that “according to them” deserves to lose. The potent whistle, when misused, seems to squeeze the morale out of the losing team. Alas, like words engraved in stone, the losing team often fails to change its fortune.
The gravity of the misconduct, sadly, is ever increasing. For those who believed that casting couch was limited to the motions picture industry are living in a land of illusion. For a position in the National team, either one has to be flawless at the game or flawless in bed. A mere mistake could prove catastrophic. A mere flaw could lead to cut-offs. A mere fallacy could prevent a person from being proud of the five-letter word written on the back.
Increase in the medal tally with every successive Olympics may not depict the real picture. The need of the hour is to look beyond what meets the eye!!
