- The present political leadership governing the country would fervently wish the citizens to believe that we are on track to be counted amongst the most advanced countries in the world in the next couple of decades. The narrative being built on these lines not only makes us feel extremely proud but also succeeds in germinating seeds of expectations that would completely alter our disposition from being treated as one of the poorest countries to being recognized as among the topmost. Who does not wish to be acknowledged as one among the best in the world? The moot point to ponder over here is whether we are really on the path to realise the stated objectives without ever considering how far behind the country finds itself on several parameters, even in sports.
PC: Stack Wealth
- Take, for instance, how the county is aspiring to host no less than the Olympics in 2036. As a step towards realizing this stated objective, the country has successfully bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games as a prelude to the most ambitious bidding to host the Olympics, the pinnacle of sports competition in the world. CWG is returning to India, but what do collapsing basketball poles say about our sporting aspirations? It’s great that we won the bidding to host the CWG. However, the country’s sporting infrastructure is crumbling at the seams is stating the obvious. Two incidents that took away the innocent lives of budding sportsmen not only break our hearts but also make us feel anguished when inadequate sporting infrastructure stares at us.
PC: Onmanorama
- In his heyday, former NBA ace Shaquille O’Neal weighed over 140kg, yet when he slam-dunked, which he did very often, 2626 times over a 19-year career, basketball frames didn’t collapse on him. Nor do they collapse when NBA players, average weight 98kg, make 11000-odd dunks every season. How, then, do we come to terms with the deaths of Aman Kumar and Hardik Rathi, wiry slam-dunking teens crushed under the weight of such frames in Haryana last week? Let’s not call them accidents because that pushes both deaths beyond the realm of human agency, factors beyond our control. Did the frames collapse because their steel poles were heavily corroded, and they were no longer fit for purpose? Yes, but that only explains why the frames fell, not deaths.
PC: India Today
- Heartbreakingly, Aman and Hardik are no more because the authorities, despite being alerted about the rickety condition of the poles, remained unresponsive. Perhaps because repairing or replacing a few feet of steel pipe in a rural sports complex isn’t a major KRA for them, with a ribbon-cutting opportunity at the end. Video of the frame falling on Hardik in Rohtak has horrified the whole country. In losing the two boys, we have lost promising players who could have been part of our 2030 CWG squad. Basketball is one of the sports under consideration for the Ahmedabad edition of the Games, and Hardik was already a national-level player. Apart from usual platitudes, why can’t we pay serious attention to sprucing up sporting infrastructure?
