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Of all the travels that have been a part of my existence in this voluntary second innings, the past few weeks have witnessed some of the most frenzied. But the most exhilarating, goose-bumps-generating, sortie was to the southern metropolis of Bengaluru to address the Indian men’s hockey team which has been training for the world cup next year. The Paris Olympic games of 2024 loom large on the horizon as well, and Team India would look forward to upping their game and striking gold after more than four decades.
The top men of Indian hockey turned out to be a wide eyed, humble, bunch of boys when I met them. There was a rare eagerness in their eyes and a sense of receptivity which is rare for top sportspersons who have already donned the Indian cap. When I urged them to be resilient to the last breath of every match and don a veneer of invincibility in the mind, as far as plausible, they nodded vigorously. The bronze medal winners of the Tokyo Olympics are well led by mid-fielder Manpreet Singh, and capably coached by Aussie gold medallist, Graham Reid along with an energetic bunch of assistant coaches. The hockey stars appeared to be down to earth, unspoilt by the blazing arc lights of fame and ready to give off their very best in the years to come. They also appeared to be the fittest Indian team ever, and I told them so.
Indian hockey has been the pride and joy of the nation in the past, and our glorious young men of Team India are trying their very best to recreate some of that unparalleled dominance on the international stage, a near impossible task in this era of quicksilver passes and high voltage energy on the field. Yet, if we support them as we do our cricketers, they might just find themselves enhancing the level of their performances in crucial times to come.
Another stop for me, on this roller coaster ride, was Mumbai, this time for a session on leadership vibes with corporate honchos of a top multinational firm. And yet another was at a B school in Bhubaneswar. These were followed by sojourns to Varanasi and Pune, where I spoke on quality education and winning the battle of the mind for success.
At each stop, I realised that the India vibe is bristling with energy and gusto. India’s youth is perched and poised to create a future that is bright and beautiful. But also evident were the glitches. The system still aches and groans. Queues meander for miles; traffic maddens travellers and locals alike. Our cities are bursting at the seams, and the transport sector, including the aviation domain, just cannot cope. While infrastructure development has been a priority for the government, there are municipal governance issues across the land, which just cannot be set right, given the enormity of the challenge that India’s archaic structure poses.
Yet, the youngster of India, so aptly exemplified by our hockey boys who hail primarily from the rural areas of states as diverse as Punjab, Odisha, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and others, is raring to go. All he or she needs is guidance, mentorship, reassurance and education that is not restrictive but enabling in nature.
He also needs role models, who are hardly in evidence these days. Yet, some diligent teachers, dedicated coaches, hard working doctors, disciplined soldiers, painstaking civil servants and outstanding sportspersons do represent personas worth emulating for our youngsters. Sportspersons in particular are worthy of being followed by them, since most of them have broken through despite the system and not because of it, even though infrastructure and training paradigms have improved vastly across India.
Cricket and other sports too, can provide the impetus to India’s teeming youth population, the largest in the world, for no other segment of society can inspire as much as sport can. Hats off to the wannabe young sportsperson who at this very moment is on a bus or an auto-rickshaw, making his or her way for yet another round of gruelling practice. In his or her dreams lie the hopes of our nation.
vivek.atray@gmail.com
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