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Shobhaa De’s “Rio jao. Selfies lo” comment has touched a raw nerve in most Indians, especially sportsmen and sports lovers. No sooner did she tweet her caustic comment, there was a maelstrom of protests from all quarters — the most vociferous and outraged were some on the Indian team to the Rio Olympics.
Their reaction was something on these lines: Who on earth is a socialite to question the hard work, dedication and perseverance that Indian sportspersons put into their respective specialised disciplines before competing in international events such as the Olympics?
While their outrage is understandable, De’s acerbic comment raises some key questions: Why are Indians third-raters in sports other than cricket? What do they lack that their counterparts in Western countries possess and excel in? What explains their pathetic performance?
No other country that takes part in the Olympics makes as much noise about its participants as India. The Indian media is agog with the splendid exploits of its athletes at home, but there is a collective sigh of anguish when the sportsmen and sportswomen make early — and humiliating — exit from each of the disciplines.
We tend to make champions out of distinctly inferior athletes when, in a country of 1.25 billion, what we really are world champions is in dishonesty and fraud. We are the gold standard. The putative benign arena of national sports too has been tainted by corruption and nepotism.