Indian Olympics is more like dark humour
Dark Humour is a rather complicated term and so is Indian Olympics; but both go hand in hand. The Olympics are about to end and the medals tally reads ’4′ for India. It just doesn’t make sense when you put that number against the population of India. Many have shook hands with lunacy going over the numbers and there absolutely seems to be no answer! India has been running into a brick wall ever since the games were invented. Every single time.
No one needs a reminder, but the numbers are just pathetically romantic. Beijing 2008 was one of the most successful Olympics India has ever had and funnily enough that year, India had the lowest ratio of medals-won to population of any competing country: one medal per 383 million Indians. Let the number sink in. This year we’ve got 4 till now with no hopes for more. 3 bronzes and 1 silver. It makes you wonder, why do people even get all pumped up and make a million ads around the Olympics? Everyone gets upbeat and buoyant about the couple of stars we have in a handful of sports and when they get a bronze, we run 10 hours of exclusive news shows around them.
I grope in the dark for reasons. Money? No. Definitely no. Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica, all poverty stricken countries but they’ve managed to do way better than India. For the record, India, in all till now has won a miserly small number, 24 medals in total ever since the 1900s! China has won 80 this Olympics already. Sigh. One thing that can be noticed is that poorer or lesser developed countries have found their sport of strength. Kenya produces excellent runners, so does Ethiopia and Jamaica. Any sprinting, running event; athletes from these countries will be right up there and there’s no touching them. The Kazhaks have weightlifting. India had hockey but ever since the ‘natural turf’ has been replaced by the ‘synthetic turf’, Indians haven’t been able to adapt.
Infrastructure? Well yes, but it’s a useless case when the ratio is so demoralizing. It’s not that infrastructure is absolutely zero, India has some world-class facilities which should produce some globally competitive athletes. Out of the 1.2 billion population, one can safely eliminate the 1 billion as a non-included segment in terms of exposure to The Olympics but that still leaves with 200 million which should at least give India 10 medals. But no, we’re far away from that. Far far away! And there’s no perceivable light at the end of the tunnel.
Statistics themselves are baffled by this piece of stat and rumors have been doing the rounds that they’d soon divide themselves and commit suicide. A rather grim realization, the only thing one can do is to roam around with a heavy heart long enough to strengthen it, so much that improves stamina to a level to win a few more medals. Or well, do something to make Cricket an Olympic sport.