I haven’t thought to explore so far within details of the
Indian Olympic Association’s (IOC’s) latest activities but feel humbled by the
extent of challenge, fortitude and determination to put a strong face forward
into heavy winds of questioning, skepticism and anger. Regardless of what the inner workings of those
who seem to be considered the usual suspects, there is a sense of something astir
that might be a little more than pride.
But then, what seems to be the question so many are asking is why should
the activities of a few work against the many athletes who spend so much of
their time and energy and perseverance trying to attain a dream, a large part
of which is to compete under their country’s own flag at the Olympics?
I was supposed to have some meetings at a local college
today, 6 December, but was told that this day is a national holiday in honor of
the man who had led the writing of India’s constitution back in 1947. So no meetings after all. I decided to take a walk up Nagphani, a hill
to the south of Lonavala, which was essentially a matter of taking a tuktuk to
a nearby town, finding the railway station, walking up through a saddle between
two hills, heading around the backside of the western hill, meandering across a
valley and then trudging up the slope that led to the summit. It was a hot winter’s day. One main thought was to reference landmarks
for the return trip; I filled up the landscape with points of return.
This was all fine and good on the way back except for one
area that I came to call “wing it slope” on the backside of the western hill
leading towards the saddle. I wouldn’t
say that I got lost – I was all the time aware of the lay of the land, the hill
and the saddle, but there was a spot of time when I didn’t have a clue which
trail I should be on. All trails were
fine – they all went somewhere that could seem like the right way at least for
some short moment of time. I could have
felt like I was “everywhere and nowhere”, which is that terrible moment when
the land begins to whirl around us, when we attempt to grasp at things that are
ungraspable, when we lose focus, lose a sense of place, lose our way, lose
composure and level-headedness – when we are in the most danger of really getting
lost. But I held to my sense of place,
the sun’s position, the angle of the slope, a sense of where the hills were
around me and kept moving on and eventually got “back on track” or as Aerosmith
put it, back in the saddle again.
It was when I returned to my hotel room that I read the
article about the IOC, and got thinking about some of the quotes of the
athletes. “It feels as if we have been
thrown into an orphanage…” “Politics
should not be allowed to spoil sport…” “There’s
so much internal bickering and power struggle…”
And one commentary that alluded to a need for the cleaning up of a
system that doesn’t treat sport and sportspersons as its raison d’etre.
There are choices at every moment and many times there might
not be so much focused thought on the big picture, the ultimate aim or goal or
destination, or, for instance, the ones who will ultimately benefit, or be penalized
by being shunned by whatever action is chosen.
BR Ambedkar had been a Dalit – an untouchable - but he
succeeded in getting a college education, prestigious degrees and a position
that allowed him to bring a voice of civil liberty into the words of India’s
constitution. To honor him with a
special day of holiday (which happens to also be Finnish Independence Day and the
feast of St Nicholas, who was known for his acts of charity and love) seems to
be giving a nod of honor to the act of focusing on the people who benefit from
any action we take, rather than maintaining a focus on immediate, directionless,
everywhere moments…
No comments:
Post a Comment