After reading the following story won't you think that's the reason
why parents don't see any future of sports as a career in India?
Switching off their television set, Sushil Kumar's wrestling buddies
at Satpal's akhada in Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi didn't waste a
minute to begin the frenzied celebrations. Their sport wasn't even
mentioned among the medal prospects in the run-up to Beijing, but
along came this man, seemingly out of nowhere, to break India's
one-medal jinx at the Olympics.
The celebrations will continue for a while, but a peek into the
everyday lives of the country's second medallist at the Games shows he
had to battle a lot more than his opponents in Beijing. Squeezed into
tiny rooms at the stadium's residential facility, with rats,
cockroaches and cobwebs for company, the conditions are not really
conducive to breed a champion. But for these men, it's just a way of life.
The disbelief grows as one enters the dingy room. It looks dark
despite the light outside, and with barely any space to walk between
the beds, the room gives the impression of being much smaller than it
is. The shelf at the back has a number of trunks thrown together,
taking up precious space, but it's all they have to spare for their
belongings.
Sumit, one of the wrestlers who bunks in the same room as Sushil,
proudly points out his now famous colleague's mattress among nine
others in the small room. "See, this is where he sleeps. In the summer
he sleeps this side, but in winter he moves to the other mattress. We
have to manage with just these two coolers, so he moves to be more
comfortable, " he says.
"With this medal, we hope our needs are better looked after than
before. Here, there are 20 people to a room with two people to a bed.
Not all rooms have coolers like ours, and we have to share the space
with rats and other animals. Here, there's room for everybody," laughs
Arvind, another inmate cheerfully resigned to the conditions.
For their food and lodging, they pay a sum of Rs 1000-1500, depending
on the size of the room. "This is how we've been living. We have to
make do with what we have. It's very tough, but what choice do we
have?" says Sumit, before adding: "Perhaps now that Sushil had got a
medal, more money will come into the sport. We have brought it to the
attention of the authorities many times but it hasn't made a
difference, so we carry on."
Sumit makes a hasty attempt to make the room presentable by pushing
away a pile of clothes into a corner, but it doesn't work. The lack of
coolers means they have to leave the doors open while they sleep but
all that it does is invite mosquitoes.
Surrounded by this gloom, a couple of framed pictures of Sushil,
displayed in the only available space — a ledge near the exhaust fan
high above the mess — provide a temporary distraction. "This is him
with his 2005 Arjuna Award. And here's another during the 1998 Asian
Cadet junior meet where he won gold. Now he has an Olympic medal!"
says another colleague, Rajendra. "We are all very proud of what he
has achieved, and we can't wait to meet him at the airport."
Coach Virender Kumar acknowledges things are tough. "Sushil also had
the same difficulties, but he had said he'll win a medal and he did.
Here at the stadium, there are wrestlers from all over the country who
are living in these conditions, and I hope they are all inspired by
what he has done. Wrestlers don't get jobs, so many are unwilling to
take it up seriously, but now things will be different," he says.
Even at NIS, Patiala, where India's Beijing-bound wrestlers were
training, the conditions had been difficult. Before they left for the
Olympics, the wrestlers had told The Indian Express that the "callous
attitude of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) administration could
seriously hamper India's medal prospects".
"Right from filling water-coolers to sweating it out in wrestling
halls with not even air-cooling facilities, it was tough for them,"
said a local wrestler on Wednesday. "I have seen with my eyes how the
wrestling staff practised in the summer heat. But still they managed
to get a medal."
why parents don't see any future of sports as a career in India?
Switching off their television set, Sushil Kumar's wrestling buddies
at Satpal's akhada in Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi didn't waste a
minute to begin the frenzied celebrations. Their sport wasn't even
mentioned among the medal prospects in the run-up to Beijing, but
along came this man, seemingly out of nowhere, to break India's
one-medal jinx at the Olympics.
The celebrations will continue for a while, but a peek into the
everyday lives of the country's second medallist at the Games shows he
had to battle a lot more than his opponents in Beijing. Squeezed into
tiny rooms at the stadium's residential facility, with rats,
cockroaches and cobwebs for company, the conditions are not really
conducive to breed a champion. But for these men, it's just a way of life.
The disbelief grows as one enters the dingy room. It looks dark
despite the light outside, and with barely any space to walk between
the beds, the room gives the impression of being much smaller than it
is. The shelf at the back has a number of trunks thrown together,
taking up precious space, but it's all they have to spare for their
belongings.
Sumit, one of the wrestlers who bunks in the same room as Sushil,
proudly points out his now famous colleague's mattress among nine
others in the small room. "See, this is where he sleeps. In the summer
he sleeps this side, but in winter he moves to the other mattress. We
have to manage with just these two coolers, so he moves to be more
comfortable, " he says.
"With this medal, we hope our needs are better looked after than
before. Here, there are 20 people to a room with two people to a bed.
Not all rooms have coolers like ours, and we have to share the space
with rats and other animals. Here, there's room for everybody," laughs
Arvind, another inmate cheerfully resigned to the conditions.
For their food and lodging, they pay a sum of Rs 1000-1500, depending
on the size of the room. "This is how we've been living. We have to
make do with what we have. It's very tough, but what choice do we
have?" says Sumit, before adding: "Perhaps now that Sushil had got a
medal, more money will come into the sport. We have brought it to the
attention of the authorities many times but it hasn't made a
difference, so we carry on."
Sumit makes a hasty attempt to make the room presentable by pushing
away a pile of clothes into a corner, but it doesn't work. The lack of
coolers means they have to leave the doors open while they sleep but
all that it does is invite mosquitoes.
Surrounded by this gloom, a couple of framed pictures of Sushil,
displayed in the only available space — a ledge near the exhaust fan
high above the mess — provide a temporary distraction. "This is him
with his 2005 Arjuna Award. And here's another during the 1998 Asian
Cadet junior meet where he won gold. Now he has an Olympic medal!"
says another colleague, Rajendra. "We are all very proud of what he
has achieved, and we can't wait to meet him at the airport."
Coach Virender Kumar acknowledges things are tough. "Sushil also had
the same difficulties, but he had said he'll win a medal and he did.
Here at the stadium, there are wrestlers from all over the country who
are living in these conditions, and I hope they are all inspired by
what he has done. Wrestlers don't get jobs, so many are unwilling to
take it up seriously, but now things will be different," he says.
Even at NIS, Patiala, where India's Beijing-bound wrestlers were
training, the conditions had been difficult. Before they left for the
Olympics, the wrestlers had told The Indian Express that the "callous
attitude of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) administration could
seriously hamper India's medal prospects".
"Right from filling water-coolers to sweating it out in wrestling
halls with not even air-cooling facilities, it was tough for them,"
said a local wrestler on Wednesday. "I have seen with my eyes how the
wrestling staff practised in the summer heat. But still they managed
to get a medal."
Medias, when you get medal, they praise for days. When you dont get anything, they curse you like anything!
about kalmadi he need tobe sacked .. how many years he gona stick on that char .. need to give chance new ppl .. some one is more professional sprtsman who understand the sportman .. and not the politician ..