THE GAMES WE PLAY

For the youngest and most populous nation in the world, India's sporting achievements leave much to be desired. Things are changing, but they need to change way more quickly

- Sammya Mukhopadhyay

When Neeraj Chopra’s javelin moved through the warm Tokyo air to land at the 87.58-metre mark, a tiny village in northwest India, located 5,847 kilometres away from the Japanese capital, lit up in joy. The joy spread like wildfire to engulf a sixth of humanity. Within hours, children carrying sticks double or sometimes triple their size came out on the streets and started throwing what they imagined were javelins. And a country of 1.4 billion people celebrated its first track-and-field gold at the biggest sporting event in the world.

Four years have since passed by.

Later this month at the Paris Olympics India will not set the Seine on fire, for sure. A couple of trinkets more than the seven we won at Tokyo will get the country preening. However, there is a silent revolution happening. More and more Indians are taking up football, athletics, basketball and a bunch of other activities at a young age. And parents do not mind.

Mugdha Kapoor, 34, a journalist with a national daily, enrolled her four-year-old son at a football academy in Noida. “This year, during the summer vacation, I first took him for karate. He did not like the ‘fighting’,” she says. So, she then took him for skating lessons. “He is having a lovely time and really enjoying himself,” she says. Asked if she thinks she would be fine if her son went on to build a career in sports, she says, “Absolutely. As long as he is successful and happy doing it.”

Kapoor is not alone. “Parents now base their decision on which school to send their child based on the sports that are available,” says Sudeep Kulkarni, founder of Game Theory, a sports training business based out of Bengaluru.

Ready, Set, Go