Chak De has highlights many important aspect of Indian sports which are responsible for the pathetic state of present day affairs-
1. Regionalism. Players are more conscious about their state rather than country. This has to do with lack of professionalism. Most of the players are not professionals because the pay is abysmally low and hence they play for state as a hobby. Regional feelings are bound to be dominant considering the fact that the imaginary boundaries of superiority/inferiority are deep rooted. Jharkhand is considered a land of forest where only adivasis exist. This superlative feeling is so profound that even the movie disparaged the girls from Jharkhand; why can’t the hero of the team be from Jharkhand? Why she is always from Chandigarh/Punjab or Haryana? I do appreciate the fact that Jharkhand is a backward state but then if this is the treatment meted out then who is going to encourage nationalistic feeling? Isn’t Jharkhand a part of India? Does only convent education guarantee quality? Does always beauty lead to success?
I felt utterly pained by the disparaging remarks of players and officials in the movie. I was watching the movie in Chandigarh so the cheer for Chandigarh hockey captain was expected. But why belittling the players from Jharkhand? Remember Bihar was once India’s richest state and its just a matter of time before it recaptures its position. But then is it important? Important thing is that India should progress. The impetus can come from Punjab or Tamil Nadu.
Government has to do more to inculcate the feeling of one nation. Regional disparities have to be eradicated. Let the political divisions be only be for administrative purposes. Let the processes be centralized so as to avoid regional shortcomings.
2. Emotions- It again has to do with professionalism. Do our players need malevolent administrative staff to stir the emotional urge to win? The urge to win and team spirit will come by being a professional. This is what differentiates Indian player from the others and this is something that will come after economic strength comes to the game.
3. Non-Tech savvy coaches- While the Australian coach was using technology to gauge the performance of rival team, our coach Sir, impeccably dressed, was just jumping up and down. This is something the younger generation can bring into every aspect of life. Sadly our elder generation has a phobia of computers.
4. Irresponsible officials- The babus running government offices are either too prejudiced or too lethargic to work…forget initiatives. They form the single biggest reason why Indian governance fails to cope up with its industrial progress. Of course the reasons lie within the department itself. Why should he/she work when there is no performance initiative? Why should he/she do overtime without any extra pay? Bas kat raha hai….
5. Hero to zero in milliseconds- Single performances make someone a hero overnight and a bad performance can demonize the same person in no time. We are just too emotional.
What else can you think?
Another reason (why India wins only in movies) could be due to the rise of religious fundamentalism in the country! I briefly visited India this past fortnight and I saw the Kaawdi phenomenon! For a country on the move, economically, thing like these can be very detrimental to the social health of its people. There was a sense of divide that I sensesed which was brought about by the obvious flaunting of religious rites. It made me rather uncomfortable and also made for some major traffic jams in the city.