I was having a word with an ex-colleague some months back, talking about the legacy of the commonwealth games in india. I was quite certain, that all the various stadiums and sporting facilities will, after the games are over, will end up becoming wedding halls or convention centers. I was, obviously, laughed at, for having such a fertile imagination. Imagine my joy, when i read the following today, in the times of india delhi edition:
”
Take for instance, the Thyagaraj stadium. Built at a cost of Rs 300 crore, the stadium, expected to be ready by March-end, is the only green stadium in the country and comes equipped with its own power generating unit and energy-conservation system in place. A competition venue for Netball, the Thyagaraj stadium is being groomed for use as a convention centre for socio-cultural and recreational events after the Games. Said a senior government official, ‘‘While no concrete plans have been made yet, it is expected that the stadium will house the department of education after the Commonwealth Games, and will also be rented out as a convention centre for multi-purpose events.’’ Long corridors, large rooms and a fully airconditioned environ coupled with parking facilities have ensured that the venue comes high on the list of becoming a glorified banquet hall once the Games are over. It’s no different for the other venues. The NDMC claims it is planning to use the Talkatora stadium for socio-cultural and official purposes after the Games as well. Said NDMC spokesperson, Anand Tiwari: ‘‘Talkatora stadium will be open for use for cultural events and conferences etc. The stadium was used for cultural purposes earlier also. We are yet to decide on what to do with the facility blocks at both Shivaji and Talkatora however.’’ According to officials, the facility blocks at both the stadiums might be leased out as office spaces but nothing concrete has been planned yet.
”

Technically, i should not call it joy. It is a shame that we create such glorious facilities, and even before they get completed, or their purpose gets solved, we start talking about finding alternate uses for them. Most stadiums in India, such as the Andheri sports complex, are ripe venues for holding functions, concerts, marriages, and other sundry functions which can get good rentals. I can never trust our government to think of focusing on letting the stadiums act as practice grounds for budding sportspersons, as that will not get them additional revenue. Each such structure is an investment, and hence it needs to start making money. It can never be taken as an investment in channelizing the efforts of a sportsperson in the right direction. A world-class facility should just be opened to be enjoyed during a world-class competition. It need not have any role to play to encourage more people to use those facilities to train, and hope to become world-class sportspeople.

With such rotten and callous attitude, i do not see any future for sports in India. We will, forever, continue to be a cricket playing nation. A sports played by about a dozen countries. And even in those dozen countries, it is rarely seen as the most important sports that a child starts playing. Australia, England, New Zealand, for example, are all fairly good at soccer, rugby, tennis, swimming, golf, basketball, volleyball etc. There must be a reason, right? A child sees excellent training facilities in his/her neighbourhood, which makes them try out different sports. And hence decide what’s best for them. If all they see is a neighbourhood, non-maintained park, in the name of a training facility, they are bound to setup a wicket, get a bat, and a ball, and start playing. Its the cheapest option for them, and for their parents. They are “Coming out to play”, which also makes their parents happy. And if they’re good at it, then they start dreaming of the rich and famous lifestyles of our spoilt cricketers.

In India, how does a person who is not rich enough to afford training facilities in their schools or their parents’ clubs, take up sports?

If the authorities in charge of creating stadiums start thinking of milking them for rentals form weddings, concerts and offices, then who really is thinking of sports here??

I rest my case.

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