Page 6 - Seniors Today - August 21 Issue
P. 6
Cover Story
From Village
to World
Olympic medals have underlined the need for finding and nurturing the
underrated sporting talent in India’s non-urban areas, writes Ranjona Banerji
Olympian Rani Rampal, the captain Tokyo, boxer Lovlina Borgohain is from
of India’s national hockey team who the Golaghat district of Assam, where her
broke through several barriers at the father has a small business.
Tokyo Olympics, is from a village in the These are just four examples of the
Kurukshetra district of Haryana. Her amazing talent that India has in sport and
father works as a cart-puller and her none of it comes from where the money and
mother as a maid. the focus is: India’s big cities.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, who Two of India’s traditionally biggest cities
won India’s first individual gold medal in are coastal, one sits close to the delta of a
track and field in Tokyo with his javelin mighty river. The capital is up north in
throw, is from a village in Haryana’s the plains. The later metros are spread
Panipat district. He comes from a family around. For too long have Mumba, Kolkata,
of farmers and is a subedar in the Indian Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru
army. and so on been the focus of sporting
Olympian and silver medallist at Tokyo, infrastructure and associations. Because
weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bar a few, these places are not where our
was born in Nongpok Kakching, outside champions come from.
Manipur’s capital of Imphal. She has been Most of the stories of India’s most hopeful
a consistent achiever in her category and talent, eager to strive to achieve, come from
also took part in the Rio Games, where the areas ignored and forgotten by our
unfortunately she could not win a medal. metros, the lawmakers within and those
Olympian and bronze medallist at with the money.
6
