Tales of grit & determination

Ira Pande  

The hysteria over the FIFA matches has just begun to die down, but such was the power of those closely fought matches that everyone was glued to their TV screens for close to a month. This included even people like me who have virtually no knowledge or interest in sports as a rule. So what was it that caught the world’s imagination? As I watched the final between France and Croatia, I was not the only one rooting for the Croatian team. As they said later, France may have won the Cup, but Croatia won hearts. This is a country that went through the most devastating civil war just about a decade ago. Its President is a young woman who had flown in the economy class on her own expense from her tiny country to cheer her team and who hugged and wept with them through the semi-final and that heart-breaking final. Compare this with the arrogance of our politicians who think nothing of taking their entire family on official trips at the taxpayers’ expense. Remember a certain minister and his infamous Olympic junket?

Turn your attention now to the other gut-wrenching event that was taking place almost simultaneously. The thrill and danger of the rescue operation in Thailand where a local football team and their coach found themselves marooned in a flooded cave for almost two weeks. Their miraculous rescue thanks to the heroic efforts of the Thai and British divers is not something any of us will forget anytime soon. And finally, there is our very own Hima Das who won an international track event for the first time in the Under-20 category and stood proudly on the winner’s dais with tears streaming down her face as she sang the National Anthem. No one had even heard of her or her village in Assam.

What do these three disparate but hugely important victories tell us? The answer was provided by sociologist Dipankar Gupta, who wrote an article of the Thai rescue that gave me another perspective on all the events I’ve mentioned.

In the case of the football players, particularly the French team, it tells us that if you have talent and grit, nothing can stop you from storming into the big-time action. There were inspiring stories of pain and deprivation behind almost all the non-white players in every European team. Many were immigrants who grew up in an alien country, often victims of racial abuse and grinding poverty but they had a hunger in their bellies that gave them the determination to reach the top. This is also true of our Hima Das, who did not even have the luxury of a proper pair of shoes to wear during her practice runs. 

In the case of the Thai football team, they were all from an economically backward area that abuts Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar and have little help or support from the mainland and native Thai people. They are used to living with very little, which is possibly why they survived without enough food and drink for almost a fortnight. Above all, they had a coach who taught them how to keep calm and alert. We all know the story of how he shared his food with them and shone his torch on the water dripping from the stalactites above to slake their thirst. No one howled and lost his composure while their parents patiently waited for their return because they are used to waiting for their turn.

I want to now turn your attention to our cricket team. In the 1950s and 60s, when our team consisted of Nawabs and gentlemen, our side used to crumple up when faced by the goras. It was only when the rough and tough players from the galis and mohallas of small towns of India entered the game, we became the fighting machine we are today. Dhoni, Kambli, even Sachin, Zaheer Khan and the rest — they play to win.

So to all the soccer moms and helicopter parents who fight for their children to get into the best schools and colleges, my advice is to let the children find their own way in life. Before you complain about the schools and colleges they attend and the discomfort their precious brats have to suffer, think of those who would give their right arm to be able to learn there, clean loos or not. The entitlement that our privileged class thinks is their rightful due is now history. Be it our politicians or powerful bureaucrats or  corporate world, we must try and bridge the gap that has divided our country between those who have and those who yearn. 

Finally, I have to write about a bizarre article, supposedly written by me, on Kashmir that is circulating on WhatsApp. It is a crude cut-and-paste job, created by an anonymous person and has a Hindu version of the history of Kashmir to prove that it is an integral part of India. I cannot vouch for the facts but of this I’m sure, I never wrote that piece. So to anyone who receives that piece of fake news, please do not forward it. It is a violation of my identity as a writer and another example of how fake news is so widespread that any one of us can become an innocent victim of distorted facts.