Khel Diwas 2024: Celebrate National Sports Day whole-heartedly

Add as a preferred source on Google

Just as most sports fans never got to see Don Bradman play cricket in flesh and blood and only heard lovely stories about his wizardry with the bat, the same applies to legend Dhyan Chand.

Call it respect or being reverential, anyone who loves hockey will always speak of legend Dhyan Chand as a maestro who had even made Adolf Hitler his fan. That Hitler wanted Dhyan Chand to play for Germany is well-known, and patriotic India politely refused.

We live in an age of professionalism in sports today. Yet, what matters most is money, sponsorship deals a strong social media presence to define a true champion. Dhyan Chand never saw all this and still occupies a special place in the hearts of millions of fans the world over. Not many would know, if one is to buy even one original black and white picture of his from exploits at either the 1928, 1932 or 1936 Olympics, it costs British Sterling Pounds 1,000. That works out to a whopping sum in Indian rupees.

This is just one example of the man who overlooks the India Gate from the precincts of the National Stadium in New Delhi. Agreed, the stadium has been renamed after the legend, but it's a fitting tribute people go and salute him on his birth anniversary today, players and politicians included. At a time when the Indian men's hockey team basks in glory after winning a second successive Olympic bronze medal at Paris 2024, Dhyan Chand remains an inspiration forever. Of course, his son Ashok Kumar still has a grouse that "Daddu" as Dhyan Chand was addressed, did not get the Bharat Ratna. Sachin Tendulkar did.

It makes no difference really that such an award never came for Late Dhyan Chand as he has birth date August 29 inscribed as National Sports Day. Celebrations of it are not just symbolic but real. It is a day which has been given massive importance so that India can one day truly call itself a sporting nation.

Sceptics may still say India hardly wins 10 medals at an Olympics, but that's no way to support sports. Unless one goes and watches the hardships at an Olympics and how finishing fourth hurts, one will not know. In Paris, the fourth-place finishes for Indians reached a point of trauma. Yet, if these athletes have promised to bounce back in LA 2028, they will also seek inspiration from Dhyan Chand as well.

This is a day which is being celebrated across the length and breadth of the country. At a time when urbanisation has eaten up the playing fields in big cities and academics is more important than sports, a conscious effort is being made to push sports. It is one thing for state governments and the Centre to promote sports but unless there is a collective and conscious effort to move ahead, India will never reach great heights is a feeling. No, that is not true. The Covid pandemic did push sports back by a few years. Since then, sports is back and people are trying their bit.

There is interest and self-belief and for each Indian who wants inspiration where names of Dhyan Chand, Neeraj Chopra and Manu Bhaker ring a bell. Look at the way people have showered love on Manu all over India. It is a sign they realise how a girl can soar high. Maybe once Neeraj is done with his Diamond League assignments and comes to India, there will be massive celebrations again. Sports has no room for pessimism and anyone who thinks six medals from Paris is less has to be a cynic. There is room for improvement.

Add to it the Paralympics in progress now in Paris, Indians are bound to win medals. National Sports Day is not just for the able-bodied athletes. It is as important for Para athletes as well. The hype over 25 medals is justified as India won 19 medals in Tokyo. Sports includes all, boys, girls, men and women and even those who compete in the veterans' section. If you got to the developed countries with a sporting culture like China or Australia, they take to various disciplines early. For India to reach dizzy heights, it will take time.

So, does India deserve to host the Olympics in 2036 and the Youth Olympics in 2030? Yes, it will cost a lot of money but the way it can spur a sports movement cannot be ignored. People remember the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games for wrong reasons like corruption but it did fire the imagination of so many people and led to more medals at the Asian Games the same year.

Sports cannot be viewed in isolation. The day it becomes a part of the curriculum and youngsters stop loathing going to the playing fields, India will see more champion athletes being produced. And the best part, it is not urban cities alone which have talent, the rural areas also have immense potential. They, too, will celebrate National Sports Day today.