While preparing for competitive examinations, we often came across this question 'which is the national game of India?' That's how we started knowing this national game of a country with world's second largest population.
From that initial level, our knowledge of the game never grew up much. We hardly know even the name of national hockey players. Yeah, of course, we could have always known this, if we wanted to. But then, the very sense of knowledge is not only about that quest to know something, it is also about the lateral acquisition of facts and figures through our gifted senses. It is the same way how you become close to your parents or siblings.
Forget about being the national game, today, let me frankly ask, how many of us know such a game called Hockey exists (literally, at least) or it is the national game of India?
Sad plot! From Olympic gold medal to worlds top rank to nowhere today.
In the decline of Hockey, Cricket gained cheers and thumbs up across the country. Hockey sticks gave way to willows! From newborns to age-overs, everyone got engrossed before the 'idiot box', watching sugar-coated Cricket telecasts for hours and hours. Yes, it can not be forgotten that the game gave more excitement and individuality and looked like more playable. Any one could play Cricket, but Hockey, like Football, is not meant for all and has been submissive only to the well-built.
Yeah, so having so much scope of being neglected by the laziness of Indian public, Hockey did not get a revival through any voluntary movements. Even if some movements happened here and there, most recently as in like PHL (Premier Hockey League), it never got the promotion it deserved as a National Game. Look at the hullabaloos behind IPL, the Premier Cricket league. Look at the worldwide publicity being brought in. Look at the cheer girls and cheerful film-stars.
That's what I'm coming into; the publicity, which keeps us informed and educated and thus helps in learning things involuntarily. Hockey was neither publicized nor promoted as Cricket got. At one time, we never wanted to know Cricket, or there was no such a quest in our mind, but through constant media publicity, the word Cricket became an everyday-word, or an almost every-conversation-word. But having no such luck, Hockey lost its place in the mind of people.
Was this because Hockey did not have stars like Sachin and Dhoni? Was this because Hockey could not afford to show glamorous yuppies advent on the ground wearing goggles and biting nails? Was this because the game did not give any excitement at all?
Not at all.
It was all in the attitude towards Hockey. Attitude by the Indian Mass Media and more prominently, Indian Government. While fostering and contesting against each other to grab top posts in the Cricket board, our officials forget that such a game like Hockey exists at all. While promoting five day cricket to two day cricket to one day cricket, they forget to mention about this one-hour game. While showing multiple re-telecasts of a tight twenty-twenty, they forget show at international Hockey games. While off-loading hundreds of Cheer girls into the various Cricket stadiums, they forget to know that we have a Woman's Hockey team which did wonders in the past. While glorifying the debutants into Indian Cricket team, they forget to even mention that there is a selection process being held for National Hockey Team.
While elevating the Cricket players as National heroes, the Hockey players and fans are conveniently ignored. At one side the flood of profits from Cricket matches are being counted, and on the other side, players and officials of other sports find it hard to meet their daily living. And now the Salary for an international Hockey match unpaid to the players them since months. The word 'Salary' itself evokes surprise to me, as in sports, especially in Cricket, the word 'Salary' is never heard of. Instead, it has always been 'Rewards' and 'Bonuses'. Assume the difference shown.
This is not just the plight of Hockey; all other sports including Football and Basketball are too suffering from the same negligence.
And we are proud of Cricket. With all due love for Cricket, let's interrogate ourselves. Are we really playing a world's game to become worlds No 1? Cricket is hardly played by any of the developed countries. Cricket is played only among some finger-countable countries. I must say that Cricket is a game of individualism, a selfish existence. It is played on individual abilities and not on a collective effort. It doesn’t bind people at one time, but rather, it can easily propel each player to go on for their personal accomplishments. This is not an article against Cricket, but while analyzing the reasons of why sports stands for only Cricket in India, these points can not be evaded. What I'm coming to open up is that the country's likes show its character as well. Hence in a way, Cricket is showing what we are and thus what we should not be.
Let's not be lazy. Let's not seal our courts only for Cricket, but open it wide for other games as well. Cricket should be there, but other games like Hockey, Football etc should also be equally (or more importantly) supported. They are the Games of the world and only then we will face the real tough competition. These games denote the actual team effort and unity as a team rather than individual accomplishments. Only then, there will be less 'stars' and more sportsmen in the country.
