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Sakshi Malik is an investment India must make

sakshi is an investment

Clearly the decibel levels of the celebrations - both online and offline - for Sakshi Malik's bronze medal are high. So loud, that even those on the other side of the Wagah have heard them. One of them, Omar R Quraishi, an editor of Samaa TV, could not resist a barb. 

 

Quraishi tweeted: “Finally one of the 119 competitors that India sent to Rio has won a medal - a bronze - now see how they portray it as if they won 20 golds.''

Ouch. 

 

What to do, Quraishi saab, we are like that only. Mighty relieved that Rio 2016 was not Barcelona 1992 when India returned without a medal. Quraishi's timeline became a battlefield with some Indian tweeple not taking lightly to anyone - a Pakistani at that - deriding the effort of Sakshi Malik behen, that too on Rakshabandhan.

 

Taunts about the Pakistan hockey team that did not even qualify to how Pakistan could have claimed half a medal if daughter-in-law Sania Mirza had won, went out as revenge tweets. And how Pakistan could find just seven athletes to send to Rio. 

 

Ouch.

 

“Let's worry first about a country of 1.25 billion winning just one bronze medal,” came Quraishi's retort.

 

Quraishi, the journalist that he is, knows there are enough among the 1.25 billion Indians also who are worried about the country's very poor strike rate. Among them is filmmaker-kam-critic-zyaada Kamaal R Khan who is notorious for his two rupees-worth tweets. KRK, as he pompously calls himself, took on shooter and Olympian Abhinav Bindra on his poor return on investment. 

 

KRK tweeted: “Stop fooling public. Government has spent Rs 100 cr of tax payers, on you Lukkhas n you Lukkhas haven't win a single medal.”

Worse, he followed it up with a challenge. “Ok Mr. @Abhinav_Bindra I will spend $5.5 million on you but remember if you will not win gold medal then I will put chillies in your ass.”

While Bindra did not dignify this foulmouthed actor with a response, the fact remains that the likes of KRK are symptomatic of an India that is willing only to invest on a winning horse.

 

Browse through social media and while there are lots of positive voices for those who fought valiantly - like a Kidambi Srikanth or a Dipa Karmakar - the impression among many is that sending also-rans to the Olympics is a waste of time, effort and money. 

 

Forget crudity like KRK, isn't that what a more sophisticated author-cum-socialite Shobhaa De said as well? “Rio jao, selfies lo. Khali haath wapas aao. What a waste of time and opportunity.”

Shobhaa De, sad you cannot smell `opportunity' from a distance. Because Sakshi's bronze is in fact, worth its weight in gold. The first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, a sport where brawn of the Sushil Kumar variety was always worshipped, Sakshi has done a dhobi-pachaad (a quick move where a wrestler throws down his/her opponent like a washerman does the laundry) to all critics like De and KRK. 

 

Read more: Don't blame Shobhaa De. Because it is India's ‘Free Dumb’ week

 

The gains are enormous, more so because Sakshi hails from Haryana, that hits the headlines more for the ludicrous judgements dished out by Khap Panchayats rather than the likes of Sakshi, Babita and Vinesh sweating it out, preparing for the Olympics. 

 

More importantly, it is a state notorious for female foeticide, with a skewed sex ratio of 879 females for every 1000 males, according to the 2011 census. (Chief Minister ML Khattar however, claimed in January 2016 that it is now 903 females per 1000 males).

 

In fact, Sakshi's home district of Rohtak is counted as ‘gender critical’ where the sex ratio is 867 for every 1000 males. 

 

Sakshi's success in the sport will give confidence to more parents to encourage their daughters to dream big. In a sense, she would be following in the footsteps of the other Haryana ki chori, badminton player Saina Nehwal.

 

This is a fabulous opportunity to make Sakshi a brand ambassador to make her inspire young girls and their parents. Sakshi appears to be extremely charming, articulate and bubbly, with a spontaneous knack to make a connect with people. Along with Dipa and PV Sindhu, she is an investment India must make for Beti padhao, Beti ko khilao, Beti bachao

 

Vinesh Phogat, the other wrestler from Haryana, who was in fact seen as a better medal prospect, however had to be taken out on a stretcher, suffering a knee ligament tear.

 

She was in immense pain, made worse by the fact that there was no one qualified to help. According to reports, both the doctors travelling with the Indian contingent are radiologists, not sports medicine doctors. The duo apparently made the trip because they are related closely to two top officials of the Indian Olympic Association.

 

It is this nepotism that India must outrage against. Sports minister Vijay Goel's silly selfie obsession is a minor gaffe. When his ministry or the IOA do not send qualified medics, that is a crime. A serious one at that. 

 

The IOA had also turned down Dipa Karmakar's request for her physio to accompany her. He was rushed to Brazil only when she qualified for the final and the authorities realised the swelling of public support for the gymnast.

 

As long as sports in India is run in such a whimsical manner, a podium finish will at best come despite the system rather than because of it.

 

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