India is playing in the Asian cup of football after a gap of almost 30 years. They are there because the Asian federation decided that a traditionally weak football nation should get a chance at the cup so as to boost the game there, not because they have qualified like other teams. But this is not about football in India, though I have a passion for the game. This is about the India of today which yearns for the greatness that, in its mind, defined the imagined ever-land of ancient India since the dawn of history. Whether there was one India for most of history is not the point; the continuum in shared history and culture in the sub-continent is enough to bind all of its inhabitants into this dream. But how does this expectation matter on a football pitch? How could you explain 10000 out of 12000 in a stadium in Doha screaming for a team that was so obviously out of its class? Only the fact that Indians so desperately seek the mantle of greatness that has eluded them for so long but which remains etched in some remote corner of the collective memory. And this is an invisible strand that runs through the country, at least the part that can think beyond ensuring they have a meal to eat. Back to the Asian Cup; though this particular team was not gifted, apart from one or two individuals, yet they did not lack motivation. Their flaws were just as glaring as their complete commitment on the field. Those players who made football their life in spite of the lowly status of sports – apart from Cricket, of course - in India and the utter callousness of administrators and lack of opportunities were not going to be deterred by the odds. They fought hard, and while the game reminded me of the way our cricket teams used to be mauled a decade or so ago for a while, I realized that these players would not surrender. That spirit was not something associated with those cricket teams of past. But then India has also changed in the last decade or so.
We have gradually begun to not just hope but to expect. The insensitivity of government to the ordinary citizen that so long subdued most has been assuaged by the greater opportunities available after India opened up to the world. To a large number of Indians, this still does not matter. But to a significant portion, their dreams for the nation and for themselves reflected in it are no longer a desire never to be fulfilled; it is in the realms of possibility. When the destiny of a people is in their hands and their spirit is robust, anything seems possible. However, as the result of the match showed, there is much work to be done everywhere. Sports may not seem a significant part of the change that must come, but its importance should not be underestimated. Playing sports is a wonderful way for kids to learn the lessons of life and it is also a pursuit that provides much joy not just to the sportsman but also the sports lover. It binds people together and gives people a chance to indulge their passions constructively. There are so many more reasons that sports should become an integral part of our culture, and perhaps it will. But the point to note is that the government will only play an enabling role or even a non-interfering role in the Change to come in India. It will be private enterprise and resourcefulness that will see the dreams of so many people come closer to being realized. Already, the signs are visible. There is a general mood of greater optimism and assurance at least among urban Indians, though it is tempered by the occasional reminder of governmental ineptitude and callousness as in the major scams unearthed last year. For all this promise to be fulfilled, the government must know that it needs only to enable and not obstruct. Whether the system of government and the complexities of Indian society which give rise to the wild disparity among the rulers will allow this to happen easily is the crux of the matter. Will this nation be able to absorb all the dissidents within and make them partners in the New Story That Will Be Written while ensuring that the wretchedness and hopelessness of debilitating poverty is removed? It is clear that the private citizen will have to do a lot more to make it come true; it will not happen by simply wishing for change, but by creating that change from within.
