Lessons to learn from Mirabai Chanu's Tokyo feat
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 27, 2021 -

HAD it not been for the pandemic-induced curfew and the unhinging consistency in large number of people contracting the infectious disease in the state, Manipuris would have showcased to the world how to celebrate the splendid performance of Saikhom Mirabai Chanu at the Tokyo Olympics on July 24.

Amid the distressful situation due to the virulent spread of the Covid-19 second wave, celebration of Mirabai’s unparalleled achievement at the highest level of sporting competition is being marked by only a handful of elite citizens heading to her native village to extend congratulations and present gifts to her parents and family members while many others have been hailing her podium finish through the mass media regardless of their eagerness to be physically present at her home to relish the historic moment.

In-spite of being often referred to as the land of festivals, people of Manipur have been curbing their natural instinct to celebrate various grand events ever since the pandemic broke out in early 2020 till date.

As such, the pandemic situation is the only reason why the masses have been refraining from rejoicing such an outstanding feat of Mirabai Chanu.

Interestingly, her triumph is being celebrated in many mainland states, where people from Manipur or any other parts of the northeast region continued to be seen as outlanders and subjected to ill-treatment, subsequent to significant improvement in the pandemic situation while her natives are forced to remain indoors to prevent possible deterioration of the health crisis and give ample time to the frontline workers to tame the virus.

With the state’s daily test positivity rate remaining nearly seven times above the national average of under 3 per cent, it is unthinkable for the masses to come out to the streets and relish Mirabai Chanu’s success as had been the tradition whenever Manipuris excelled in the sports arena.

There is a popular Hindi saying that roughly translates to “if you study hard you will live like a king but if you play sports you will ruin your life,” and majority of the Manipuri parents also believe in such a narrative.

However, Mirabai’s exploits in Tokyo as well as rags to riches stories of uncountable numbers of Manipuri sportspersons would hopefully bring a change to such a concept.

It is also time for the policy makers to realise the need for formulating and implementing a synergized sports culture to produce more Mirabais and Mary Koms.

No doubt, education continues to be accorded the highest priority by the average household instead of extra-curricular activities such as sports.

As the sportspersons have proven that climbing the socio-economic ladder is possible if the pool of talent available at the local, community, school and university levels gets proper guidance and institutional support, the state government should focus towards ensuring that the scarce public investible resources also cover development of the basic sports infrastructure especially at the grassroots level.

Moreover, merely having a national sports university is unlikely to help sustain the age-old sports movement and culture in the state unless the fast-disappearing playgrounds could be preserved for these unrefined local facilities have been the breeding ground of world-beater Manipuris.