Say it isn’t so, Ashwini Akkunji!

By Rajeev Srinivasan The highlight of the Commonwealth Games was the sheer artistry of the Indian women’s quartet winning the 4x400m relay in style. In particular, Ashwini Akkunji blew away the surging Nigerians in the third leg in such fine style that India romped home with ease. She then repeated her heroics in the Asian Games, once again anchoring a fine win. Ashwini became my hero – for here was a genuine article: a hero from a small village outside Mangalore, Karnataka. A tall, lanky young woman who looked obviously shy in her few pictures in the media. She was surrounded by her family, who looked like small-town people, the salt of the earth: middle India. I am tired of all these lionised cricketers and others who make big bucks through their ubiquitous advertising presence. These urban slickers annoy me, partly because they are, especially in cricket, underachievers. While it may be blasphemous to say so, I have to wonder about how much of their winning is due to subtle match-fixing. In my more bilious moments, I find it difficult to distinguish between World Wrestling Entertainment antics and the accomplishments, so to speak, of India’s cricketers. [caption id=“attachment_37845” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The productive life of an athlete is very short and they have to achieve so much. They may be tempted to take short cuts just so that they can get the visibility and the adulation that winning brings. David Gray/Reuters”]  [/caption] However, I do respect those lone rangers in other sports who are holding up the Indian flag: for instance, Viswanathan Anand, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza. Okay, they may be city slickers, but they are actually accomplishing something in open competition against world-class opposition. Whereas I believe the cricketers are hot-house plants who can only thrive when the environment is manipulated in their favour. Besides, I think cricket has been elevated to the level of the national religion, in fact the one and only national religion that anybody is supposed to believe in, the natural opiate of the masses. Since I do not believe in monocultures, I find the “one and only” a rather disturbing phenomenon per se. But I digress. The issue is that Ashwini, along with her 4x400m compatriot Sini Jose, and several other athletes, has tested positive for banned drugs. Which, I suppose, will mean that their CWG and Asiad medals will be removed and they will be suspended from competition for some time to come. This is extremely distressing. Why were Ashwini and the others so blasé about taking drugs? They must have known the severe consequences thereto. Why did they risk their careers and their future and even their health by taking performance-enhancing drugs, possibly some anabolic steroids? It’s not that world-class athletes are not tempted by drugs, or that their coaches do not try to get them to take drugs and hide the fact. There was the suspiciously early death of a world-class American woman runner: she was a very flamboyant person, and I have the feeling that she might have been on some drugs that were not detected by the usual testing mechanisms, but that helped her win. There are also stories of boxers who have become vegetables because of repeated blows to their brains; or American footballers who have been tormented by health problems based on repetitive injuries. It is true that the productive life of an athlete is very short and they have to achieve so much. They may be tempted to take short cuts just so that they can get the visibility and the adulation that winning brings. The sad thing is that in the case of these Commonwealth Games and Asian Games athletes, their heroics brought them only fleeting recognition. I doubt if any of them has received a single offer to star in an advertisement for some astronomical sum. Many of these star athletes end up depending on the Railways or the Army for small jobs so that they can continue to earn a living, while training in the evenings and weekends. Sometimes even that is not forthcoming. I was startled to hear some time ago that a national-level rower, a girl from Kerala, committed suicide because she just didn’t have the wherewithal to train. There was also the incident where PT Usha, erstwhile sprint queen, was humiliated and in tears at a meet, where she had travelled, obviously, by train. This is a person who has dedicated herself to creating a few world-class athletes, and she is the closest thing we have to someone who excelled in track events. Yet, the establishment could not give her any support. So I am not surprised that Ashwini and the others allegedly resorted to unfair means to gain their advantage. Perhaps it was an act of desperation. Perhaps their coach, also under pressure – he was, I think an Ukrainian who has just been fired – also felt it necessary to do this. And perhaps, in fact, there is a conspiracy to discredit these athletes. Such things are not unknown. But the really sad thing is that athletics – the crowning glory of sport – gets so little attention in India. And the fact of the matter is that there are many aspiring athletes, especially in small towns, who could well be world-beaters if only the establishment recognised them and nurtured them. Which, of course, is what other, more sensible countries do. I have noticed how, at the junior level, Indians do well in all sorts of events, but then they fade – because there is no establishment to support them. I do hope, Ashwini Akkunji, and I am using you as a metaphor for all the accused athletes, that this is all a big mistake, and that you will be redeemed. I also hope that you will get enough visibility and advertising contracts so that all the hard work and heartache you have gone through to reach where you have will be richly rewarded. You have a few fans who wish you well. Rajeev Srinivasan is a management consultant, columnist and a fan of art cinema.