Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris
As a woman covering her first Olympic Games, I run the risk of being told that I’m making it all about the women – but the truth of the matter is this Olympics for India had its larger national embodiment through the fates of some of our women athletes – whether in their triumph or their tragic failure, and then a certain disgrace.
Let’s start with our star of the moment – the young Manu Bhaker- who has braved all odds since her tryst at the Tokyo Games and is now the poster girl. Manu embodies grit, determination but also a certain demure femininity that makes her an immediate choice for becoming an embodiment of Indianness. Manu was flag bearer for the closing ceremony of these Games, and she’s well on her way to becoming a favourite role model, someone we now imagine can do no wrong.
In the process, I imagine we also place a certain burden on her young shoulders – Manu is grace, beauty, dignity, determination and excellence all rolled in one- Manu can do no wrong. To digress a bit- like the burden of gold we place on the shoulders of a Neeraj Chopra – who we imagine can only and only win gold – to the extent that people on social media have complained about a waste of national resources on Neeraj after he won a silver at these Games! I fear the same going forward for Manu in her embodiment of a feminine perfection. Possibly her private life will also now be under scrutiny and that’s always hard for a young person. Let’s remember – she’s human – they’re all human and not gods, and no human is perfect.
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Back to the other woman. And of course Vinesh Phogat who seems to be fated for every high and low that destiny can possibly throw at her. Anybody with a lesser resilience than this young woman who has braved tremendous odds to be where she is today, would have collapsed. And Vinesh is still fighting – to win back that medal for which she was disqualified. When the controversy around her disqualification broke Vinesh, it became the target of barbs of a political nature. But given the media’s strong support, as also of the political class of every colour, she quickly transformed into a tragic nationalist figure.
We are a nation of extremes – and while she was being torn apart for her earlier fight against the establishment when the disqualification first broke as news, she was soon turned into a victim of conspiracy. One and all that mattered rallied behind her – the matter was raised in Parliament and justice for Vinesh became a clarion call. Vinesh will possibly stay on as THE story of these Games. Her defiance, her loss and tragedy has been more potent for us as a nation than a medal at the Paris Games.
And finally the disgrace of the young Antim Panghal and her family, being deported after a disciplinary breach. I have already made the point in an earlier piece that so far as this issue is concerned, she is the embodiment of a systemic failure to educate our athletes of the dos and donts, when they are travelling as representatives of the nation. Antim – young Antim, not yet twenty was the girl that everyone pulled up for all they were worth and for whom the entire Olympics coverage digressed for a day or so.
But let’s note here – all of these women say something about our own selves – that we either judge too harshly or too quickly and superficially, celebrate and place on pedestals at other times; sway in our emotions – and that’s what these Olympics have done for us. They have driven us through all of this and more- and at the end of it, let’s hope the fates of these women will give us some learnings about how we have judged them in the past and are doing, now again, in the present, and how we can perhaps be more measured.
Also Read: Instead of scapegoats, the support teams need to take responsibility for Vinesh and Antim fiascos