It is wonderful whenever a crowd is seen cheering exuberantly in a game, but it is all together a different thing to be part of the crowd. People throng, young and old in large number to witness various games and sports travelling various places and at times covering miles across continents.

It is the crowd that drives the momentum vibrant making it spectacular and meaningful. Such attention makes sportsperson more tensed, responsible and at times amounting to grievous outcome both from the sports’ authority and the fans as a whole when they fail to deliver as expected. Sometimes, it is pain taken when repercussions are often reciprocated with comments of odd remarks despite all possible effort from the player’s side.

But we need to remember that a good game is not about winning or losing. What matters most is the synthesis of the two that gives a holistic view with participatory pragmatism of each individual involved.

As mentioned, great events in the world of sports are conducted from time to time beginning with the Olympics and so on. And it’s a great feeling to host such kind of events in the national or international level. 60-year-old ‘Independent India’ has not been moving much as envisaged by the founders of early India.

It has been told of India’s political deprivation and economic plunder of the erstwhile British Raj who had left nothing after having ruled for over 20 decades. By now out of the scratch, India had a completion of its 10th five year plan implementation so as to cope up with the rest which of late has made her to be one of the fastest developing nations of the world.

India today with its economy in ascendancy and worldwide recognition in the field of IT, nuclear, etc. has somehow earned global attention. However, she has not been able to address other aspects, which otherwise would enhance her status further. One best example as such is Sports. India, accounting to its population and its vast spatial coverage fails to show excellence in this particular field and is lagging much behind despite no dearth of potentialities around.

One gross mistake of India is the failure for a long-term plan. By this I mean when a goal is set, this should be accompanied by an overall supportive apparatus, a mechanism to boost uninterruptedly in the process of achieving it. This pertains to finance, guidance, good equipment, diet, counselling, and incentives after retirement too.

Each sports department of the concerned State should periodically summon for meeting (beyond the conventional) so that coaches and players alike are addressed with their needs, aspirations and other grievances.

There has been much fuss about the hosting of the Commonwealth games 2010 by each Indian especially here in the capital. Undoubtedly, it ranks just next to the Olympics and each feels great about it however, the story does not end there.

How many have really calculated the amount to be incurred in setting up the overall infrastructures in hosting such events and at whose cost? The 1982 Asian games had budgeted about Rs 500 crore which was 25 years back! China indeed had succeeded for hosting the forth coming Olympics in 2008 at the cost of about 35 Billion US$ beating many contenders.

New Delhi Govt. now had envisaged a total amount of Rs 80,000 crores covering all aspects such as public transport, tourist accommodation, garbage disposal alone at Rs 4,500 crore, water, power supply, airport revamping and upgradation, ring road, metro, beautification and most emergent the Eviction plan.

It has been chalked out for three corridor monorail project too with total length of 48 km costing Rs 4,500 crore to ferry visitors. These I believe shall surely elevate the condition of the city concern however the question at the cost of what? remains unanswered.

Delhi remains the growth pole of the peripheral areas, which we call NCR with NCT in the centre. The developed regions keep on developing whereas, the underdeveloped peripheral remains the same or even deteriorate with its gap of disparity widened.

Implementation of the aforesaid budget is feasible alone through the Rotating Fund or Public Private Partnership in which the Central Govt assists fund to the States. Japan has revealed its willingness to invest in certain matters, however the infrastructure impedes them to do so.

I do not know much about the financial technicality but apart from the infrastructure policy and hosting of this event, one thing that cannot be taken in isolation is the number of medals our boys and girls would finally collect in the end. The holistic approach should be kept in mind, for after all, it is the medals that will have the final say at the podium.

Today, in the world of sports, weightage has somewhat tilted toward Orient as in the early days it was dominantly Accidental in nature. However, this doesn’t support the dominance of the later by the former. I’ll not be speaking Greek for certain when we talk about sports in the context of Manipur.

This tiny State lying together with her six sisters in the NE above the tropic of cancer with over 23 lakh population against one plus billion of the rest has done extremely well in this field despite various socio-political and economic impediments. None can deny the fact of her empirical attribution toward the nation in this particular field.

Name any sports in general you find them there impinging. My intention is not just to trumpet about the State alone but also to bring a wider scope of what we ought to be doing since Olympics and Commonwealth games are nearing at the door.

The State now, I believe should come out straight in bargaining with the centre for its long term plan supportive mechanism in exchange with its sports proficiency. A chunk of sports talents lay here and if they are sought-after to deliver their goods, we ought to tell them to provide all necessary allocations beforehand.

This is rightly at our disposal and we need to play our cards well here. This does not in anyway imply negativism but just spells our sincere concern. Why not the Sport Department/YAS, the Minister and officials concerned come up with such proposal on the table right away so that all possible step be taken care to boost our sportsperson today and also even for the future?

It has been revealed of the official’s incompetency in failing to woo for hosting the world football trial/selection recently which eventually fell in favour of Assam. This took place just after the glorious Nehru Cup win. But who wonders and who questions the existence of our boys namely Sur Kumar, Rennedy, Gurmangi, Bungo in this international cup and the list goes on...

One reason why our players and coaches are not felicitated as they ought to have been is because of the internal lapse. Why should not the Kapil Dev selection committee that decides the awards for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand, Dhronacharya respectively missed to reckon on them?

I believe it is because of the same lapse. The officials need to do their homework efficiently and of course with the people’s support and logical debate. The point we need to carry home today is the use of our potential in the most optimum possible way.

And this is what precisely, our State Government, the public and the media should do to achieve its great distinction. Manipur’s 51 gold, 32 silver and 40 bronze from the 33rd National Games 2007 is satisfactory but still not to her potential she could manifest.

Days are approaching, crowds are moving in but you make sure not to forget to grab your seat before the game gets over.