Student's Corner: Sports as a unifying element in India
The Win Mumby Basketball Tournament in Mussoorie. Photo: Karan Madhok
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From the school basketball courts to international cricket tournaments, how India’s diversity and divisions can be united under the umbrella of sports.
Mussoorie and the nearby hillside is usually quiet and calm for most of the year. But the volumes increase by several decibels during Win Mumby, a massive, All-India inter-school basketball tournament hosted at my school. Everyone cheers—from 5th graders to teachers you’ve never talked to—and they’re all on the same side. A missed shot can silence us all. A catch-and-shoot three erupts the crowd. The referee can turn from a comic-book villain to a superhero with the blow of a whistle, depending on whether or not the decision favoured the home team.
This is what sports can do: a classmate you were fighting with yesterday is now your cheerleading friend; a teacher you’ve had a difference of opinion with, is now agreeing with every word you say.
Throughout the year there are many alterations within a grade, but during ‘Goalathon’—an inter-grade football tournament—the whole grade can get behind your back if you score a goal. Don’t bother counting the number of hugs you're going to receive: even a person whose name you won’t know may cling on to you like clothes fresh out of a dryer. Sport unites people; it can turn disputes, arguments, and unfamiliarity into friendship.
This is what sport does: it turns Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists into Indians. When we support India, we win and lose together, creating a sense of unity as we all go through the same sorrow—or celebrate the same glory!
Sports can do the same for the country, too. India is a diverse country, rich in culture, heritage, and religion, home to various ethnic backgrounds, and a number of religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism. India’s diversity, however, also invites conflicts amongst the different groups, often resulting in long-term disunity.
Just as sports have served as a unifying element in school, reducing the conflicts and differences among the diverse student body, this model of unity has shown to be useful in a larger scale, too—nationwide—unifying the people of the country despite their ethnic and religious background, their origins, or their economic status.
Cricket is a great example. Being the most-followed sport in India, it has the power of bringing together the whole country, with everyone watching the same match on TV. Whether it is Mohammed Shami bowling or Virat Kohli batting, the community support is equal for both. When Shami took a remarkable hat trick in last year’s World Cup, his feat stood above and separate of his Muslim religion. When Shafali Verma made a century at the age of 15, all of India was proud of her, and not just the Hindu community. When MS Dhoni hit his game-winning six in the 2011 World Cup Final, Indians celebrated the triumph as Indians, and not as Hindus and Muslims.
The game is watched and enjoyed with equal respect for all races and ethnicities. When India is playing on TV, religion takes a back seat. We aren’t bothered by who scores the runs or who takes the wickets; we just want India to win.
This is what sport does: it turns Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists into Indians. When we support India, we win and lose together, creating a sense of unity as we all go through the same sorrow—or celebrate the same glory!
Economic disparity is often another reason of division between individuals and communities, but when it comes to sports, team spirit is what brings people to work towards one goal. Yuvraj Singh—a former member of India’s cricket team—comes from a royal family, and has a close relationship with teammate Harbhajan Singh, who hails from a low-income family. It is worth mentioning that both these players enjoy the same respect within the team as well as within other sports fraternities. The team culture of playing together and being with each other during times of sorrow and happiness unites players despite their differences.
Abroad, English Premier League football teams are another great example of where sportspersons with linguistic diversity and different nationalities unite: teams are often filled with players who exclusively speak Spanish, as well as those who exclusively speak English, all playing together in the same kit.
On a smaller scale back in Mussoorie, our school basketball team features individuals from India, USA, Nepal, South Korea, Tibet, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Bhutan, and Somaliland. Despite all their cultural differences, the teams wanted to win together and lose together: this unity and what they recognise as brotherhood and sisterhood helped them win many matches and tournaments. Unity forms a great team, and as once stated by Simon Sinek: “A great team is better than a team of greats.”
The world can often be divisive, country to country, school to school, individual to individual. But when it comes to supporting a team, sport can be utilised as a unifying element between different groups to bring people together and reduce these differences. I believe that closing up our differences will eventually reduce conflict, and hopefully, result in a better world.
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Adit Joshi is a student of Class XI from Woodstock School in Mussoorie.
