Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)
 
Mangalore, Jan 9:  This true story unfolding below, unveils the pathetic and sorry state of the sports affairs in our country.  
  
Close to a hundred talented youngsters left the state, with stars in their eyes and hopes in their hearts to bring laurels to their country by breaking national records in the forthcoming national-level athletics meet at Howrah in West Bengal. But to say their dreams lay shattered is just a mild understatement. Right from the moment they began their journey from Bangalore to the sports destination, courtesy the education department of Karnataka, their goals were meant to be doomed. 
 
Their saga of humiliation first started when the young athletes were all dumped into the general compartment of the train on the night of Friday January 4, despite having been given an assurance from the department that they would be provided with second class sleeper tickets. There were limited seats for them to sit. Only a lucky few students found the seats to sit and adjusted with the others by allowing some of them to sit on their laps. 
 
Majority of students, who did not get seats to sit, stood all the way in the course of the journey. A few compromised and squatted on the train floor. During the two-night journey most of them were forced to sleep in a veritable sitting posture. Those on the floor slept by spreading out bed-sheets. In fact even those seated were reluctant to budge, to even answer nature’s call, as they feared other passengers would grab their seats. 
 
Right from beginning the officials were irresponsible, they had not even informed the students on the reservation till the end. And when the students confronted the officials, they were reported to have retorted rudely:” You either go or stay back.”  After such a back-breaking journey the students finally reached their destination on Sunday Jan 6th afternoon. And then having to face the sad situation of proving their mettle at the meet the next day, when the athletes meet would commence on Monday January 7.  
 
This led many of them to painfully moan and remark “Without proper rest and peace of mind, how are we supposed to perform better?” Another athlete said: “We are representing the State, we deserve to be treated better. The boys will somehow manage, what about the girls? At least they should have been taken care of. With this kind of treatment, what performance do they expect from us?” To compound to their problems, they were even given breakfast and lunch together at 11 o’ clock in the morning on Saturday January 5. 
 
Another major grouse of theirs was that when their counterpart the Kerala education department could book two coaches attached to Shalimar Express, why could not their government too do the needful for the state athletes? One of the parents even pointed out that the selection was made two months ago.  Hence the department had sufficient time to reserve the seats for the children, they alleged.  
 
The parents made an ardent plea to the department not to harass the children in this manner. In fact some of the parents contacted Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) in the city, who is understood to  have expressed his shock over the incident and informed his counterpart in Bangalore to take care of the children from DK district.  

One of the parents of an athletes from the city said “It was such a pathetic condition. Such a situation should not be meted even to our enemy. The authorities have collected money one month ago for reservation.” Moreover, with regard to reservation for the return trip, the athletes said they were not informed about the same.  
 
G Kumar Naik, commissioner, department of education, reacting to the athletes’ plight did concede and clarify “There has been some problem with the reservation, since the tickets were on the waiting list. It is unfortunate they are traveling like this. We will ensure that their return journey is taken care of.”  
 
The moot point is will such assurances and platitudes ever suffice or will the future of sports in our country ever improve and better treatment be meted out to the budding P T Ushas or Anju Bobby Georges of our country. Well……. only time will tell.