2
Khel-khood as cricket The day before England met India in the Kolkata Test on their 1984–5 tour, a small reception was held at the Grand Hotel where the two teams were staying. Such receptions are now part of the cricket circus but this one was held to publicise a book by an Indian publisher about the Olympic Games. The irony was lost on the Indians. Cricket is such a potent force in the country that a cricket international provides an irresistible marketing occasion, particularly a Kolkata Test. The publishers accurately divined that Indian journalists covering the Test would like free booze and food. Cynical as this may seem, much of PR is based on such calculations. I was happy enough to get my copy of the Olympic book – a tribute to the increasing sophistication of Indian publishing – but what took the evening out of the PR rut was a speech of surprising insight by Ashwini Kumar. Kumar is a hugely controversial figure in Indian sport, hated by many, loved by others. He has held high positions and for many years was India’s sole representative on the International Olympic Committee where he rose to be Vice President. There he was considered something of a security expert although in India he is more famous for his long reign over Indian hockey. He has had some success with Indian hockey, even if his years of stewardship also saw the beginning of its decline, and the successful challenge by other nations to what had become an Indian monopoly. However, his focus that evening was not nostalgic, but philosophic. I had heard a great many Indian administrators talk about sport, but this was something very novel. In a few crisp sentences he demolished the whole idea of Indian sport: India has no base for sports despite its enormous population. India does not have the wherewithals. Sport in our country is khel-khood [just a bit of fun]. It goes against the grain of our country, against our tradition to play sports the way they do in the West. If a child in our country returns from the playground he is not asked by his parents how he fared, but slapped for missing his studies and wasting his time in khel-khood. Sport is against our Indian ethos, our entire cultural tradition. In all modern countries sport is accepted as a part of life. In our country the authorities do not even know what playing facilities are available in our schools . . . Out of some 600,000 schools we
