Sport should be a level playing field

Pic/AFP

Four visually-impaired young athletes will be going to Paris to demonstrate their mallakhamb skills at the Paris Olympics India House. The Olympics will begin on July 26 in the French capital.

The four young practitioners, training in mallakhamb, which is an indigenous sport and essentially means yoga on a rope or pole, practise at Shivaji Park. Their Paris participation is much more than a simple demonstration of their skills on the rope and mallakhamb or pole. It is a showcase for a traditional Indian sport, it will open the eyes of the world to mallakhamb. It also brings a new dimension to yoga, already well-known and on the world radar even more because of International Yoga Day. What it really highlights is that these athletes are visually-challenged, overcoming that obstacle, they show great determination and fortitude to travel daily to the training centre. They put in hours of work and have reached this level, after so many challenges and putting ability into disability.

It should teach us to give sporting opportunities to the differently-abled, and quite literally make it a level playing field for them. At the grassroots, we must make grounds more accessible to the physically challenged. At the lowest level, our training spaces, competitive avenues, even stadia are hardly disabled-friendly.
Participation in sport makes a huge difference in these people's lives, from being a significant confidence booster, to motivator. When given the chance, they also show that they have the grit to surmount obstacles, train as hard, if not harder than anybody and reach admirable levels in the sport of their choosing.

These visually impaired mallakhamb practitioners will showcase India to the world in the best possible way, yet, let them also become a cause for us to introspect and become a more equitable society, with opportunities for all.