The Game of Life (and Death ?)

Since the days of the Romans, when gladiators battle beasts in amphitheaters, humans have betrayed a tendency to approach sports as a media for vicarious thrills of the aggressive kind. It’s after all a game, we may say. But despite all attempts to rubbish sports as trivial and merely a form of entertainment, it is clear that sports mean a lot more to Man than, say just physical activity or relaxation. Often we place a game, with its elements of uncertainty and multiple twists, in the larger context of life and its vicissitudes as though the game were a prototype of the way we lead our lives. Only that can explain the near-obsessive levels of enthusiasm we exhibit for sports and the stakes that are often placed on what might seem a simple affair of say, putting bat to ball.

“Sports breeds character” goes the oft-quoted cliché. What cannot be disputed is the fact that a sport is a medium that provides an excellent platform for display of character. Demigods of sports, much like epic heroes, personify qualities like inner-resolve, strength, and perseverance. Interestingly, epic heroes were known for their feats of valor not just in battlefield, but in sports as well. This was probably because sports of the yore all dealt with mastery over battlefield training, and those emerging victorious in these were likely to emerge as champion warriors. Mahabharatha tells us of Arjun’s immaculate focus that enabled him shut out all distractions while taking aim. The Olympics were supposed to contests between Greek Gods. Honor, pride, glory, love were sought as much through sports as through war.

These champion sportsmen who made it to the annals of history by playing to the gallery certainly had lots more, often their lives, at stake for winning. Quite appropriately eulogies were sung of them and they enjoyed the exalted status of the superhuman. However, while the nature of sports itself has changed drastically, the apotheosis of sportsmen continues. In the bargain, they are subject to unrealistic expectations (of the “blue billion”) and are expected to create magic every time they go out to play. Its all easy to say “He should have played it like that, he should have done it this way”, “They get all that fat paychecks, they have an obligation to provide wholesome entertainment .. ”. Fair enough. But before readying the knives, we must put it into perspective that neither are these modern day sportsmen mythological heroes in the mold of Hercules, nor is all that money they make out of commercials ever going to make them that.

But some things don’t change and apparently some sports retain their lethal quality. And we are not even talking about adventure sports or bull fighting. We are talking about people going overboard with reactions to a defeat. Of devastated fans committing suicide after Indo-Pak matches. Of angry mobs setting Dhoni’s property on fire. Of Bob Woolmer, whether his fate was decided by destiny or by design.

To be fair to our heroes, they have done reasonably well to continue the hoary tradition of playing sports with passion for country, glory and for joy of the common man who seeks to vicarious experience of winning. Lessons in perseverance, determination, fighting against odds, working within your limitations, getting the basics right, teamsmanship can be acquired just as well by watching a Dravid innings as by reading any of the books by Art Gardner. For the ultimate soap opera on never-say-die spirit, aggression, leadership and ultimate redemption one must go to watch the gutsy Ganguly. However, the ordinary man who would explain away his own failings with “the part of life” philosophy, won’t forgive Sachin for not scoring a hundred every time he goes out there to bat even though that’s not “part of the game”.

Clearly this is a case of mistaken analogy to film stars; our boredom and diffidence with our own life makes us want to see what we’d like ourselves to be in life, through sports and movies. While film stars thrive in a make believe world, sportsmen can’t afford this luxury. Unless it’s a case of match-fixing or its that absolutely dumb show called WWE, sportsmen being men of flesh and blood are bound to fail at times. Of course, from the point of view of the consumer called “sports fan” who pays for his entertainment, he has every right to expect a sincere effort and a good game every time. For the sportsmen, its like any other profession they might have otherwise taken up; its all about being loyal to oneself and to ones backers and putting in cent per cent.

Nevertheless to set standards of invincibility on mere mortals that these sportsmen are, would amount to killing the goose laying the golden eggs. Yes, winning does give a sense of euphoria but hey, even the epic heroes had their tragic flaws and weaknesses right. Of course this does not mean that one condone shoddy performance from sportsmen. Whether its pampering the sportsmen and bringing Sachin into “har ghar”, or burning their effigies after a defeat, it is important not to attach too much emotions to sports. After all, it wasn’t anything we could have helped. What we can indeed help is the way we play the game of life. When we are the players, when life is the arena everything else seems to pale in comparison to this “game of life”.