Sportman and Sportmanship
Recently, I came across an ad aimed at parents, urging them to enroll their child in a sports class. But it *didn’t sound like sports—it sounded like a war cry*. Teach him table tennis with *correct margins*. Don’t be random player be a smart player Teach him game A, game B, with power strokes, with last-mile crossovers, with a flash finish.
I found it disgusting. We are not playing for the Olympics in everyday life where every measurement matters. This is not just commercialization—it’s “wrong messaging”. What happens if the child doesn’t “perform up to expectation”? Then it becomes sports without joy, without engagement, without sportsmanship—like an algorithmic machine where every parameter counts.
Life itself is a game. And when you don’t understand its rules, and cannot simply take it as it comes, you are heading for disaster. The *obsession with perfection* is harmful. Life is not perfect. Nature is not perfect. No creation is perfect. No relationship is perfect. So why should your child be?
Reflect on where our commercial world is taking us. Let your child enjoy life, enjoy sports, enjoy every missed stroke, enjoy every effort that didn’t produce a so‑called “result”—the kind measured *only in numbers and accolades, not in joy or growth. The commercial world disconnects sportsman with sportsmanship. Being runner‑up often carries a deeper happiness than standing on the winner’s podium.
Bol Madhavache 