Before the Olympic Games few had met Dipa Karmakar, P V Sindhu, Vinesh Phogat, Deepika Kumari, Aditi Ashok, Heena Sidhu and many others. But Rio has changed all that. Corporate India is adopting more and more players and the trend will hopefully continue to do so.
The power of sports is infinite. And Rio 2016 presented that brilliant story of how sport empowers, connects the world and breaks barriers.
Before the Olympic Games few had met Dipa Karmakar, P V Sindhu, Vinesh Phogat, Deepika Kumari, Aditi Ashok, Heena Sidhu and many others. But Rio has changed all that. When was the last time an entire nation sat and watched and cheered our athletes? When was it we waited to know the Olympics schedule and timed our evenings to matches? India could be at the cusp of change for its women, one that's driven by sports. Underlining this powerful thought is the interest we saw in sports by India Inc. One hopes the display of support for Rio would really mean that cricket-crazy corporate India is finally letting up.
Pawan Munjal of Hero Group, Rashesh Shah of Edelweiss are investing in non-cricket efforts in a big way. We even saw more brands join the efforts of supporting our Olympians including Tata Salt, Amul, Samsung and others. Some of these CEOs were present at crucial matches, cheering for India's Olympians. This is a big departure from the past when corporate India just secured boxes and entertained clients in cricket stadiums. Involvement by the top management is a great way of becoming ambassadors for a sport.
For the longest time public sector alone marshalled the sportspersons in the country and the support sometimes came in kind and not serious money. For some, PSUs would help them secure a job for a regular income, few would offer paying for equipment and other government-run training facilities. Until now, sports has never been considered a real career. Good news is that's changing. And we should praise where praise is due especially as corporate India steps up to the occasion and adopts more and more players.
Additionally, there is television, there is social media and there is some seriously brilliant packaging to promote the games. When was the last time you saw people get together for gymnastics or badminton like the way we did as a nation this time? PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar are now names we are familiar with and pride ourselves of.
They have not just changed the game for themselves but for India. Global spotlight and media coverage has hailed the way these women have put India's sporting capability and hunger on the world stage. Aside of the Olympics, many corporations are vested in kabaddi, soccer, basketballs, golf. No doubt, sports other than cricket are drawing audiences, live viewers, television ratings and therefore more funds that could potentially make it sustainable. These are factors key to produce more sportspersons, and therefore, more national icons and heroes. More sportspeople are investing belief in their discipline realising now its finally possible to make it a real source of income and play a sport as a career.
Companies and promoters who have long invested big money in IPL or even burnt their fingers with cricket at times realise the lessons learnt are on many fronts. The association with new sports has new energy, new faces, real stories and heroic fights. As a nation I think we should not only hail the athletes but also celebrate those who are cheering them with support, infrastructure and funds.
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 "Malik and Sindhu")
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