Only a hundred grams daane!  Why not adjust!

The dis-qualification of Vinesh Phogat , a wrestler who was sure to get a gold in the Olympics 2024 has raised a storm in the Country, Bharat, that is India.  The lady was not defeated by a better opponent but was by dis-qualification, that too for weighing a 100 gms more! The whole nation was shocked at this gross injustice meted out to a third world athlete who otherwise would have allowed to compete had she was from a European nation, really?  The athlete said to have gained a few kgs of weight in two intervening days without proper supervision either by her coach or the dietician in controlling her diet. Realizing the mistake all efforts were made to reduce her weight including cutting hair to bloodletting and skipping. It didn’t help. And it was not the first time the lady was participating in the international competition either to be ignorant of the rules.

A standard response from many was, “Oh very unfair. Only a hundred grams daane, so what?” True a plastic ball point pen of ten bucks would have weighed a bit more than that. “Why was the standard of weight so strictly enforced?”  Wasn’t some margin of error permitted? The opposition demanded an explanation from the Government. Accusations flew fast and various conspiracy theories made rounds. Well known columnists wrote center page articles to the effect that how winning was not important and how the person was truly golden even if she had not won the gold. “P You is truly gold of the Nation” said one. The Prime Minister personally wrote a note saying that she is the treasure of the Nation and her pain was understandable but that she should move on. Fine, it is important that we should be sensitive and not hurt the person who is already down and who apologized to the whole country for disappointing them. We all stand with Phogat for her great contribution to the sport for over a decade as she had inspired hundreds of girls to take up sports especially in States of Haryana, UP and Bihar where it is still very difficult for girls to take up professional career by breaking social taboos.  But what most of us seem to miss is the how tough it is to adhere to rules when it is expected of us.

What comes to my mind is when compulsory helmet rules was enacted it took years to implement that too after Courts intervention. Even after that people went on agitation against the implementation of the rules. All types of excuses were churned out, that it would lead to hair loss and that it would cause some issues to one’s brain. Never mind the very purpose of introducing the helmet was to protect the very same matter inside one’s head. Even after years people somehow evade wearing the helmet. The riders of some communities don’t wear it and so are women who sit behind the rider as if woman’s head does not matter. Similarly when seat belts were introduced most of the drivers refused to put it on and later on the pain of heavy fines, only front seat passengers wear it and rear seat people rarely put it on. Why? the attitude is“ oh its Ok.”

Turning to academics its again the same “adjustment” attitude prevails. Not just schools but professional colleges a few marks short would immediately invite demand for “only a few additional marks” so that the candidate would get through. It’s now a practice that the examiners and colleges even without any request would add a few required grades to help the candidates to get through so that the reputation of the institution as a premier one remains unsullied and not get into trouble with accreditation.

Well again to extend this adjustment logic in lighten vain the experience very one would have gone through during travel. If in train it’s a rule that all those seated should “adjust” to those who get into the coach in subsequent stations without reservation. Sometime  it would be an elderly person or families with children. It is but natural to adjust and allow them to sit on the pain of being called selfish, insensitive and so on.

 It is said humorously that in Bangalore some enterprising auto drivers have painted in the back of their vehicle in bold letters “swalpa adjust maadi .”  S.S.Vasudevan.