India's grand prix
Sporting proud colours
Oct 28th 2011, 10:44 by A.R. | DELHI
INDIANS like to think of their emerging international clout as being about more than merely the “hard” stuff, such as their growing military strength or expanding economy. Softer subjects matter too. India strains to expand its diplomatic reach, and with increasing success: it renewed its hold on a temporary seat at the UN Security Council this week. India’s democratic credentials are regarded as a durable asset abroad. Promoting Indian culture is also reckoned a way of spreading influence. To this end the launch of Shahrukh Khan’s “RA. One”, Bollywood’s most expensive film to date, on October 26th, which was also Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, might help to spread international awareness of modern India overseas while at the very least it strengthens bonds shared by Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) abroad. The film will show at some 1,500 cinemas outside of India (and many more inside) and is hoped to serve as a compelling ad for a resurgent domestic industry.
Another way for emerging powers to show off is through sport. When India co-hosted the cricket World Cup, earlier this year, and stormed to victory, Indians naturally felt chuffed. In cricket, despite some setbacks (such as the walloping the national team got in England over the summer), India can claim great-power sporting status. But what about other games and sports? Putting aside leather and willow it becomes evident that the world’s 1.2 billion Indians punch well below their weight. Consider global sports other than cricket—football, athletics, tennis, rugby and the like—and any Indian victory is rare. Even in hockey and squash, where Indians have traditionally been strong, their star is waning.
Getting wealthier may be a means to getting better sportsmen. As Indians grow richer, more can afford to find, train and develop natural talent, and to build the stadiums, sportsgrounds and specialist academies that are so helpful in raising standards. In turn, developing domestic leagues and markets is the best way to spread interest in sports beyond cricket.
Another driver to getting along the sporting road is to start playing host to big international events, which in theory stir new excitement and interest at home, while also getting outsiders to pay more attention. Thus Delhi was the host last October of the Commonwealth games (though they may be remembered more for the organisers’ corruption than for the run-of-the-mill athletics on show). Next up, on October 28th, is a rather different sporting event: India’s inaugural Formula 1 car race, which takes place near Noida, a town just to the east of Delhi.
The Formula 1 season may be near an end, but the excitement in India is intense. So far it appears that the privately run, funded and organised car-racers have pulled off a show far slicker and less corrupt than the (admittedly much larger) government-run Commonwealth games of last year. There are controversies, not least among the villagers near Noida who complain they’ve lost land for little compensation, and seen no jobs or economic development. Some have been threatening to protest, or even disrupt events, on the practice and race days.
Politics, inevitably, also shows its face. The Formula 1 race takes place in Uttar Pradesh (UP), whose chief minister, Mayawati, is keen to claim a high-profile success just before calling a five-yearly state assembly election, at the start of 2012, which is much anticipated as a test-run for general elections likely in 2014. She is anxious to do what it takes to please the Formula 1 companies, for example offering to waive certain taxes that would otherwise be levied. By contrast the national government, run by Congress (which opposes Ms Mayawati in UP), seems less desperate that the race is a triumph—not least for the inevitable comparisons with the problems posed to Congress’s chief minister in Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, by the Commonwealth games. Foreign sports journalists have grumbled that getting visas to report on the race has been tricky, for example.
Still, the race is likely to go smoothly. Early reports suggest the newly laid track is even and testing well. The stadiums, media rooms and the like are finished—just about—in time. The real challenge may be to keep the race as part of the Formula 1 calendar every year, and then to get Indian drivers and companies to be serious contenders.
India's grand prix: Sporting proud colours | The Economist
