Indian men's 4x100m relay at World Athletics Championship was a credible performance. Considering tremendous odds against them as also mediocre nature of society that appropriates sports into some staid game initiated by lazy colonials as timepass that besotted scyophantic nincompoops trying to impress colonial masters while they facilitated exploitation. Over the decades feudals nurtured this game of wastrels through state control onto herd, later market took it into spectacle of absurdities that one wonders: can we not train monkeys instead for wholesome entertainment?! These market players earn more from ads than anything else -herd is squeezed at every available opportunity as they are pavlovian triggered to be happy to be happy! Most of these "iconic" players could not run a straight 100m even at the peak of their career (as a co-passenger long time back mentioned; it's a game of halwai -halwaiyon ka khel hai). Kerala has tradition for high caliber sports ecosystem and talented players, unfortunately in the recent times cricket is cannibalizing these into waste.
More than game it is also fertile construction of raconteur (ace word defecators) -just as market prescribed ie more about the person than the skills (indeed the game is like Indian movies that needs minimum skills and maximum branding). This society will go to the depth of depravities to cover up lack of any discerning talent. Vibrant social media and new tech gadgets are severely undermining narration control by few, and have least value for posers as fourth estate -clinging desperately for control. Technology has become an effective instrument in democratization of society, and has potential for far reaching social change. It has potential to bring reality closer to reckoning and push out posers and manipulators. Athletics is about reality of sports. There is nothing to manipulate. There is no space for trash talk. You just run faster. It's about skill, talent, and essence of possibility of human body.
