When owning up is a sin

Author : Siddhartha Dua

A young man all of twenty seven years of age who had world on his feet was suddenly brought down to the ground in an intriguing twist to the tale and put into hot waters and boy how badly he is repenting his act. He had everything that any man of his age could imagine, name, fame, adulation of millions of fans worldwide and above all contracts worth millions of dollars.

It was baffling to see the same man who had captured the imagination of entire cricketing world crying like a baby at a press conference in Sydney. Entire nation was outraged by his deeds. How could you do this Smithy? was on everybody’s mind. From connoisseur to commoner everybody wanted to know the facts behind this surreal story which had shaken the entire cricketing world.

Captaining the number one team in the world, arguably the best test batsman of the present era. A man born with prodigious talent. Millions of dollars in bank accounts and millions others thru various contracts he was the hottest property in world cricket. To see a person of such humongous stature crying in front of the camera was a heart wrenching scene. I had goose bumps as I saw the poor fellow take on some hard questions from Australian media and public. His father standing by his side was the only man consoling him in this hour of crisis.

Amidst all this drama all those people who are questioning the poor fellow must realize that man had the courage to own up. He did not brush the issue under the carpet being fully aware of the ramifications. This speaks volumes about character of the man and the culture in which he has been brought. He is not pusillanimous who doesn’t own up mistakes. He had the audacity to own up what he did and not blame the circumstances or other factors. He is a leader who can stand with his head held high.

Even though kangaroos are master sledgers and want to win at every cost but they don’t want to be labelled as cheats. They take great pride in the sport and play it with fervor, treat their cricketers as heroes but their heroes who were put on a very high pedestal have breached their trust. There have been such incidents in past as well which were not much appreciated by the Aussie public but coup de grâce was this ball tampering fiasco involving Smith and Warner. As they say all is fair in love and war but this is cricket man, this is sacrosanct.

But as an Indian contrast cannot be more stark witnessing the press conference of Smithy at one end and another one closer home at CBSE office in New Delhi where there was no remorse or shame on the face of CBSE chairperson. Career of twenty-eight lakh children is in jeopardy but she was smiling all the way.

Board papers of Xth and XII standard were leaked and nobody was concerned. Nobody was willing to own up for the fiasco. At least in this situation some heads must have rolled and people should have been axed but there was this brash arrogance on the faces as if to say we can get away with almost anything. This crass deportment has sent shock waves in the entire country. Children have been left to fend for themselves. This attitude in a way reflects our mindset.

There were no apologetic faces on cameras, only cheerful ones smiling from ear to ear for the shutterbugs. Is this what we have come to? Why don’t we accept our mistakes and try to correct them? Why can’t our people in the position of power ever own up? Why this chalta hai attitude is all pervasive in our country.

Juxtapose this situation with Steve Smith’s poor fellow committed an error in judgment, his predicament was his team was not doing well and he wanted to win for his country, yes he adopted unethical means to get those results and has been rightly punished as well. But in our country something of this sort is unheard of.

As a nation have we lost our conscience, we condone everything, we forget everything, we don’t give space to a dying person on ambulance, we don’t give seats to pregnant women and elderly in metro. There are drivers who showcase their bravado by jumping red lights and then feigning ignorance and trying to find out contacts if caught in the act.

We talk about our economic and military strength but as a nation do we have the human ethos. I recently visited Singapore and the first thing that hits you on your face is their culture. Their respect for individuals for humanity, people stop lifts for you, they let you enter into the lift, they let you cross the road first where as in India we jostle to get into the Metro, we don’t care for fellow passengers safety or convenience when we get out. There’s no regret in sitting on seats reserved for women and elderly and that’s why we don’t care even if our exam papers are leaked.

In such a scenario how can we empathize with Smith and Warner, poor fellows owned up their responsibility, I remember an incident involving Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh in South Africa only when the duo tried to fiddle with the seam of the ball.

There was nationwide outcry as to how a conspiracy has been hatched by ICC and South African board to demoralize our team. We simply refused to play the match, such is the financial muscle of BCCI that it could get away with anything and the third test match between India and South Africa was not given any official status by the ICC.

Our cricketers are smarter than poor Warner and Smithy, they simply won’t own up. Had something of sort happened BCCI would have come out all guns blazing as to how their gullible players have been framed without any fault of theirs. ICC will be painted a villain and conspiracy theories will be floated as to how ICC is trying to undermine BCCI and Indian players.

When we shed crocodile tears and blame as to why we are so much behind other countries , we should introspect. Those countries have character, they adulate their sporting stars but they do not condone of their sins. They love their icons but they don’t treat them as Gods.

Winning of course is of paramount importance but winning fairly is equally important. One of the most important lessons that Smithy has taught me is that no matter how successful you are, how great you are one bad decision and it can all come a cropper and why this obsession at getting success at every cost, getting promotion at every cost, even if that means adopting unethical means to achieve the end.

It might sound clichéd but winning isn’t everything wanting to win is and playing the game fairly and in true spirit is going to give you that inner satisfaction and that inner peace. All other things are superficial there’s no point winning by giving up your integrity and self-esteem.

Trust me, once you hang up your boots no amount of success achieved thru fraudulent means can ever satiate the serenity of going back to your family with your head held high

And Smithy you are a brave man!!! Hope you come back stronger.

Author : Siddhartha Dua

Disclaimer : Views expressed by the author are personal.

Image credits Google images