In recent times we have seen huge upheavals in the lives of India’s younger generation, particularly Gen Zee, as we have now got to know them so well, connected to some very real concerns about the state of our entire education system… the monetisation, the corruption and other hanky-panky… that veers the entire systems towards benefitting only a certain section of our society.
But just as the clouds of gloom, despair, and protests across the nation were darkening our skies, came the heartening and cheerful news of the Indian athletes’ performance at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Surprisingly, India finished fourth at the games with 30 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze), despite the absence of traditional core sports like shooting and wrestling, where our sportspersons excel.
Indian boxers claimed a first time ever historic 10 medals, including seven golds, which incidentally is a record by any one nation getting so many golds in a single event at a single Games.
While we got our first ever gold in judo, our ace weightlifter Mirabai Chanu bagged her third successive CWG gold, and Gulveer Singh becoming the first Indian track and field athlete to win one silver and one bronze medal at a single event.
Nothing is more satisfying than lustily cheering for your country’s sportspersons, seated in front of your TV. Well, India will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad and one hopes that in the coming years our athletes continue to make us proud.
The adrenalin rush that a sports victory gives the fans cannot be easily matched, but while cheering and clapping come easily to the audiences, let’s think for a moment about the hard work, sleepless nights, relentless early morning workouts and practice sessions, the toil and sweat, the tears and frustration when an athlete or cricketer fails on the playfield.
And when we talk about adrenalin, just ask those Rotarians who are completely, passionately and empathetically involved in executing community service projects. And there is no dearth of such Rotarians in India. As senior leaders keep repeating at events, this is the highest level of talent and technical expertise that Rotarians invest in the projects they do… be it building homes restoring water bodies, doing intricate and complex surgeries in either Africa or India, or putting up digital learning facilities in schools. And these people cannot be hired to do all this work, because they are all successful businesspersons or professionals engaged in their own thriving ventures.
That is why service or expertise, which is not paid for, reaches a higher level of excellence and moves towards the realm of perfection. And what is the return for the volunteering Rotarians? Satisfaction, pride and a dose of adrenaline that can be compared with the best that emanates from a sports field where an athlete is celebrating her victory. While that is commendable too and triggers thousands of dreams, the best projects done by Rotarians transform lives and livelihoods in an unimaginable manner. They make a tangible impact which is immediate, measurable and sustainable. Ask a tribal villager who lived in a thatched hut but has now got a pucca home, or a Maharashtra student, son of a bus driver, trained in the best of IT Innovative lab, who gets instant employment, or women trained in tailoring, beauty care and other skills.
If changing the face of India, tiny bit by bit, one little corner after another, cannot generate a rush of adrenaline, what else can? More strength to such work!
Rasheeda Bhagat