I was ecstatic to follow how well India would perform at this year’s Olympics. I always expect more than we walk away with, but maybe I’m just an optimist. I do this whenever the games come around, staying up at night wondering if we will get one bronze medal or two. Cynics may wonder why a nation of over a billion people can only generate sportspeople who play cricket, but they aren’t concentrating on the big picture. They don’t understand that we don’t do well at the Olympics because we have more important things to worry about. You don’t become a country with the world’s tallest statue if you’re spending all your time worried about running, swimming or shooting. It’s why the results still bring a smile to my face even though I know we are consistently among the world’s biggest underachievers.

Having said that, I have reason to believe our perennial drought at this most amazing sporting competition will soon be at an end. I recently found out that the government of India has allocated most of its sporting budget towards India’s most athletic states, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. For those who haven’t read the report, the two states received R438 crore and R426 crore respectively, for sending a massive number of nine athletes to the Olympics. Punjab and Haryana sent 48 athletes but received Rs 78 crore and Rs 66 crore instead. This caused a bit of anger, which I believe was misplaced, even though funds released for the development of sports infrastructure were part of a scheme called Khelo India. I assumed the implication was that all Indians were meant to play better but, then again, I must have misinterpreted the message.