Small Town Rules: The Mahi Way

I’ve thought of writing this piece for long. But the South Africa debacle at Nagpur made me sit on this topic for this long. Now, as we’ve done the unbelievable, I’m free to use the title especially the one after the colon. I can’t still believe that we have won the World Cup ! The cup has been won because of the combined efforts of the whole team but the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni aka Mahi aka “Wizard of Ranchi” stands in a league of its own. His attitude, success and the approach are the actual inspiration behind this article.

In this country, prosperity and the paths to achieve it are mostly concentrated in few densely populated urban regions we better know as cities. There has been a mass exodus from the villages and small towns to the megacities in search of better education and employment. But I’m not concerned about this wide scale emigration. I’m concerned about the mentality which has been dubbed as, “Small town mentality”.

More than often it has been seen that when a person from a small town reaches a city he becomes susceptible of his own abilities. He is afraid to express himself. Maybe due to living in un-opportunistic locales have made them what they are. The lack of ambitions and the efforts to fulfill one, if any, brings self-inferiority and is the chief difference between a city dweller and a small town guy.

In the recent India-SA match at Nagpur, many were mesmerized by the new VCA stadium at Jamtha (It was the only non-capital city to host a match). Many asked Shashank Manohar, BCCI chief, that even though Nagpur has such a world class stadium why it has failed to produce a player of national repute. Mr. Manohar replied that it has to do with the attitude of the people of the region. They are content with whatever they get. This lack of aspiration is not just true for Nagpur but for all the small towns and villages dotted across the country. When you don’t aspire, your interest to perspire also reduces. And without perspiration there is no jubilation.

Another aspect of city life is the crowd. And here I don’t mean it only in the literal sense but also in the metamorphic sense as well. This “fight for survival” makes most of the city dwellers robust and their approach to life is one of to gain success at any cost. I’m not of the view that we should resort to unethical ways to achieve success but ethically permissible actions should be taken to achieve whatever we can.

And here is where I come back to Mahi. He has changed the way the country look towards persons from small towns. Now the people are saying that there is lot of talent in the small towns which need to be tapped. It’s not that the talent was not there (Statistically it has to be as 80-85% of the country lives outside the cities) but he is one of the factors to bring it forward. If he has been able to achieve so much it’s not only because of his hard work but also because he is not content and his Dil maange more.

So, let’s take a cue from him & never feel as underdogs. I would like to quote Ghalib here,

मत पूछ की क्या हाल है मेरा तेरे आगे |

तू देख के क्या रंग है तेरा मेरे आगे ||

Small towns give a heart full of love, compassion, benevolence and brotherhood and add to it a tough, resolute aspiring brain and see where we reach !!!