The Olympics, rechristened 'Olumpics' by the Indian electronic media, are on. They reinforce the stark truth that India continues to disregard the great sporting tradition of humankind. We remain one of the few countries that have not put 'competition' per se on the forefront in every professional activity. This has compelled many, who could have been the best and the brightest, to a life in which they have to wallow in mediocrity. Shamefully, State and corporate support has been a mirage.

With nearly one quarter of the world population living in the subcontinent, one would imagine that India and the Saarc nations would lead the world in sports. We have successfully debilitated our own, caring little for all the realities that connect citizens with their national ethos. Without this link, growth can only be sporadic and devoid of that essential ingredient, pride.

Our business community donates large amounts of money and resource to American universities and overseas think tanks but have no commitment whatsoever to developing and enhancing the latent potential that rests, agitated and repressed, within India. The moneyed class continues to be lured by the glamour of being patrons in the Western hemisphere, shunning their own.

This amounts to profound hypocrisy. Does this attitude come from a deep-seated sense of insecurity? Currying favour with the powerful seems to be a habit that is ingrained in the DNA of those who have done well commercially. This trait is the one which needs to be taken out of the well-heeled in India, to make way for true national philanthropy.

Good values

The economically privileged in India need to get rid of their early robber-baron mentality and expand beyond their immediate businesses. Traditionally, 'charity', not philanthropy, was part of the books, the khatas, as it were. Money was presented to temples first, and thereafter to community hospitals and schools.

Times have changed and life has moved on. Instead of creating new academic institutions, as their grandparents had done before them, businessmen now send their 'charities' abroad to ensure that their kids receive education in prestigious overseas institutions.

There is no real value addition in this process. This is because all those kids returned home to join hereditary businesses and did what their father had done before them. If there had been an urge to break away and pursue another interest, it was buried. The cosmetics have changed. A veneer of pretence, that 'professional managers' call the shots, is projected. Behind this, the feudal hereditary tradition lives on.

Why then is philanthropy defined today as corporate social responsibility? Why is our corporate community not able to embrace the cultural, academic and intellectual narrative of contemporary India and take it to new heights? Why is the sponsorship of politics more important to most of them than the conservation of legacies and cultures? When will corporate India mature into becoming patrons, as the forefathers were, in the not-so-distant past?

Greed, personal greed in particular, is oppressive. In an all-embracing information age, where showcasing plural identities and diverse cultures can open horizons and bring people together, it is hard to comprehend why privileged Indians do not invest in reinventing and strengthening their rich legacies for dealing with thefuture.

In the end, it is the human mind alone that can bring back sanity and peace on this planet. Cultural roots are associated with good values and best practices. We need to reinforce this with real charity.