Champions!

Somewhere in our hearts, all or most of us are real true blue patriotic indians. The kind who gets goosebumps when the national anthem plays or when Rahman sings 'Vande Mataram'. The kind who wears blue on the day of an Indo-Pak match during the world cup. The kind who probably doesn't watch tennis or chess but is in awe of Sania Mirza and Vishwanathan Anand. The kind who will bitch about 'the system' in every drawing room conversation but will not stand it when US denies visa to our ministers or a seat in the security council of the UN.

When this picture appeared in Tehelka in October last year, it really brought out every ounce of patriotism or rather the pride that we take in seeing the potential hidden in the nooks and crannies of this huge melting point of a country being recognised. This picture is that of the Indian team (along with the South African team) which won the Under-14 International School Rugby Tournament in London, defeating 10 teams on their way. In the finals, they defeated South Africa by a huge margin of 19 to 5.

The boys are 12 tribal students hailing from some of the most backward districts of Orissa. The team almost didn’t make it to London because the players didn’t even have valid birth certificates, mandatory for passports.The boys are from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a residential institution for tribal students in Bhubaneswar, and are among some 5,000 tribal boys and girls who are given free residence and education from kindergarten to post-graduate level here. This institute was set up in the year 1993 by Founder Achyut Samanta.

Looking at the smiling faces of these tribal boys is what victory looks like. Its not just a win in a match, its a win over life and is a lesson to each of us very very very privileged people who unlike these boys dont have the courage to refuse to play in the hands of destiny.