Sports unite people and nations despite fierce competitions Sports are for fun. However, behind the fun lies the power that can unite people. Sports teach an individual to be responsible and discipline. The good principles of sports spread a good message to people who watch sports. Sports are more than a recreational activity, both to those who play and those who watch. Each player or a team represents their club or country while playing. This means not only a player is being watched but a whole nation is being observed. So, it obviously gives exposure to a nation while it brings the country closer to people from all around the globe. Sports actually act above all political, regional, geographical and social barriers. Recently at the Rio Olympics, the world rejoiced at the adorable selfie of the two gymnasts — Hong Un-Jong (North Korea) and Lee Eun-Ju (South Korea) who spent a moment smiling, ignoring all the hostility and political troubles between their nations. This act of sportsmanship seems simple but it carries a deep meaning. Also how can we forget all the players and sporting events those came in the support of Nepal in process of recovering from the destructive earthquake. Spanish Football club Valencia came up with jerseys with the players name written in Nepali at a charitable event to help the victims. “Todos Con Nepal” (United with Nepal) was another initiative taken by Real Madrid. Football sensation Lionel Messi made an appeal to UNICEF to help Nepali children recover from the disaster and Christiano Ronaldo too donated for the Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund. These are just some recent examples. There have been many times sports have stood to bring people under one umbrella of humanity. It’s true that people fight on field for the glory while supporters root for their favourites to win, but it is all about the game we love so much, because togetherness is the beauty behind every sport we love. — Suneha Shrestha, Kathmandu Our world is in deep crisis — terrorism, global warming, poverty, rising violence against women, racial discrimination and so on. In this unequal and polarised world, we need sports events like Olympic Games like never before. It is not just about games and medals. Olympic spirit is all about universal brotherhood, internationalism and cultural exchanges between various nationalities. Even in Nazi Germany, Olympics was held in 1936 where African-American athletes were respected by the white Germans to show solidarity, much to the dismay of Adolf Hitler. — Nerinav There might be some quarrels and fights between two rival players and teams while playing games. But it doesn’t create divisiveness in the name of competitive sports for aggressiveness and contentiousness that the players show during the game do not last for long period of time. It just remains as long as the duration of game. The players can calm down after the game and can become friends. Hence, I think events like Olympic brings togetherness. — Anonymous Events like Olympics prepare nations to present themselves to the whole world through sports. The host country bears the responsibility to organise games and accommodate the athletes, which is a challenge as well as opportunity to bolster one’s image in the world. Athletes around the world have the ultimate ambition to participate in Olympics and earn medals for their country, naming a few, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Jesse Owens and alike who have earned name and fame through Olympics. The spirit of Olympics is to promote and strengthen cordial relationships among the nations. Despite the huge competition, the games unite the audiences and nations throughout the world. Athletes from around the world get a chance to interact and understand each other. Olympics is a celebration in the world of sports which help to unite people and nations around the globe  and promote a sense of brotherhood and peace and thus togetherness. — Sagar Subedi Sports bring national pride. People who are not unacquainted with each other come together to watch games and cheer for their favourite athletes. If games are being played from our home, we are galvanised to support our team. Why do we react in this way? Despite geographical separation, international disputes for trivial matters, among other; sports escalates the feeling of kinship among us. Enthralling opening of games — likes of the Olympics — offer great opportunity to learn the tradition, culture and history of flag bearer countries and thereby giving us the feeling of togetherness. It is indubitable that the defeated nations feel disheartened and show bad behaviour sometimes, but these reactions are ephemeral. In a nutshell, egos divide us but sports unite us. — Rajan Pandit, Gothatar Olympics is a grand international platform for celebrating global diversity, solidarity, sovereignty, friendship, cooperation and humanity. Selected participants of all the countries across the continents of Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia get together at a designated place every four years to celebrate human achievements through several sporting events. Olympics stand out as the greatest sports event of human history. For every participant attending Olympics, it is not only an opportunity to represent his/her nation but also to share the podium with other members of our proud global society. It is truly said that it is not important to win a medal in the Olympics but to participate and to celebrate the true spirit of humanity. There are Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics and Para Olympics. Olympics is a celebration of humanity that binds us all with global humanity and friendship. It is true that several South Asian nations perform poorly in the Olympics, as the competition level is of very high standard and this to some context reduces the spirit of celebrations from this part of the world. However, we should not look at this as defeat but instead present the proud South Asian nations at a global platform to share our diversity, sovereignty and friendship with others. — Saikat Kumar Basu If positives things are to be taken into account, sports activities reflect the glimpse of togetherness rather than divisiveness. The concept of divisiveness is an outcome of negativity. Needless to say, such games of divisiveness comes out of negative perception and pessimism. Such negative people are so-called crazy sports fans. “If you love football, we are friends; if you love Barcelona, we are family” — we can learn and realise multiple life lessons from this single sentence. Such spirits ought to be kept in mind by every sports lover. True and loyal fans of sports believe in magic and real spirit of games. On contrary to this, negative sports analysts and critics become obsessed with the logic of divisiveness. Unfair competition yields mortifying results. One must realise the moral philosophy of a famous clause — “rivals but not enemies”. I believe in positive sports and I fully support that popular events like Rio Olympics bring out togetherness in the name of competitive sports. — Sanjog Karki, Tansen, Basantapur, Palpa Despite keeping us physically and mentally fit, games can unite or divide people in society. We human beings are competitive and want to win. No human wants to lose intentionally. Everyone wants to be better than the other. And this nature of human beings leads to rivalry among the players in games. Some games are so popular, prestigious and viewed by people worldwide and so the viewers are seen to be much anxious than the players. And this craze may sometime bring conflicts. Similarly, some games are so popular, awaited, liked and carry a great craze that it can cause rivalries within two teams or individuals like that of Real Madrid Vs Barcelona and Ronaldo Vs Messi. Games can create a sense of rivalry and enmity between players rather than that of brotherhood. We have seen it on the field. And we have seen it among the fans as well. It is the attitude and ego that causes conflicts in games. — Bijay Lama, Kapan, Kathmandu My school has been organising Annual Sports Meet every year since its inception. I belong to yellow house and so I play for yellow house. The games are fierce — games of football, handball and basketball see tough competitions among the houses. That is why we can witness pressure in students. We do our best to win the matches. Sometimes conflict arises when a particular house wins a match while the opponent house becomes sad and jealous. But we celebrate sports together in the end. So what I think is that sports are for togetherness — it makes our relations stronger, but sometimes it becomes a cause of divisiveness also. It breaks relations between two team and clubs. However, I believe that people should focus on the togetherness that sports ignite rather than divisiveness among the teams, players and supporters. — Dikshya Tamang, Kapan, Kathmandu Definitely sporting events like Rio Olympics bring about togetherness among the people. It is about healthy competition and so the concept of divisiveness should not come into people’s mind. Even if divisiveness comes in between people, they should avoid it. Olympics is one of the fairest game competitions — the players are selected on the basis of merit and they win their medals as per their capability and talent. So, one should be optimistic about any sports and come together for the betterment of sports in the world. — Ravikant Yadav, Majhariya, Bara The 31st Olympics has formally begun with tremendous delights and enthusiasm. When it comes to Olympics, it always excites everyone. It reminds us about the competitive sports, ranks, medals and trophies in the international arena. I personally think such events carries irreducible motto of establishing and promoting diplomatic relationship among different nations through various sports. I find more unity and togetherness than divisiveness in these events. After all it is primarily games; one ultimately has to be announced as a winner. But lessons learnt from during games can be the best achievements for life for the players and athletes. Games undoubtedly teach life lessons to individual about the game techniques, teamwork and fair play. On the other hand, such games aid in developing friendship among players and promotion of healthy relationships among nations. But many times we witness fierce competition during Olympics. But, as it is a game, winning and losing are inevitable which create fierceness and feeling of accomplishments in players. Moreover, such games also bring two and more nationalities together at a place. People from one country travel to another country in the name of games. This shows diplomacy and togetherness. Hence, healthy relationship is maintained among the different countries and people. — Sandhya Dangol, Bhainsepati, Lalitpur With 28 sporting events and 306 matches, Rio Olympics 2016 is a competition but we don’t find any kind of conflict in between any players. Every player is maintaining peace at the maximum level. After all, the greatest sporting event in the world’s history is all about maintaining peace among players and teams of participating countries. I really don’t think there is divisiveness for as a matter of fact this event is also witnessing contestants who are refugees which is happening for the first time. Well this is the opportunity for all players and teams to prove their capability. Olympics is after all, about unity in diversity because 205 countries have taken part in the sporting event which means they have to become friendly, calm and tolerant among each other. — Pratik Shrestha, Buddhanagar, Baneshwor Discipline, self control, togetherness, physical and mental fitness are some of the benefits of game and sport. It precedes identity of one’s nation and his individuality too. Personally, I have come to know about the countries — Brazil and Argentina through sports. So definitely, game and the players represent their nation and identity. Game teaches many things leading player’s life to progress and enhance individual’s personal capabilities. Competing with competitors is another thrilling attribute of game boosting player’s confidence. So such events should be organised. — Subha Dangol, Bhainsepati The 31st Rio Olympics have begun in Brazil. Such international events are organised in many different countries where athletes from all over the world get opportunity to showcase their skills and talents. People from around the world gather together and compete with each other representing their countries. Such games and events bring people of the world close to each other. It is a way of sharing one’s culture, rituals, customs and so on globally. Therefore, it fosters co-operation, togetherness and friendship among the people of the world. On the contrary, the competition in such international events is tough and risky. Each athlete tries their best to win in the event they participate. Moreover, there is great expectations, and pressure on them. As such the competition becomes fierce. Their goal to win medals for their countries brings tension among the players. In the same way, the supporters of one nation fight with another while supporting their respective countries due to their crazy passion and love for their own nation. Therefore, people of the world can be divided in the name of nationality and supremacy of their country over others. — Binita Kunwar, Simara, Bara Most of the people argue that sport competitions are necessary as it bring togetherness among us. For instance, when Nepal participates in any such competition, we all forget our personal worries and cheer for our team. And we forget all our problems and differences and come together as one. — Anonymous Sports, which are the pride of the nation, are the medium of unification of many people through emotional attachment. Unity among the citizens of a country is only possible with the unified hearts of people. Despite the regional gap, different races and difference in thinking and the feelings of people, today sports have become the base for the interconnection, cooperation and harmony among the people which can be the  foundation for peace, prosperity and development  of a country by ensuring ‘unity in diversity’. Nepal has about 123 castes and sports like football and cricket et cetera has brought people of different castes together. — Madhav Ghimire, Ratopul, Kathmandu Sport is the best way to introduce a nation and individuals all over the world through events like Olympics. Through these international competition, each country gets chance to make international relationship and they can share their ideas, knowledge, experiences about sports. Sometimes players as well as audience turn to violence because of wrong decision of judge and may express ego after they have lost game. So, the organiser as well as every country should make sure they create and maintain peaceful environment for successfully completing these competition. — Prakash Gyawali, Kirtipur The road to success runs uphill. Sport events like Olympics encourage different players around the world and give opportunities to participate and compete in an international platform. It shows the unity of the world. The feeling of oneness is created within the players through these events. It enriches the citizens’ experiences, and adds pride to his/her country. Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible. If we play with the sportsman spirit, Olympics is wonderful, because our talents are god’s gift to us and what we do with it is our gift that we give back to god. — Amrita Mary, Tamil Nadu Two hundred and five countries are participating in various games — football, swimming, boxing, volleyball, cycling, badminton and so forth at Olympics being held in Rio, Brazil. In these games, one wins while other loses. This is a fact because it is a competition. And these kinds of competition bring people together rather than divide. While playing any sort of game, they need to introduce to each other in the first place. From that small conversation, people of different countries come together and can learn about each other. In such events, players participate from all over the world. There is competition among the players and only one wins at the end of a game but it doesn’t mean, it is divisiveness. — Saroj Wagle QUESTION OF THE WEEK There are people who are hesitant to learn from their juniors and colleagues who are younger to them. But we can learn from everyone — our juniors, colleagues or friends or incidences, and not just from our parents, teachers and seniors. Have you had the experience of learning from ones you had least expected to? How did that learning affect/change you? ­Send your replies in not more than 200 words by Friday, August 19 by 2 pm to Features Department, The Himalayan Times, e-mail: features@thehimalayantimes.com