Exactly a week ago, a chilling play began to unfold before our eyes. It was a brazen attack on the symbols that represented India, symbols that were the first stop for tourists from the world over. The Taj has been a landmark forever. For over a century, a sighting of the Taj was a signal to sailors at sea that hospitable land was not far away. Today, it is that very symbol which sends a shiver down our spines and reminds us that the world in the 21st century is fighting a constant battle.
Reports in the British media seem to indicate that they want their sportsmen to play in India as a fitting answer to the people who are trying to disrupt the way civil society should function. But then a sporting spectacle must not be played under the shadow of the gun, for it defeats the purpose of sport. In the subcontinent it all started with Sri Lanka back in 1996 when visiting countries expressed apprehension about traveling to the Emerald Isle. Soon afterwards, Pakistan became a victim and now it seems India runs the risk of being shunned by the rest of the world. It poses an immediate threat to the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the World Cup in 2011.
As I write this, I cannot offer a solution, I cannot even offer a ray of hope but with dismay I can only say, in a global village, every country is at risk. While people all over the world witnessed the action unfolding in Mumbai with horror, in the faraway town of Kochi in Japan, there was panic at a golf tournament. Teen sensation Ryo Ishikawa received bomb threats and men had to carry out searches through the course for landmines. The young lad played his rounds with ten bodyguards for company. It wasn’t a scene from the subcontinent and it definitely was not the way a sportsman deserved to play!
While it would be crass on my part to try and pick up the pieces and determine the financial loss, reality can seldom be divorced from the truth. In the world of golf, India was emerging as the alternative golfing getaway for it offered the complete package. It was after all the unmatchable lure of a round of golf in the country that housed the Taj Mahal, the symbol of love. Ironically, it is another Taj Mahal that will leave many people perplexed, distraught and perhaps rethinking their proposed visit to India. Unfortunately, in the world where we live today, the shadow of the gun will be as regular a feature as the leaves that swamp the streets in autumn. In the connected world that we live in, all our fates are intertwined and no one can truly believe that they are unaffected by what happens in some other corner of the world. In such a time, sport is both a victim and the only ray of hope. It has the ability to heal but the characters who have the power to enact the play cannot be made to do so in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. I know for a fact that the city of Mumbai will bounce back because that is how we know the city to be, resilient. However in the aftermath of the attacks, the way India is perceived by the world outside could have far reaching ramifications. But then, be it Madrid or London, Moscow or Tokyo, New York or New Delhi, the world is no more a safe place, a distressing thought, but a truth we will have to learn to live with.

Brandon DeSouza is MD, Tiger Sports