Is India chasing the right dream when it comes to sports — or have we lost our way?

In this explosive finale of Game Play Sport on Radio Azim Premji University, our 3 sports hosts Rahul De, Arvind Bharathi B N & Kailash Kaushik take on ten outspoken students in a high-stakes, Jubilee-style Surrounded debate. From malls replacing playgrounds to Esports players being called athletes, this episode unpacks the biggest ideological battles shaping India’s sporting culture today. 🔥

Debates Inside the Episode Malls Over Maidaans: Are we trading childhood play for consumerism? One Gold Medalist vs a Billion Active People: What counts as national success? Medals Over Motion: Why are young athletes burning out? Esports: Athletes, addicts, or the future of Indian sport?

This is not just about games. It’s about public health, youth identity, and whether India values movement or medals more.

Special thanks to all the students of Azim Premji University who participated!

Featuring Rahul De • Arvind Bharathi • Kailash Kaushik

✨ A Radio Azim Premji University Original

👇 Comment below: Are we building a healthier nation — or just chasing podiums?

India competes across the world — at the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and countless individual tournaments — with delegations far smaller than its population and talent pool suggest. The real issue isn’t performance. It’s the harsh, uneven journey that pushes most young athletes out long before they enter any official system.

In this episode of Game Play Sport, we follow the story of Raziya Khan, midfielder for Odisha FC, who first discovered football when Teach For India fellows brought the sport into her school. Her earliest memory is of playing football with a bottle filled with stones — a symbol of how little infrastructure existed, and how much imagination was required to dream.

From there, Raziya travelled hours every day to reach practice, balanced schoolwork with training, and carried the emotional load of wanting something her environment wasn’t designed to support. Her journey mirrors what athletes in individual sports face too — from runners training before sunrise, to wrestlers and boxers commuting long distances, to badminton and athletics hopefuls fighting for basic access.

We explore why India sends small teams to global events, why many talented children leave sport before they ever compete, and what it would take to build a sporting pipeline worthy of India’s size and ambition.

Watch the full episode and rethink the journey behind every athlete we celebrate.

#IndianSports #Olympics #AsianGames #CommonwealthGames #WorldChampionships #RaziyaKhan #OdishaFC #WomenInSport #IndividualSports #FootballIndia #TeachForIndia #SportsAccess #SportsForChange #AzimPremjiUniversity

India is home to over half a billion gamers — from PUBG to Valorant, from mobile cricket to FIFA — yet still struggles to find its footing in the global esports arena. In this episode of Game Play Sport, Aravind, Kailash, and Rahul sit down with Ram Seshadri, producer and avid gamer, and Sudhen Wahengbam,esports commentator, to explore why India’s massive gaming population hasn’t translated into world-class esports success.

The discussion journeys through India’s unique gaming culture — from cyber cafés to the era of mobile dominance — and asks tough questions: Why do micro-transaction models that work elsewhere fail here? How did the Waves OTT Summit and the Asian Games put esports on the national map? And what can India learn from countries like Brazil, Denmark, and South Korea, where esports athletes like FalleN are celebrated like traditional sports heroes?

Ram unpacks the landscape of modern esports — fighter games,first person shooter games,, battle royales, sports games, multiplayer online battle arena (MUBA), and real-time strategy games — explaining why India’s fragmented digital infrastructure and low per-user spending make sustainability difficult.

Sudhen reflects on perception and policy: how parental anxiety, uneven regulation, and limited institutional backing hold the ecosystem back. Yet both see hope in the mobile gaming revolution, where India already leads the world in downloads.

Watch “Can India Become a Global Esports Powerhouse?” and discover what it will take for India to turn play into purpose, and gamers into athletes.

Special thanks to Ram Seshadri and Sudhen Wahengbam for the interviews.

Special thanks to Ram Seshadri and Sudhen Wahengbam for the interviews.

Discover more shows in English, Hindi, and Kannada: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/radio-azim-premji-university

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Credits:Akshay Ramuhalli, Bruce Lee Mani, Gorveck Thokchom, Kishor Mandal, Kruthika Rao, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Ram Seshadri, Sananda Dasgupta, Sanoob Puliyanchali, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar.