Imagine a scene. You have gone to see a world level competition of boxing or weightlifting. Participants come one after another and perform to their best. Stadium is as densely loaded of humans as an anthill of ants. And all of a sudden the heavy roof structure of the stadium falls down…
Sounds not so good but it’s not so unreal too looking at the current trends by far. Welcome to the Commonwealth Games 2010, Delhi. The most happening topic to analyze, scrutinize and criticize India. [That is too for all so called intellectual brains, as always. Bloody hypocrites...] Even Twitter shows it as most trending topic now days. India’s twitter map also shows CWG, and #CWG as the top-most tweeted keyword, followed by ‘Kalmadi’, ‘Ayodhya’, and ‘Verdict’. And I guess for many hidden Kalmadis, the name is bit appropriate… The Common-WEALTH Games…!
The games were meant to showcase India's emergence as a regional powerhouse. But long delays in getting facilities ready and a list of scandals have turned them into an embarrassment. Organizers have struggled with an outbreak of dengue fever, the collapse of a footbridge leading to the main stadium and security fears after the Sunday shooting of two tourists outside one of the city's top attractions.
The New Zealand team announced it was joining Scotland and Canada in delaying its arrival in New Delhi because of the poor condition of the accommodations. England and Australia have also expressed concern about the Games village. While Delhi government cleaners are apparently refusing to clean the toilets at the Games village because they were so “nauseating”, the Games organizers are calling in the help of some luxury private hotels, including the Taj and Oberoi, to help with hygiene.
“People in India think ceilings can fall on poor people but they must not fall on athletes.” said Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar on a chat show Wednesday on news channel NDTV, adding that as a result of this sort of thinking, the country had fallen “flat on our face, or rather I should say, we fall flat on our feces.”
On the contrary, expressing confidence that the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games will be held successfully, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill announced doubling of cash awards for the CWG and Asian Games. To encourage sportspersons, Dr. Gill announced the doubling of cash awards for the coming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to Rs.20 lakhs (from Rs.10 lakhs) for Gold Medalist, Rs.10 lakhs (from Rs.5 lakhs) for Silver Medalist, and Rs.6 lakhs (from Rs.3 lakhs) for Bronze Medalist.
Federation president Michael Fennell has said there is still “a lot of work” to be done before the event gets underway in Delhi on October 3 though Ma’am Dixit says Delhi is ready. [Thank god, no one asked her that Delhi is ready for what? Not accidents at least…!] On a side where whole world is worrying whether India will be able to meet the deadline of 3rd Oct, Dr Avtar Lit, the chief executive of the Sunrise Group, Who has already bought the tickets to games, says “The games will be fantastic. Things move very fast in India and there are armies of engineers, decorators and builders ready to transform the site. What takes the rest of the world 180 days to complete takes India five.”
This actually made me recall an incident. A French philosopher visited India once and wandered throughout the country. At the end of his journey, he marked… “I never believed in God’s existence, but now I do. How else it’s possible that this country is still progressing…?” I wonder I didn’t label this post to “I never criticize…” but how can I? At the end, Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani…! On this last note, need to sign off now. Keep loving India the way every Indian does in spite of such controversies every week… Love - DJ.
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