Twenty-four hours before the opening ceremony, it looked as though Delhi had made a complete mess of the preparations for the Commonwealth games. On October 14, in front of 60,000 spectators, including guests from abroad, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Tmt. Sonia Gandhi and other dignitaries and about 7,000 sportspersons from various countries, when the Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennel declared, “Delhi, you have delivered a truly exceptional games,” there was justifiable pride among Indians. Despite the shambolic build-up, the Organising Committee (OC) pulled it off in the end, overcoming seemingly insurmountable problems at the eleventh hour — such as repair work on the track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the eve of the athletics event — with generous support from the Central and State governments. The venues, the Games village, the quality of food served and the services of the dedicated army of 13,000 volunteers came in for lavish praise from visiting athletes and officials. The traffic department, after taking its time to wrap up, functioned smoothly. The ‘Games Lanes’ operated without a hitch and Delhi’s notorious traffic snarls seemed to be a figment of imagination.
The highest security ever experienced for a sports event in India might have caused some irritation among participants and spectators. But as Mr. Fennel pointed out, there could have been no compromise on this front, particularly when there were open threats to the Games from alien terrorist groups. Defying all predictions and pessimism of the highest order, the show went on with clockwise precision even when there were some organizational hiccups.
If the grand and spectacular opening ceremony shut the loose mouths of apprehensions among the international community, the successful conduct of the Games and the equally splendid and stunning closing ceremony, though a degree less that the opening one, left people and administrations all over the world and the international media showering accolades in admiration.
The dramatic turn around in the preparations and smooth conduct of the Games materialized at the eleventh hour decisive intervention of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with the setting up of a group of Ministers led by Dr. Jaipal Reddy to oversee the arrangements in coordination with the organizing committee. In fact, as some newspapers pointed out, the ‘golden boy’ and the ‘golden girl’ of the Games were Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Tmt. Sonia Gandhi, under whose guideline the Prime Minister acted. Brushing aside security concerns, she and her son Rahul Gandhi regularly attended the events, preferring to sit in the stands with spectators and were seen enthusiastically cheering Indian players and athletes.
But more than all this, what helped Indians put out of mind the chaos and tragicomic mishaps witnessed during the run up to the Games was the nation’s unprecedented haul of 101 medals, including 38 gold. Ascent to the No.2 spot, although a long way behind Australia, was made possible mainly by the performance of the shooters, wrestlers, archers and boxers. Saina Nehwal’s hard fought win in the badminton final was memorable and so too were the medals sweep in women’s discus throw and the triumph of Indian quartet in women’s 4x400 relay. These were India’s first gold medals in athletics since the legendary Milkha Singh won the 440-yard race in Cardiff in 1958. The brave and determined boys and girls, who fought against all odds of poverty, lack of corporate sponsorship and societal discouragements, deserve to be saluted by a grateful nation.
The role played by the entire media in the country was obnoxious and terribly pessimistic that at one point the hapless people started believing that it would be better to call-off the Games and save the nation’s honour. But the assertive actions of the Prime Minister and the dogged performance of our spirited boys and girls, who participated in the Games, saw the nation pass through with flying colours, proving the maxim “when the going get tough, the tough gets going.”
It is not only the media, but also the corporate sector, by business houses, governments, public and private establishments and also sports enthusiasts and fans in the society as a whole, who have to feel guilty of their total indifference to all games and sports other than cricket, a colonial vestige played only in former British colonial countries devoid of any international standing. While our cricket players are excessively patronized and pampered that most of them lavish on hundreds of crores of money, the sportspersons in other fields are left to languish in poverty and lack of support. Sports-lovers should feel ashamed that our country with 1.15 billion population do not even qualify for the Football World Cup and stand at the lowest place and of the Olympic medals tally.
Let every individual and institution in the country make an honest introspection before lamenting about others. Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar said,
தன்குற்றம் நீக்கிப் பிறர்குற்றம் காண்கிற்பின்
என் குற்றமாகும் இறைக்கு
which means,
“A person who is aware of, and cures first his own flaws,
is entitled to scan and scout others’
blemishes”
The highest security ever experienced for a sports event in India might have caused some irritation among participants and spectators. But as Mr. Fennel pointed out, there could have been no compromise on this front, particularly when there were open threats to the Games from alien terrorist groups. Defying all predictions and pessimism of the highest order, the show went on with clockwise precision even when there were some organizational hiccups.
If the grand and spectacular opening ceremony shut the loose mouths of apprehensions among the international community, the successful conduct of the Games and the equally splendid and stunning closing ceremony, though a degree less that the opening one, left people and administrations all over the world and the international media showering accolades in admiration.
The dramatic turn around in the preparations and smooth conduct of the Games materialized at the eleventh hour decisive intervention of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with the setting up of a group of Ministers led by Dr. Jaipal Reddy to oversee the arrangements in coordination with the organizing committee. In fact, as some newspapers pointed out, the ‘golden boy’ and the ‘golden girl’ of the Games were Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Tmt. Sonia Gandhi, under whose guideline the Prime Minister acted. Brushing aside security concerns, she and her son Rahul Gandhi regularly attended the events, preferring to sit in the stands with spectators and were seen enthusiastically cheering Indian players and athletes.
But more than all this, what helped Indians put out of mind the chaos and tragicomic mishaps witnessed during the run up to the Games was the nation’s unprecedented haul of 101 medals, including 38 gold. Ascent to the No.2 spot, although a long way behind Australia, was made possible mainly by the performance of the shooters, wrestlers, archers and boxers. Saina Nehwal’s hard fought win in the badminton final was memorable and so too were the medals sweep in women’s discus throw and the triumph of Indian quartet in women’s 4x400 relay. These were India’s first gold medals in athletics since the legendary Milkha Singh won the 440-yard race in Cardiff in 1958. The brave and determined boys and girls, who fought against all odds of poverty, lack of corporate sponsorship and societal discouragements, deserve to be saluted by a grateful nation.
The role played by the entire media in the country was obnoxious and terribly pessimistic that at one point the hapless people started believing that it would be better to call-off the Games and save the nation’s honour. But the assertive actions of the Prime Minister and the dogged performance of our spirited boys and girls, who participated in the Games, saw the nation pass through with flying colours, proving the maxim “when the going get tough, the tough gets going.”
It is not only the media, but also the corporate sector, by business houses, governments, public and private establishments and also sports enthusiasts and fans in the society as a whole, who have to feel guilty of their total indifference to all games and sports other than cricket, a colonial vestige played only in former British colonial countries devoid of any international standing. While our cricket players are excessively patronized and pampered that most of them lavish on hundreds of crores of money, the sportspersons in other fields are left to languish in poverty and lack of support. Sports-lovers should feel ashamed that our country with 1.15 billion population do not even qualify for the Football World Cup and stand at the lowest place and of the Olympic medals tally.
Let every individual and institution in the country make an honest introspection before lamenting about others. Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar said,
தன்குற்றம் நீக்கிப் பிறர்குற்றம் காண்கிற்பின்
என் குற்றமாகும் இறைக்கு
“A person who is aware of, and cures first his own flaws,
is entitled to scan and scout others’
blemishes”
(24-10-10)
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