Common Wealth Games

We as humans, or more precisely, Indians have a very cynical attitude towards everything that is happening around us. We always have a habit of seeing the negative aspects of a situation rather than appreciating the positives, be it anything. Common Wealth Games are a MAJOR example of this.

No wonder the CWG could have been better planned and organized by the government and there could have been stringent checks on the quality and timely delivery of stadia, and the overall execution and management of the events. But the negative publicity CWG got, thanks to the India media, the spirit of the games was totally lost. Everyone seems to be questioning the 70k crores spent on organizing the event and failed to see positive side of the coin. No one appreciated the reconstruction of the collapsed FOB in JN stadium is just 5 DAYS! No one appreciated the 2 metro lines which connected the entire south Delhi to it's satellite township of Gurgaon and Noida, construction of metro Airport link line, construction of the ENTIRE games village, complete renovation of the stadia and the facilities provided to the athletes, renovation of Connaught Place, beautification of Delhi roads etc. And for the uninitiated, the 70k crores money INCLUDES everything that has been mentioned here. If a single Emporio Mall in Vasant Kunj can take 11k crores in it's construction, I feel 70k crores is justified, considering the amount of work that has been done.

But sadly, no one seems to remember that. The credit goes to the mismanaged and corrupt media though, which in the race to increase their TRPs broadcast news which will gain maximum viewership. And who doesn't like bitching?

There was corruption, there was money which found it's place to the politicians' bank accounts which could have been better utilized in organizing the event. There as an article on BBC by Tom Fordyce showing pictures of Indian slums and the raising a "moral question" about whether CWG being held in Delhi and 70k crores being spent on it was ethically right when you see that many Indians live at less than a pound a day earnings. It was India's honest effort to be at par with the west which claims to be flawless. Every country has it's problems. Even the ultra elite west is fallible,  people live below poverty line in western countries as well, there are murders, thefts and epidemics in western countries as well. Most of the negative publicity India gathered, again thanks to the bullshit media we have here, was exaggerated. John MacKinnon, a sports columnist from Canada who is here for 2 weeks covering the CWG said "I think the negative press the event organisers and India has been receiving are exaggerated and unfair. Most of the athletes from Canada, New Guinea, Tonga and UK have reported that they are pretty satisfied with the way things are taken care of, especially the security".

All in all, it is a successful event with a few glitches here and there, which is part of organizing  an event of this magnitude. There could have been a better managed show, no doubt, but it was definitely not worth attracting this huge negative publicity. The Media left no stone unturned to tarnish India's image to the international community, but however, the opening ceremony said it all. It made me feel immensely proud seeing the opening ceremony, the spirit of the games came back! Jai Hind!

Rahul Arora

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