So, the event of the decade is almost here. In just a few days, India will host the Commonwealth Games, amidst loads and loads of problems, both natural and man made. Even a few days before the big event, there are problems at almost every nook and corner. The venues are not ready and neither are the accommodations. Yesterday a pedestrian bridge collapsed and today a part of the false ceiling in one of the stadiums collapsed. So are we really ready? Are we going to go down as the laughing stock of the whole world?
Many have debated about how the games are a waste of money and how it should have been used for other purposes more important than sports. I disagree. Events such as these go a long way in promoting a country and it also does play a huge role in the overall development of sports in our country. I am all for hosting such grand events, but at this very point, we are just not ready. We do not have what it takes to impress the rest of the world. Like it or not, our standards are way below what the rest of the world expects. Our ideas and concepts about hygiene, cleanliness etc are at a much different level from the rest of the world. Unless we are ready to match all that, we cannot put on a world class show. Kalmadi keeps using the term "world class" and I wonder what he means by that. Maybe he has not seen what the rest of the world looks like.
Thanks to the news channels, we have seen how much money has already been swindled in the last few months. In the last few days, some of the top athletes have pulled out, and even a few countries have opted out. In the next few days leading to the event, we can expect a lot more pull outs. So what kind of show are we going to put on? Once the event is over, what happens to the infrastructure? Will it be utilized to help athletes and develop sports, or will it just rot and fade away? Reports indicate that the response from the public to the ticket sales and overall interest in the games has been lower than poor. Quite frankly, no one is interested.
In a country obsessed with cricket, we would do well organizing the world cup and IPL, so I guess we better stick to that and we really should not have bid for the games in the first place. There was a talk of India trying to bid for the future Olympics and I cross all my fingers and hope that it does not happen, at least in the next fifty years or so. Why? Because we are just not ready to take on something like that. The screw up from our end will cost the other capable developing nations from getting a chance to host the Commonwealth event in future. So, we have mucked it up not just for ourselves, but for a few others as well.
All negatives aside, for the sake of my dear country, to salvage the pride, I do hope we manage to put on a decent show at least. We hope the event passes off with minimum hiccups. We pray the weather holds and that the terror threats are contained. Cheers to those who managed to make a few quick bucks. Good luck to those participating and a huge thank you to those who did come and participate, in spite of everything going wrong. Now, over the next few days, enjoy the greatest flop show on earth.
Many have debated about how the games are a waste of money and how it should have been used for other purposes more important than sports. I disagree. Events such as these go a long way in promoting a country and it also does play a huge role in the overall development of sports in our country. I am all for hosting such grand events, but at this very point, we are just not ready. We do not have what it takes to impress the rest of the world. Like it or not, our standards are way below what the rest of the world expects. Our ideas and concepts about hygiene, cleanliness etc are at a much different level from the rest of the world. Unless we are ready to match all that, we cannot put on a world class show. Kalmadi keeps using the term "world class" and I wonder what he means by that. Maybe he has not seen what the rest of the world looks like.
Thanks to the news channels, we have seen how much money has already been swindled in the last few months. In the last few days, some of the top athletes have pulled out, and even a few countries have opted out. In the next few days leading to the event, we can expect a lot more pull outs. So what kind of show are we going to put on? Once the event is over, what happens to the infrastructure? Will it be utilized to help athletes and develop sports, or will it just rot and fade away? Reports indicate that the response from the public to the ticket sales and overall interest in the games has been lower than poor. Quite frankly, no one is interested.
In a country obsessed with cricket, we would do well organizing the world cup and IPL, so I guess we better stick to that and we really should not have bid for the games in the first place. There was a talk of India trying to bid for the future Olympics and I cross all my fingers and hope that it does not happen, at least in the next fifty years or so. Why? Because we are just not ready to take on something like that. The screw up from our end will cost the other capable developing nations from getting a chance to host the Commonwealth event in future. So, we have mucked it up not just for ourselves, but for a few others as well.
All negatives aside, for the sake of my dear country, to salvage the pride, I do hope we manage to put on a decent show at least. We hope the event passes off with minimum hiccups. We pray the weather holds and that the terror threats are contained. Cheers to those who managed to make a few quick bucks. Good luck to those participating and a huge thank you to those who did come and participate, in spite of everything going wrong. Now, over the next few days, enjoy the greatest flop show on earth.
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