Rail gaadi chuk-chuk chuk-chuk! CWG Closing Ceremony!

Verdict on the Commonwealth Closing Ceremony - I like it!

Just like uncoordination was the theme of the opening ceremony, the armed forces bands' display was so amazingly coordinated and awesome and colourful that it kinda made up for it. The Delhi kids once again outdid themselves. Some 2000 of them apparently were involved in it.

36 countries got at least 1 medal. 35 got none.

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GAMES EVER for India. 38 Golds. 27 Silvers. 36 Bronze. 12 in Wrestling, Gold in 4x400m, Saina's Badminton Gold to get India to the 2nd place over England, clean sweep in Discuss, etc etc.

Shera finally makes an appearance! Shaan made an appearance and sang in his awesome voice too! Talking of singing, awesome choice of songs in the whole ceremony! Rail Gaadi Chuk Chuk Chuk Chuk which accompanied the volunteers' coming centre-stage was so awesome! Good job the 20,000 volunteers btw! Wish I was in India and could have been one of them!

Bravo to the Organising Committee. (Though it was still boo-ed). But they managed to pull it off without any major life-altering screw-up during the event. Salute to the defense forces. Apparently all flights were on time to ensure the Games could start on time as well.

This is how it all started in Melbourne. Ash looks a bit uncomfy standing there in the middle doing nothing, like a bait.

And now it has ended. Goodbye World! We (ok not me per se, but the people of Delhi and the whole of India for that matter, and me by extension) have really enjoyed hosting all of you at the Commonwealth Games 2010! Hope you have had an amazing experience in 'Incredible !ndia', and will come back some day to visit us again!

I feel almost sad and nostalgic seeing the flag folded and given to Scotland. But in light of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the whole world as one family), I shall wish good luck to the next hosts, the land of men in skirts - Scotland. Let's hope they start preparing early enough! Their performance was certainly exciting and confident.

And it's still not over! Bollywood music is here finally, arguably India's biggest contribution to the world! With a long list of big names of singers/DJs. Great songs. Grand colourful dance. Rangoli dance floor (left by Delhi kids). What better way to end it!

And with a spectacular fireworks display, it is Thank You and Good Night.

CWG comes to an end....

And so the Indian contingent has fulfilled both its promises - 2nd position and 100 medals! Bravo Saina! GOOD JOB INDIA! Now for the Closing Ceremony :)

CWG Update

Day 7: India completed a rich haul in wrestling with a total of 19 medals from 21 divisions, ten of which were gold. In doing so, they became the first country to win 10 gold in wrestling in any Commonwealth Games :)

In the morning, England took the second place from India for a while. Though then India regained it with 5 more Golds. With 4 more days to go, let's hope we can maintain that. As someone said, "they enslaved us for 200 years. What more do they want?!" :P

Please end this pain soon

So today I thought I will read up a little on the Commonwealth Games, update myself on what's been happening results-wise. Well the first few headlines are focused only on how big a screw-up the whole thing is. This is the first search result.

Used condoms block drains at Delhi Commonwealth Games, which apparently has the Games chief Mike Fennell happy that so many of the 7000 competitors at the athletes’ village were being careful.

Organisers are clueless on where the Commonwealth Games tickets have gone, with large-scale hoarding seeming to be the only explanation. On one hand, a majority of seats at various Commonwealth Games stadia are lying vacant. On the other, people are not getting tickets through the internet, at the CWG headquarters or at kiosks. Why are there empty stadia even though people are hankering for tickets?

Swimmers sick at Games, organisers say water is all right. Of course they do. I hope they can continue to claim this even after the test is done on the water.

Everyone it seems is unhappy with the games.

The only good thing which can come out of this is if India get the 2nd rank and a 100 medals, as was their target. Though England and Canada are catching up pretty fast.

2nd

So the India team is so far living up to its promise of being ranked 2nd, with 5 Golds and 11 medals overall.

The Organising Committee is also living up to its promise of screwing up, with venues still undergoing frantic construction, the website getting stuck for half a day, tickets being handed out for free after most venues look soulfully empty, no drivers to drive officials and delegates around, and Kalmadi claiming that Prince Diana was here.

Let's hope it doesn't get worse. And focus on our medal hopes. Will India clinch an athletics Gold, specially with a lot of top players not present?

2 Golds!

So that's 2 gold medals for India on the 2nd day in shooting, which brings the medal tally to 7 total, the highest in terms of sheer numbers. Though Australia is clearly leading with 4 Golds thus far.

Is it just me or do the Commonwealth Games have a gay vibe? "Come out" (of the closet) and "play"? :P

Opening Ceremony: Fiesta or Fiasco?

So how many of you enjoyed the CWG opening ceremony? It was certainly huge and grand and colorful. And truly Indian. And the huge helium balloon used a screen is purely genius! ("At the same time, spending almost £10m on a giant balloon in a country when so many try to live on less than a pound a day could only kick up uncomfortable moral questions.")

What I would ask more for is coordination, which was almost absent in the entire opening. I mean I get it, with that many people and that humongous-ly large venue, it is an incredibly difficult feat. However, Beijing showed that it could be done in the Olympics opening ceremony, which was amazingly coordinated and organised. But in the desire to be a melting pot of culture from all over the country, all I saw was a central theme of chaos.

The Rhythms of India got a bit monotonous in the middle, the dances were cool though the dancers looked highly uncomfortable coming down the stairs each time, and the ones who went on did it like they were in a school play. A Naga dancer during the Great Indian Railway journey actually fell. Cringe. Aren't you supposed to hire professional dancers who will not fall during a ceremony where you showcase how good you are to the world?

And what is with the theme song Jiyo Utho blah bleh. 5 crores went to THAT? Seriously? Are you kidding me? I think it is a testament to their own recognition of how incapable that song is of getting people on their feet that they had to play Jai Ho after that. I used to tell people that Jai Ho is nowhere in the same league as A.R. Rehman's other brilliant creations, but after watching these 2 songs in succession, I must say I prefer Jai Ho a thousand times more. And what was that besuri screaming that Rehman did at the end of Jai Ho (minute 13)???

Though they must be congratulated that after all the media hoopla about unpreparedness and safety and hygiene, they have pulled off what is being hailed as a major success. "There have been delays and many challenges but we have managed to rise above them all", as Suresh Kalmadi put it, after being booed by the audience, 'reflecting the embarrassment many had felt over the crisis-hit preparations and worldwide headlines of the past fortnight, the same mortification that had led the Tribune newspaper to refer to "a national shame" and the Deccan Chronicle to "a bunch of inept, inefficient and corrupt administrators".'

So have we forgotten all about the shame now? Have all those who said "cancel the games" now all for the Games? Just like the Mumbai Taj attacks led to boiling blood for a few weeks, and then inaction, it seems that a similar future awaits the Games.

We all seem just so pleased that no major screw up happened, that through the Great Indian method of "jugaad", we actually "pulled it off" and are very pleased with ourselves for it. Though I am sure the thousands who have been displaced from their homes to make room for the venues and now live in less than hospitable conditions disagree. Now that everything has been swept under the rug, seems like it will all be buried in the rubble afterwards too, when the temporary bandaids begin peeling off.

We  need to be better than that. We need to expect more from ourselves.

Taken from TOM FORDYCE'S BLOG
A Commonwealth Games that at several points over the past two years had looked perilously close to being stillborn finally sprang to kicking, caterwauling life.

The numbers are vast - 28,378 policemen, 5,000 paramilitaries, 100 anti-sabotage teams, 300 sniffer dogs, 80 radiation meters and 15 bomb disposal squads - and if the organisers cannot be blamed for the wider political problems that require such measures, it can only be an unsettling sight at an event known as the Friendly Games.

These games as a whole will cost India somewhere between £3bn and £4bn, depending on which estimate you prefer, a staggering 60 times the original budget.

When Kalmadi looked up and stated, "India is ready," the derision turned to roars of approval. When he followed that by reminding those watching that, "We have the second fastest-growing economy in the world," the cheers got even louder.

Big multi-sport events are as much about showcasing the host nation as they are about mere sport. Two summers ago in Beijing we kept hearing that the Olympics were China's coming-out party. These Commonwealths, and the Olympics that the organisers hope might follow in 2020, are meant to serve the same purpose for a similarly booming nation.

"INDIA! INDIA" yelled the thousands around the stadium in unison as Prince Charles rose to read the Queen's address. The message could not have been clearer.

This was a night for forgetting the painful gestation, for postponing any worries about the quality of the sport we might witness over the next 11 days or the importance of the Commonwealth Games in a rapidly-changing 21st century world.

All those issues are still there. Come Monday, Usain Bolt will still be in Jamaica, Jessica Ennis in Sheffield, David Rudisha in Kenya. Muhammad will still be stranded in Bawana.

What's changed is that, along with the comical tales of cobras under athletes' beds and sobering stories of corruption, collapsing bridges and missing stars, there is finally a genuine sense of excitement in the Delhi air.

Tonight's the night!

Trivia:
Shera, the official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, represents the modern Indian, proud of his nation's ancient heritage and a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty.

Jawahar Lal Nehru Sports Complex
Distance:12 kms
Capacity:60,000

The complex has in its heart the showpiece stadium for the Games, which will host both the Opening and Closing ceremonies. A look at the facilities and design is enough to make every Indian proud of this gigantic structure which originally hails from the 1982 Asian Games that the city hosted.