A word or two on the eve of the Games

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October is here, and so are the Commonwealth Games!! It is arguably one of the best things that has happened to India in recent years—yet it just can’t seem to find a way out of the headlines, and for all the wrong reasons! When was the last time the front page of your daily newspaper did not sport a story on how the games have turned into a scheme for generating “common wealth” for a select group of individuals? So, given the situation, what can I, an educated young man, far away from the disquiet and the controversies surrounding the games do about it all? Well, at least I can think, and often it is at this basic level that people falter—when things happen thick and fast, they forget to think. So I was thinking… and the first thing that became clear to me was that the media has made a meal out of the entire thing. I mean it’s not that one should shut his eyes or turn a deaf ear to all the audio visual evidence in support of everything that has been going wrong in the Games. It’s just that the Indian media, not surprisingly though is very much like the typical Indian populace—highly emotional, sensitive and annoyingly over expressive at times. That makes entertainment out of news channels but it certainly didn’t help in the situation at present. Having said that, one has to give credit to the media—it is their persistence that has forced some of our peace-loving truant bureaucrats to pull up their socks and get things done. One must also realize that organizing an event of this magnitude, or for that matter any event in India is not a joke. And the difficulty lies not only in the governmental offices but also with the general public at large. People in this country seem to possess a strange affinity towards civic disobedience and destruction of public property. For example, there was an incident where the organizers had put up signboards for the Games, only to find them messed up by someone who apparently found no place else to express his artistic talent. Now this is something which is very difficult, if not impossible to deal with. Yet it is there—it’s the same instinct that leads mobs to burn down a bus after an accident!!

So, where does this go from here? Well, I for one am an optimist and believe totally in the inherent sensibility of men, especially my own countrymen. I believe that all said and done, all controversies and failures apart, Commonwealth Games 2010 will make India proud. For the skeptical, wait till the Games get underway—I’m sure you’ll find the mood of the general public changing, and so will the perspectives of the media. Not denying the mistakes and failures we have encountered so far, we are going to make it through and do so in style. And even if I’m proved wrong, I’d take satisfaction in the fact that at least I looked in the right direction, for rest assured, nothing’s going to come about by thinking “we can’t make it”!!

So, here’s to a highly successful Games, here’s to New Delhi 2010!!

Cheers.

Comments

  1. VarunOctober 2, 2010 at 11:00 PM

    nicely written and rightly said..

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 3, 2010 at 1:24 AM

    This is the first post in any media I have read that about the CWG that isn't about politician(s)/organizers bashing.You were write about Indian junta, the same ones burning effigies could be singing praises by the end of a fortnight or perhaps our players will alleviate the organizer's plight attracting the critics towards their performances. The thing I despise about the media is despite knowing how effective they can be in reaching out to the multitude they always seem to choose to use it to build mountains out of mole hills.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arja RayOctober 3, 2010 at 8:50 AM

    @tiwari, thnx :)
    @porno, the predisposition of people towards "sensations" plays a big role in encouraging the media to continue sensationalizing news....

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 4, 2010 at 12:13 AM

    so its the vicious cycle all over again?

    ReplyDelete

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