I had gone to Delhi to attend a family wedding and just before leaving Secunderabad had some moments of anxiety as to what would it be like there, during the Commonwealth Games. The media had exposed scandals and the reports just didn't seem to indicate that Delhi should be the place to be in during the first week of October. The situation seemed confusing ....should I go....should I not! I rang up a Delhi based cousin to find out whether it was okay and he said that the media had hyped up too much and of course I should come. Well, I just took a step of faith and went up north with some misgivings.
On arriving at Delhi on the fourth of October, I was so surprised......the railway station looked unbelievably clean.....and there was a very colourful train parked on the track nearby which was supposed to be for the CWG participants. Wow, is this the New Delhi Railway Station....a place where you have to be careful not to step over people, baggage and coolies? Even the coolies looked spruced up and other passengers too had a bemused look on their faces as much as mine had!
After I got into the parking lot, sat in my brother in law's car, I looked around, there were no stray cows and dogs, no beggars, no one was aiming 'paan' juice from their mouth and onto the road, there was no litter lying around, there was an unnatural cleanliness about the place and I wondered! On passing Connaught Place, I was overjoyed to see it looking white washed and really classy!
Off we went to south Delhi near Maharani Bagh where we were staying. What a difference on the roads...the traffic was so orderly and there was a yellow line marked lane which was empty. Even when the traffic became heavy, every car went behind the other instead of trying to overtake or rush diagonally, nosing other vehicles to the side....it was amazing...nothing like ever seen in Delhi! The empty lane was for the CWG participants and officials and no one dared cross the yellow line or they were fined Rs.2000 on the spot, there was so much of security to oversee that. We passed a stadium where an event was taking place and would you believe it, people had lined up neatly to get inside instead of the usual gaggle of crowds rushing in and elbowing others out! I found it hard to believe that we Indians can actually be so organized - it was a heady moment for me! Having heard of the security lapse in September when there was a firing incident in the Jama Masjid area by unknown terroriests, it was great that all the CWG events happened smoothly and without any more lapses...the government authorities took no chances and the public readily cooperated on that score.
The CWG had been at the back of our minds as a big event that was going to happen in Delhi, as we went about our daily business in different cities across India. But then a few television and newspaper reports began to appear about the inability of India to make the grade because of corruption. One minister had said that Delhi was not going to get ready on time besides, the amount of money being spent was criminal considering that we are a nation with frightening levels of poverty and the CWG budget could be better spent. Closer to the CWG event, one realized the magnitude of it and also the scale of the budget....the initial budget estimation by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 had been Rs.16.3 billion. In early 2010 the estimate was Rs.115 billion. Finally when they calculated it, the budget was Rs.300 billion. There appears to have been large scale corruption and financial irregularities. The government of India has ordered a probe committee into the corruption which is led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VK Shungloo. This probe will be in addition to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and Central Vigilance Commission investigations already underway. The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh had promised in mid-August, when reports of the bungling first surfaced, that corrupt officials will be given "severe and exemplary" punishment after the Games. The probe committee is looking into "all aspects of organizing and conducting" the Games, and "to draw lessons from it." It has been given three months time to submit its report.
Although we are a cricket loving nation, the CWG has shown that India can win in other sports as well. No matter that the Indian contingent was the largest at 619, the medal tally was quite a haul for us, 101 in all with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze.
What needs to change is our mindset as Indians. We wait for the last minute to complete tasks and like to work under duress, rather than being prepared. We are cynical about corruption in high places and take it for granted that it will happen and when found out, justice will not be done. We have the celebrity hang up and prefer solo sports performers rather than teams! We believe in covering up to hide facts and the more smartly we do that, the more we pat ourselves on the back for it! I wonder if the clean-up and orderliness in Delhi is going to last...I wish that it will. Perhaps the beggars have returned from where they were put away, by now. Our sense of community and extending the helping hand surfaces only when there is a crisis looming...I wish that we could have a community mindset all the time!
The Game is over, not just for India but for many who thought that they could get away with it! I do believe that the CWG has helped in changing our outlook to some extent and hope that we can host an Olympics soon, in Hyderabad/Secunderabad perhaps!
