0.09 seconds.4,150,000 results.That is what Google gave me when I tapped in the three magical words boggling the brain of almost every citizen of India at the moment-C,W,G.The top two results obviously being of the official CWG website and Wikipedia,both strongly optimised for search engines.However,the third,fourth and fifth result drew my attention much more.
The third is an article printed in the Times of India recently which says that Rs.30 lakh has been spent by the government of NCT of Delhi in educating police constables in basic English language but to no avail.A survey conducted on 300 random constables shows that they cannot even construct a simple sentence in English and speak only in phrases which,too, are not indicative of what they actually want to convey.
The fourth is relating to the debacle over AR Rahman’s games’ anthem.Apparently,Rahman in spite of repeated criticism has refused to redo the song citing busy schedule as a reason.
The fifth is about how the baton relay in Mumbai turned into a complete flop show after distinguished ex-sportsmen like Dileep Vengsarkar,Ajit Wadekar and Dhanraj Pillay gave the event a miss and how Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan occupied centre stage.
Now an idealist(read Suresh Kalmadi) would conveniently like to ignore these events and move on saying that the Commonwealth Games in October would be a huge success.Undoubtedly,that is exactly what every Indian hopes for.However,my interest does not lie in the success or failure of the Games.It lies in what in what one can colloquially call as “The Indian Method” of dealing with situations.
The Indian Method is something all of us are acquainted with simply because we practice it,advocate it and henceforth, insinuate it in the system of the people not yet corrupted by this method.There are many aspects to this method,the above three examples demonstrating three of them.
1.The constable example brings to light the Indian tendency of leaving too much for the end in spite of being provided the adequate time to perform these duties.Hoping against hope is a human tendency.Yet if the people at the top undertake impertinent tasks and then HOPE to do well,then one can say with firm conviction that India is a Land of Opportunities,a land of opportunities,in this case, for signboard advertising “English Speaking Course in 2 months” centres.The visionary idea of the Delhi Government to educate the plethora of constables in the city in a short span of one and a half years clearly goes a long way in explaining the reason behind a dug up New Delhi and an overflowing Yamuna six days prior to the arrival of around 600 delegates from all Commonwealth countries.
2.The AR Rahman episode brings to light the sad face of the Indian multitude which apparently rejects his song on the basis that it does not compare with “Waka Waka”.Now lets truly acknowledge some facts.Firstly,Waka Waka is a good and popular song,highly conducive to the World Cup spirit.Secondly,Shakira is an excellent artist and good work is expected of her.Keeping in mind these facts we must also realise that no matter how talented Mr.Rahman is,he cannot a)Dance like Shakira b)Compose music similar to her's.Rahman has carved a niche for himself in world music not by emulating a Colombian belly dancing and singing sensation.He has done so by doing what he is best at,giving an outlet to his creativity.So comparisons with Waka Waka are baseless and indicate how the Indian multitude starts giving God-like status to every artist once he attains fame and appreciation,thereby raising their own expectations to a level which is unimaginably high for anyone to aim for.
Moreover,a feeble games’ anthem definitely does not determine the success or failure of the games.For instance,the 2002 Fifa World Cup had its official song sung by world renowned pop artist Anastacia.The song called “Boom” failed to connect with the soccer fraternity yet the event was a huge success.South Korea,the host,went on to earn sizable revenue.
3.The Mumbai debacle brings to the fore a problem plaguing India with severe atrocity.The problem of the attention seeking,hungry for spotlight politician.Be it Vidya Stokes,ex CM of Himachal, becoming the new President of The Indian Hockey Association.Be it Sharad Pawar,now the ICC President.Or be it Mr.Suresh Kalmadi himself.Sports seems to be the new avenue for these long lost politicians whose political affiliations allow them to intrude into a sphere whose preliminary knowledge is Greek to them.Mr.Pawar’s wish to become the Prime Minister of India might not have come true(he probably rubbed the wrong lamp,pun intended) yet his political extravaganza to become the BCCI chief resulted in a powerless Indian cricket captain trying to pull the strings aimlessly.Compare that to the era of Jagmohan Dalmiya,when Ganguly was at his authoritative best,bringing to light talents like Sehwag,Harbhajan and Yuvraj.So the question which arises is that should politicians really be allowed to run sports bodies even if they lack basic knowledge about the game?Should an event as significant and humongous as the CWG be carried out under the supervision of an ex-minister of state for railways and the so-called “sports mafia” of India?
With the games commencing from 3rd October,it is yet to be seen how they go down in history.Mike Fennell has stated that “Delhi will pull it off in its own special way”.Is this an analysed POV ?Or a typical westernised sycophantic statement?It remains to be seen.However,the havoc created by the Games reminds me of a certain quote by Shashi Tharoor which says that,"Amateurs discuss strategy,rank amateurs discuss tactics,professionals discuss logistics".Hopefully if Mrs.Dikshit had followed Mr.Tharoor as closely as I do,we would have been saved of this fiasco.
