Commonwealth games 2010

I did not know what to expect of commonwealth games. A few years back I heard the news that New Delhi is gonna bid for Olympics 2020 and is gonna build a sports village. Having won the bid for CWG, 2010 - the capital has a farsighted vision of going for the olympics. I shrugged off and said to myself "what is the big deal, if the medal tally is not going to go up from single digits?". As with any Indian - growing up in a crowd could hold you down. There are always doubters and lack of recognition, which percolates deep into the minds questioning whether sports is worth as a career?

When I heard there were issues with CWG, I honestly felt that media is blowing up the issue and piggy backing on a few minor issues. On the flip side, I did not believe the organizers as well. As they say "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". When it came to a point where CWG were about to be called of, I thought there will be some money transfers here and there to make it happen.To my surprise and to my cognition, the govt. was hell bent on making the event a success. The presence of Dr. Man Mohan Singh overseeing the happenings, made me rest assured that things are in full swing. Still, I was not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

Like many, I didn't catch the opening ceremony live. The next day, I saw pictures of the ceremony as a netizen. Reading through the article, I was consumed in by the list of acts put together for the ceremony. I searched all over, and with help of my online co-ordinator in Las Vegas and facebook - I got the recorded version of the ceremony. The sounds of Indian drums filled my mind. The young tabla maestro at the epicentre of the drum blast, enjoying the beats of India - gave me goosebumps and bliss. The events were well thought off, though for a little jag in line formation from top, all seemed fantastic. To top it up, performances by Hariharan, AR Rahman. What more can you ask for?

I thought, ok, now the fun ends. Tomorrow onwards is the boring part. We are gonna get delirious coverage of media from England, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada et al. For a change, India's time has arrived. They said the focus of organizing this event is to make India as a sport conscious nation. I could not understand what they meant by that, by then. Personally I like to follow tennis, table-tennis, boxing and wrestling. India was primed in all these sports and that made a hint to my perception on the notion of "sports-consciousness". Over the course of the CWG, listening to raucous cheers, live coverage, fist-pumping and adrenaline rush - the event was more than an administrative success for me. For it upheld its objective. The sight of athletes feeding off from crowd-support and oppositions wilting with the pressure made it even more appalling to watch.

I often hear people say, "Sachin makes me a proud Indian". WTF, I say to myself. As a sports lover, I want to see the tussle, team tactics ,the sweat, the hunger and "never say die" attitude - not just talent. Cricket is a team game, and we can't be proud for having individual brilliance. If not just for the medals, I can see better support-system for the athletes these a days and crowd-recognition. Hope the sponsors are listening.

The infrastructure, the outlook of Indian sports have really moved on from family tradition to individual expression. I am hoping that these are signs of days to come. bfn