Commonwealth, Common wealth – same difference!

After all the negative mind/media share that the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games grabbed the past 4-6 weeks, I have to admit that it was a HUGE relief watching the Games’ opening ceremony. To sum up the cynicism with which we approached the Games, when they proudly announced “the largest helium balloon in the world”, my wife went “Yeah right! I hope it goes up!”And indeed it did!

Between the 60,000 spectators watching the event live at the stadium and million others watching it on TV, one would think that Kalmadi finally redeemed himself. He must’ve given himself some imaginary pats on the back for a job well done.

Was the opening ceremony good? Yeah, sure. Do we all now forget the reports of corruption and possible money laundering that surfaced over the past 6 months? Hell, no! Regardless of what Mr. Kalmadi and his ilk would like to think, the joke was on us. Every part of the world that broadcast the games, was in a sense waiting to witness a train wreck. And in all the words of praises showered about the games, there was a constant mention of the state things were at, even up until 3-4 weeks ago. I watched the opening ceremony on Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) and even there they reported of how many times (60 to be precise) the games were over budget and how “India managed to pull this off amidst challenging circumstances leading up to the event”!! Does this kind of reporting make me feel proud? You gotta be kidding me!

We Indians have a very short-lived memory. We forget the bad very easily, especially when we’re dished some good stuff that finds a mention in the global media. We’re so damned starved! We love to find an Indian connection, even at places where it doesn’t exist. For example, the recent news of an Indian-origin girl who won the US teen contest. Well, here’s the catch. She is a British citizen and still found a mention in our media! What gives?

That is trivial. Compare this to hosting the biggest international sports event we ever have! So, we’re all supposed to be happy and move on, right? Wrong!! Its events like these that make people with even half a brain realize that its a bad bad idea. This shows the entire world how we operate. It exposes the rampant corruption prevalent in every level of sports administration and bureaucracy in India. Between the IPL and the Commonwealth, the world knows India can host events of world standards, and the amount of corruption such events breed.

Mr. Kalmadi has given  Commonwealth its true meaning – “common wealth”. Common to all the crooks that put this shit together. Even at the cost of sounding unpatriotic, I have to confess that the Commonwealth Games does not make me proud. People like Mr. Kalmadi and Lalit Modi don’t make us look good. The sooner we realize this, the better for us. Jai ho!