Philips Idawu, England
"Sorry people but I have children to think about. My safety is more important than a medal"
Dani Samuels, Australia
"At the end of the day, this is sport. It is not worth risking your life"
Her Coach
"I'm sure that there wouldn't be a single parent of an athlete in Australia that is not concerned about their son or daughter going to these games"
THE INCIDENT THAT WAS
The commonwealth games 2010 for which we are the oganizers, has earned enough wrath from almost all quarters and from everybody who knows about the CWG.
Frantic work is underway in Delhi to get the games village ready and restore the damage it has done to the pride and confidence of being an Indian.
What the country wants the hundreds of civil servants and the officials placed by direct intervention fron the highest offices is exactly this. Restoring the pride and confidence of being Indian.
Because this is no hidden fact that most Indians are in love with their country.
We are proud of it, right?
I am quite confident that the games will go from one hurdle to another and stumble to the finishing line and end up with enough applause and praise.
But there is something worth noting here.
On the surface it seems that the events have followed much the same order as every scam or scandal follows in the country. It started off with a 'LEAK' followed by the media sensationally reporting every minor and major glitch, there was wide coverage of the unspeakable irregularities in accounts and costing(What I prefer to call 'Their corruption').
Then were the usual denials and ridiculous statements that seem to be blurted out under pressure and in a hurry and the statesman realizing his mistake after being scathed upon in almost all public circles. Case in point Mr. Jaipal Reddy and CWG OC General Secretary Lalit Bahnot.
Then came the chance of 'THE PUBLIC'. With war cries for justice and loud demands for rounding up of those responsible for swindling the public money, refered to as 'MY MONEY' by many.
The amusing and the annoying round of satiric self mockery we Indians love to inflict upon ourselves (Hum toh aise hi hain).
Everything has happened and the games will happen too.
THE REAL OPINIONS
But there's one thing very different this time.This is the first time we all stand exposed as a country in all our naked glory in front of the world. We have these definite 'eccentricities' and 'diferences' that we rave about and in which the world gladly follows suit in easier times.
But this is one time when that filthy street, that clogged basin, that unflushed lavatory and that stray dog isn't going to pass as a small under note in a foreign tourist's travelogue which is otherwise filled with the usual stories of being bamboozled by the country's uniquenes.
Doesn't the talk of Mind boggling diversity, the mad rush and colors of daily life, the struggle of human life in its most glorious and bizarre forms...all of this...doesn't it sound cliched to you in the light of these new shots of criticism when the world is actually telling you that "how they feel about you?"
We have been too smug and happy about how we are labelled by the developed nations to really care about what we have really become.
The way most of us have it in our minds is this..
If they find us good enough to visit so much and write books upon then there must be something in us right..Now we can't say exactly what that is but it must be something about the old mysticism, our mythology, our vedanta, our ancient roots of knowledge and virtue, our sadhus, our colorful dresses, our villages and all that usual crap.
But this smugness has been hurt this time and well hurt.
This is the number one reason that I'm loving this mess.
"India shouldn't have been awarded the CWG, it was a mistake in the first place"
"I think the indians have learnt a lesson, and we have too"
"The risk of hygiene and falling ill is way too great. i'd prefer to stay back"
How does it feel to listen to these statements.
Yes, we really are that bad. This is what they actually think of us.
Because when you are the small developing underdog nation with a billion plus population and they find you entertaining, they are all praises.
But when you try to raise your heads up and try to show them you TOO can do it. Its time to put you back in your place. You are being judged now, as equally and harshly as they'd judge a competitor. And if you fall short, then you'll be reminded your place.
When the peasant starts sending his son to the school and talks about his son studying as well as the zamindar's son, you know that we have a problem at hand.
The world loves this faltering, suffering and somehow running country of ours.
But we were staging this time. On a scale as grand as theirs. And there was no room for compalcency in that.
WORLD CLASS...CHALTA HAI KYA?
It is time to buckle up yourself and work towards those standards that are considered world-class.
World-class is one word we use in a really fickle manner.
Now is the time to realize what it means and work for it.
We always carry on with our "chalta hai" attitude AND take pride in it. But ask yourself..Reaaly...Chalta hai kya??
Jab sikka duniya ke saamne rakkha ho mere dost, toh NAHI chalta hai..!!
When you stumble thorugh those college courses without ever knowing the love for the subject, ask yourself Chalta hai kya?
When you talk like don't care how that college fest turns out to be in the end, Ask yourself Chalta hai kya??
When you talk in disparaging tones about that Prof. who probably worked his whole life teaching dumb heads like us..ask yourself "Chalta hai kya?"
When you get through that Project and the Project report without ever breaking a sweat over it and ever doing a bit of honest work in it...Ask yourself Chalta hai kya??
There are numerous other such conditions when you can ask yourself this question at a personal level. I have no intentions of askking this to myself when i see a blatant corrupt act in front of me that i can do nothing about, but yes, i'll ask it when i know that its in my control.
Every single time you realize the answer that "Nahi chalta hai" and work to do things the best way you can. you'll bring this country closer to a time when the world won't raise fingers on that filthy nakedness because ther won't be any of it.
WE ARE THE WORLD, WE ARE THE CHILDREN
I believe that we are what makes this nation. You, Me and the hundreds of other engineers, students, teenagers who may not all end up being an IIT'ian but WILL have a role in running this country.
Well the IIT'ians will as usual be busy with their accounts and banks but I don't give a damn for them.
I am working in a PSE and have met people from many other government organizations. These are the people who have done good work for years at their individual level even when surrounded by compalcence and non-working peers.They are the handfuls who have made technology and resources available to their country when they were needed.
There achievenebts may not be sung over like an IITian rubbing his ass on a polished silicon valley floor or on the 113th floor of a Bank headquarter, but the work they have done holds its own importance in mine and your life.
And no, they were not the best by some stamp on their certificate. But by the one pursuit that sets them apart. The pursuit of excellence.
Let nobody raise a finger on the way you finish your small college project and a time will come when our mega construction projects wouldn't be questioned.
Lets stop treating roads as dustbins and spittons and we may well QUALIFY for their 'Standards of Hygiene'.
(And yes, I agree with Lalit Bahnot when he says that Westerners have a different standard of hygiene.)
Lets start caring about and trying to make every small initiative and event around us a success and the world will leave behind its skepticism when it comes to organising mega events in India.
I don't know why I sound more and more like its a 'CALL TO ARMS' but the way I feel about it, I think that figuratively, I am ready for the battles..:)
And no, I am not chauvinistic. This is my country and this is my WORLD, we are all in this together (this second part is cliched but fitting..:).
Don't call it Chauvinism..
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