14 October,2010.
Ladies and Gentlemen, believe me it's true. Your ears are not betraying you. Yeah, it's true, Delhi has successfully hosted the nineteenth commonwealth games and got a pat on the back as well, even from the die hard critics. Against all the odds - which were more than of considerable size - Delhi once again proved to the world what we Indians are already aware of. What exactly?? Well it's simple.. We are known for our ability to improvise at the last moment - The Great Indian Jugaad. Nobody can match an Indian to raise the level at the last moment to get things done. It might be shoddy or even hollow from the core, but things generally get done. Anyways, lets just be more fair and objective in the analysis.
Lets first concentrate on the positive aspects. One of the most important aspect of the organization was the security of all the delegates and sport persons and safe congestion free transport. It goes without saying that Delhi was spot on in that area. Over 7000 policemen made sure that Delhi is not shamed by any uncalled for unfortunate event. Moreover, most of us who are well acquainted with the never ending traffic jams of NCR found the roads to be well managed and traffic police on its heels in order to keep the things moving. Another areas where games won accolades were the opening and closing ceremonies. Opening ceremony was applauded as befitting for showing India as a united nation treasuring its diverse culture and the closing ceremony was meant to exemplify the advent of India as a global power which can not be neglected in world affairs.
Once madam president and prince Charles jointly declared the games as open, there was no looking back. It was action time and we saw some arrangements were not able to withstand the tests of time. Games website which is the first point of contact for many games lovers was disappointing to say the least. For a IT giant such as India, it was a piece of cake to build a simple site for games. Believe me, we are capable of handling much complex systems than a simple dynamic website. Anyways, barring a few such major glitches the games went more smoothly than any Indian could have imagined. We even managed to grab the second spot and 101 medals. The performance of Indian players is something that we must be proud of. Well, now the show is over. What next??
What do i mean by what next?? Isn't it simple to understand that life goes on and we should resume our busy lives with same pre-game conditions. This is the general notion that has ruled Indian hearts for so many years. Time and again we have let corruption off the hook, specially when it was staring us in the face. Lets try something different this time. In all the merrymaking, lets not display how shoddy our memories have become. Lets not forget the blatant corruption and apparent dereliction of duties that plagued the games from start. If we keep the fire alive and spread the message, we might be able to force the government to take strong steps. By strong steps, I mean exhaustive and transparent investigation by an independent and competent authority and tangible punishments to the guilty.
In order to accomplish this gigantic task, Media needs to rise to the occasion. We all know the power that media holds in a free country such as ours. But it needs to realize that this power gives birth to an equal amount of responsibility. The responsibility to do what is right and at the right time. And it does not take a genius to figure out that the time is right. Government needs a prod or may be a slap and media, with all its power, can simply oblige. Let the Audit Begin !!
