How to tag CWG -2010, Success or Failure?

Woohoo...so we did it! What an exhilarating Opening Ceremony, stand out performances by our athletes and an equally reverberating closing extravaganza. Nobody could have thought of or asked for anything better. But what is even more surprising is the fact that how come general perception about this mega event changed so drastically in just 3 weeks time? When almost a fortnight back everybody was up and bashing the very concept of CWG being staged in India all guns out, dreading all sorts of untoward mishaps like infrastructure collapse, hygiene mess up, security breach and think what may, how come such a huge turn around in such a short span? Was it because of the fact that we never expected that we as a nation can stand up and deliver such a high quality global event or was it mainly because of the media created hoopla, with media just trying to mint money by showcasing the event in its extremes rather than being a prudent source of broadcasters or was it the general pessimist and downplaying attitude which we as a nation possess and practice?

Actually its a mix of all such negative characteristics, off-late media in general has been more concerned about the TRPs rather than serving the nation with the right quality news stuff, we as a nation have always been a self depreciating lot, low in confidence and usually a pessimist bunch. But then the million dollar question is how should we grade this mega event, Super Successful or an Utter Failure? Are our athletes really so good to have clinched all those medals which they eventually ended up with? Was the closing and the opening ceremony really a world class and a never before showpiece spectacle? And do all those financial irregularities and the massive corruption done on to the lead up of CWG, really counts for nothing, once that we have ourselves declared the games such a big HIT? Well a YES or NO answer to this question won't do the desired justice to this complicated issue, rather the most prudent and practical way of handling these set of questions would be to answer them in parts and with full objectivity.

So if we just talk of the way this event has unfolded in front of the world, it is actually remarkable, it might not be the all time best spectacle but still it ranks very much at the top. The opening and the closing ceremony were a true masterpiece which stumped, floored, wooed one and all, and even the global media was very upbeat in lauding the finesse, grandeur and magnificence of the entire show. Not only this the hospitality and the facilities which were eventually being provided to the athletes and the visiting contingents were ostentatious and world class to say the least. Though there were big doubts and question marks over everything linked to the games but at the end of it we should salute all the artists, delegates and workers who delivered such a high quality product in the end. We well and truly deserve a huge round of applause for making our nation proud in the global canvas and by being the best possible hosts to our esteemed guests. So on the whole a 10 on 10 for a marvelous showpiece, heart warming hospitality and an excellent conduct of the game!

Now if we talk of the brilliant performances of our athletes in various games, well any amount of accolade, praise and felicitation will fall short in celebrating their efforts. Over a 100 medals across various stream of sports is a truly commendable job and it shouldn't be an exaggeration if we single out these brave hearts as the true winners and the reason for the success of this mega event. These players are the ones who actually made us shift our attention from the debacles and fiascoes before the start of the event to the actual games. These are the heroes whose efforts eventually brought that smile on our faces with their valiant on field efforts.But amidst all these celebrations just a tinge doubt, how have they turned themselves into such high quality athletes overnight, when we struggle to win even a single bronze medal in the Olympics and when we are still not out of the celebration mode evolving out of the lone Gold Medal which we won in the last Olympics,so how come such a quick turn around? Well without any offence against any of our medal winning athletes, we should not forget that none of the world beating countries in the sports arena are a part of Common Wealth Games spectrum, be it USA, be it China or be it any American or European sporting stalwart. Add any one of them in these games and for sure they will wipe off all the medals in a hurry. And we should also not discount the fact that out of all the participating nations too, many of the top athletes across various sports pulled out at the last minute due to their apprehensions about the facilities and the security arrangements made for the games. But cynicism aside we should not stop ourselves from cheering up and praising each of our medal winners in the Games. So again a 10/10 for all the medal winners and other participating athletes of our country who actually made us realize that the Common Wealth Games 2010 was all about the sports and the athletes and not about the corrupt organizers and lackadaisical politicians but still a long way to go!

Now last but not the least, a thought for our corrupt organizers and politicians who overshoot the cost of organizing these events by not twice or thrice but by 117 times? Now shall we really care about such things once the games have been successfully completed without any hiccups? In fact the easiest possible thing to do now is to just dump this issue of financial irregularities in the cold storage! And that's what we have been doing all along since our independence, a flurry of scams and scandals, a plethora of investigation and probes and the unanimous outcome of all such financial quandary has been a Cipher! But if we actually want to move ahead in the global arena , its high time we treat these things very seriously and we actually do a thorough, unbiased and politics free probe and make all the culprits accountable for each and every misused penny, after all every ounce of it is the tax payers money. And even if we deploy half of the walloped amount by these greedy politicians and organizers in the welfare and development of proper infrastructure for our athletes, one day we can surely replicate this medal tally in the Olympics. Hence amongst all the accolades and glory we are showered with post the successful completion of the games, its very easy to forget everything which happened in the lead up to this huge event, but at least for the sake of our persevering athletes its very important to treat all the offenders on merit rather than treating them on their financial or political might. So even after a successful hosting of the CWG 2010, a 0/10 for the organizers who not only messed up with the common man's money but also made a mockery of our national pride!

So all in all it has been a roller coaster ride, a very peculiar case study in itself. There are plenty of things about which we should be proud of and at the same time there are some really serious issues, which if not addressed pretty soon and in the right stead can be very detrimental to our nation. It's so very easy to remain complacent and bask in the glory of successful completion of CWG 2010 and there is nothing wrong in it either, but our broader objective should be to cleanse this malignant system plagued by the vices of dishonesty and corruption only then one fine day, we can dream of being a potent contender for hosting the Olympic Games!

Bird's eye view : It's easy to criticize, tough to applaud but super duper tough to be FAIR!
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