The view from outside

The CWG conluded without much incident largely, save some cases of operational glitches - journalists not getting their transport, some weak stomached goras falling sick with Delhi Belly, some officials not getting the attention they wanted, some Aussies throwing furniture out of the room and generally behaving boorishly, etc. By and large a peaceful affair - by Indian Standards.



But thanks to Mr Kalmadi and the organizing committee - We now know what we suspected - our ability to organize events on a large scale eficiently and effectively needs to be developed 100 times over before we can think of organizing the Olympics. Even more - the allegations of corruption and budget misappropriation requires the government to investigate these thoroughly
a) Why was there such a massive budget overrrun?
b) How did the money get spent? Whose pockets has it lined?
c) Which companies have benefited the most?
d) How was the procurement process managed?
e) ...
f..

We could go on with the list. The point is that it's high time someone goes to prison for the absolute embarassment that India had to deal with. Hope we learn some lessons and kick some political ass here. I bet the Chinese are laughing at the Indians.

In the meantime - let's give kudos to the Indian athletes who won medals- Saina Nehwal, Deepika Kumari, the 4 x 400 relay team, Anita, the recurve Archery team, the Indian wrestlers, the shooters, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, Sushil KUmar, Gaurava Narang and everybody else. And to all the other athletes who participated from all the other countries. At least the games were not marred by a bevy of doping scandals.

Craziness is Mainstream these days

So Says Paul Krugman. And I have to agree with him. THis is evidenced by the proposition put forward by Dinesh D Souza that Obama's inspiration and vision for the US stems from a Luo tribesman who wanted to fight the yoke of Imperial Britain. Aggh! Reading that article made by head spin - it is a classic case of poor hypothesis development, analysis of facts and testing of hypothesis- because frankly there are no facts here. And the conjectures are ridiculous.

I guess Dinesh gets his inspiration from the early missionaries who arrived in India and converted a number of Hindu Indians. That explains why his mind is still in a medieval time trap.

Viva Opening Ceremony - But Poor Vision

The Opening ceremony was a knockout! Fantastic show - no doubt - every reason for India to be proud. I had goosebumps watching it on my laptop! Only disappointment was the theme song -nothing to remember or to takeaway. Sorry Rahman - this time you didnt strike a chord, but that's okay.

One question I cant seem to get an answer for- who choreographed the evening? I seem to have missed it.

Another point - ticket sales have been low and we dont have to look far for the reasons. Example I dont understand why a cricket match is being played at the same time as the CWG - in INDIA!! In the labyrinthian world of Indian cricket, sports and politics, couldnt somebody have actually planned the games in such a way that all other sporting activities are scheduled around the CWG for 2 weeks? It's not often that India gets to organize something on this scale - and when it does, can't the Cricket Board make some changes? The dates for the CWG were known 6 years ago - not last year! The planning lacked vision.