Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Incarceration of Truth : CWG

I remember when I had visited Delhi sometime back in January 2009, I was visibly offended by the “MEN AT WORK” boards everywhere. In those times, Delhi was a whirlwind of under construction metros, semi-asphalted roads and a crowded international airport. But when I stepped into the IGI International Terminal 3 on August 1st roughly 2 months before the start of the XIX Commonwealth Games, I was taken aback by the change. Was this India? The same place, where Immigration staffs speak to German tourists in Benglish with entreaties like “Take out Passport dada”. No, it was the march of a much stronger confident India whose vision is globalization, who aim is to enter the Security Council as a permanent member; an India which has the 2nd fastest growing economy; an India which is so intimidating in its wealth, natural resources and human capital that developed nations are stopping outsourcing just to be on the safe side. Yes this was truly India shining…Incredible India.

And then the inevitable started. Yes, we all know that Indian politicians are corrupt as hell. They were corrupt, they are corrupt and they will be corrupt. It is what drives their Mercedes while they strut around in 20 INR/metres khadi dresses. But anyways my focus of discussion is not that. I would simply like to point out the headlines that a certain Mr. Suresh Kalmadi made by virtue of his position as the president of IOA and Delhi CWG Organization committee. Yes, we all know of your ridiculous antics and your high priced treadmills are kind of a rip off on the Indian Taxpayers money. But then, what was alarming was how this corruption charges were snowballed into a lot more by the media. A media, which I must remind, loves to make breaking News when Rakhi Sawants pet cat gives birth to a litter. We read about the “appalling” conditions of housing, we read about how poorly constructed the stadium was. What we didn’t read about was how the entire Indian politician scenario was piecing up block by block to maintain India’s face in the highly critical international circle. While India tried hard to maintain the image of a modernized global city with infrastructure and transport comparable to any world city of its stature such as Istanbul, Bangkok, Malaysia or Madrid, our beloved media did all the mud slinging. The incarceration of truth had started.

We received SMS jokes about CWG. People hungry for a few “likes” on their Facebook, put them up as their Status Message as a sort of cheap publicity. Then came the few glimpses of the non media outlook of CWG. TLC started broadcasting the arrangements of CWG. The Canadian field Hockey team put up pictures of the CommonWealth Village which had the looks and figure of any 4 star hotel, Ok it may not be Ritz Carlton but it was comfortable and had all the modern amenities required and then some more. Yet all we read in our beloved media was how there was snakes in one of the rooms and somebody’s bed had collapsed. Yet not one picture was carried which showed the world class food stalls, the beautifully finished living quarters or the glistening TT arena- all custom made for the games. The incarceration of truth was on in full swing.

Yes sir, we are a poor country. We have lots of problems-political, social economical. We defecate openly, plenty of our people live below the poverty lines and our health care infrastructure still requires some polishing. But we are a country of hardworking people. We have thrown off the yokes of colonialism to come to this point that we are now. We are like that 10th place boy in school to whom the teachers should encourage to perform better by pointing out the mistakes and praising the good work. We shouldn’t be shunned in the everlasting loop of criticism driving a stake through the enthusiasm that is the pulse of this vibrant country.

Unfortunately, our media forgot the praising part. They only made good the razor sharp criticism. They made our head hung in shame at the thought. They made us think every time as we read about some minor fiasco at CWG-“So we are still a country of uneducated incapable of hosting an international event”. The young India was dejected, the old India was pensive.

But today as I saw the CWG opening ceremony being telecast in DD HD(I bet you didn’t even know that this existed), I was elated. No I was beyond elated, I had a feeling of relaxation and euphoria simultaneously. Everything was perfect. The aerodrome didn’t come plunging down; the lights didn’t go off, the performers danced in perfect sync to the tunes of a thousand drummers. Yes certain elements of the opening ceremony were reminiscent of the Beijing Olympics with Keshav the child prodigy on Tabla and the Air Balloon etc.

But the event was quintessentially a microcosm of India. And what is India to the world. Its colors. The green of Chilli, the red of the Gulal, the painted face of the Kuchipudi Dancer, the white of Taj Mahal, the rainbow hue of the peacock. It was all there- drummers from every part of the subcontinent playing their esoteric music, folk dancers dancing in perfect communion to the rhythm of their accompanying flutes. It was essentially a portrayal of India Diversity. And I must say that it was beautiful. Every performer, ranging from Bharatnatyam to Kuchipudi, to the tribal drummers, to the talented A.R.Rahman; performed their art with perfection, grace and elan. Generally such diversity is limited to the Independecne and Republic day floats but today as India took center stage to the stage of the world, we showed the world how even despite the colonial rule and the political problem, we the people of India stand strong, united and proudly watch as our flag flutters high on the bastion of Globalization and Progress.

Next Stop – Olympic Games….

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