Ode to the CWG

(i've been angered by a few facebookers who prompted me to write this out)

Alright-

to those who said the games would not happen

to those who said the games should not happen

go get a life.

I've seen a couple of caustic remarks on facebook from people who can't even manage a group of five for ten minutes. I'd like to see them manage a city of twenty million for fourteen days DEMOCRATICALLY and then act oh-so-intellectual about it. For god's sake, have the ability to be objective before self appointing yourself as critic supreme. The games HAVE been a decent success, and obviously, an awesome learning experience for anything in the future. Glitches remain, but then again, the current generation of the country's karta-dhartas need to get their asses out of a system that they have screwed till no end.

The opening ceremony was awesome. I won't bother explaining the hows and whys and whats.

The games went off pretty well - I attended a few events, and can justifiably say so.

As far as the closing ceremony is concerned, it was a bit stretchy, and half as good as the opening, but still a fun show to go through. The schoolkids segment was great, and for gods sake, do you expect 15000 firangi delegates to sit through a selection of Indian music alone? They WERE dancing it out to shaan and shiamak on one love and whatever (i won't comment on their english singing abilities as i've heard myself do the same) , so shut your trap.

And for gods sake, Glasgow's sequence was nice at best - a set of blimps and chunni-stretching Scotsmen creating a Scottish flag next to the aerostat above their heads - VERY impressive, right? X( (that was sarcastic, if you didn't get it still)

So, to conclude, I shall temper my temper. PLEASE look at things objectively - you now have a city that you can drive in easily, a metro system that you can boast of, good sporting facilities, and for my fellow architects - FOOTPATHS YOU CAN WALK ON (isn't that what you've been crying for for over a decade in your cars now?) ! There are more people using these things than living in our levels of comfort, its a great gift for them. I for one, find it half as cumbersome now to head across the city than a month ago. Don't go cribbing about post-games maintenance - you'll have yourselves to blame. The legacy is for us to propogate and appreciate, so stop throwing mud at your own reflections.

I hope better sense prevails. And Happy Puja/Navratris/Dussehra to all. :)

Postscript

Undoubtedly, the days to follow will see a lot of mudslinging, and the sting operations and revelations and what not. Can't comment on that, but atleast those who made things difficult will get caught.

And also, there are still going to be those who take the Mani Shankar Aiyar stand on things - "The money could have been better spent...". HOW? He never managed a single sane decision in his tenure as minister, and I don't expect these soothsayers to come up with practical solutions. The games were a big blow-up, yes, but do you realize that we've won 101 medals (there's your hidden talent), apart from good exposure and better infrastructure? Tell me, did you HONESTLY know that lawn bowls was a sport that existed before this? Or that the commonwealth is so huge? Go, spend your money "better". Things happen in steps, and Pride always sets an example that people will WANT to follow rather than acting purely for necessity's sake. Hypocrites.

Post-Post Script

The discussion has evolved, and I'd like to clarify a few things. One can say that the overall theme for the final ceremony was not in the best of tastes - too mass oriented with its bollywood bent. I can only fairly say that the organizers were looking at a target audience as huge as you could imagine. In all fairness, they would have to be mass oriented! The panache WAS missing, but I reassert, thats not the best rationale to lambast the thing.

And, we've now a platform to judge ourselves on! Don't we now expect much more of ourselves? This wouldn't have been possible if we were left groping in the dark while were "spending wisely".

And a final and, I went to the games with my group of friends with pre-arranged tickets that one of them went and bought after waiting for an hour, and as one friend points out, might give me a false impression of things. First off, obviously I'd go with a 'group' rather than people I don't particularly enjoy hanging around. Secondly, the poor guy who took the effort to go and get tickets agrees with my stand on things. Ask Abhinav Gupta (sorry for naming him) if you think I'm bluffing.

I'd really appreciate views on all that I've said.