CWGdelhi2010, CNN et al

As I wait for my Delhi bound flight at Frankfurt airport, I feel much relieved and happy. Not just because I have been away for many days and have a family waiting for me. It's more because I am sick of seeing CNN reports on Commonwealth games.

Like everybody else, I was aware that the international media has not left any stone unturned to bash the Games. But having forced to witness it all the time was a serious pain (CNN & BBC were the only two English channels available in the Hotel) . Reports after reports on 'filthy' conditions, organizer's apathy on hygiene and overall lack of enthusiasm about the games aired on tube with unpleasant regularity.

A stray dog wandering into the tracks meant for sprinters made more headlines in prime time news than Barak Obama's by-election.
Empty stands of stadiums were noticed much more than BP's Oil leakage and Chile's Coal mine mayhem.

Be it the food served at the games village or pigeon drops in pool, the international media is going extra miles in demonstrating their determination of trashing New Delhi.

I am not a huge fan of CWG 2011. I hate it because it is reminiscent of Britsh Raj. After all, it is erstwhile British Empire games. The only purpose it serves is to give UK a chance to day dream of its glorious past. To me, it's nothing but a legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru which we couldn't get rid off. But if the attack is on country and its culture, in the name of CWG, it is hard to stand or understand that.

Despite the falling over bridge and projects missing deadlines, the show is ON. And So far there hasn't been any terror attack either. This much itself is huge achievement for a country like India doomed with hostile neighbors and 'homegrown' outfits looking for opportunities to exhibit their bombing skills.

Every foreign media report have sentences like 'After spending billions of Rupees.....' and 'The costliest games ever....' . Agreed, but we had to do that; we cannot invite the whole world without building appropriate infrastructures. We had to develop things from Scratch and hence more money was needed. Obviously , when the next edition of games happens in Scotland, the budget is one - tenth of Delhi games.Since the Airports, Metro trains and roads are functional since hundred years!


Why can't the BBC air a report on the newly built Terminal 3 of New Delhi airport? Is it because it is better than most of the airports around the world (Asian crowning glorys Singapore/ Hong kong / Bangkok counted) and the photo doesn't fit in the frame created to house snaps of snake charmers & beggars.

If Paris metro is choked with commuters or the Frankfurt airport goes chaotic during the peak traffic, no one blames. Why ? is it because these countries have glorious pasts marqueed with supremacy over the world at some point in the history and they carry the same image to this time?

PS -Even we had dominated the world some 5000 years ago but no one agrees to it :)

The day when India won 7 Gold medals to jump up to the second position in the medals tally, CNN was showing a report on how some poor people were uprooted from some place in Delhi and forcefully moved out. Beijing would have done 10 times more than that but there is a red line there which media can't cross and hence there was nothing aired or heard of.

The well groomed lads and long legged lasses of CNNs reporting live from some place 100 kms away from Games village interviewing poor families asking how the Delhi Government tormented them, should thank that they are in India. They can record any interview and dub them with their own sentences.

They have freedom and security cover to do so as they are under the vigil of one hundred thousand police men and Paramilitary forces deployed by the government to keep things cool.

Does the CNNs and BBCs understand the cost of doing that?

The only blame I personally feel genuine (apart from the nuisance created by M/S Kalmadi & Co) is the empty stands and lack of enthusiasm. Yes, commonwealth games are not cricket matches that could pull crowd by itself. We hardly follow any olympic sport apart from hockey, Tennis and of late Badminton. And these events have fairly good number of spectators. Boxing is perhaps hardly followed outside Bhiwani and shooting is known to only those who pursue them in Chandigarh.
So when we don't even follow 14 out of 17 sports being played in , how can we have crowds? May be the Govt could have done better in creating some kind of awareness about the unknown sports like Netball & Lawn ball. They were unheard of and will remain like that post closing ceremony even though couple of Indian girls, at one point of time, were poised to pull off a medal there.