Commonwealth Games: A good beginning
So, I loved the fireworks, and the kids splashing colours and painting hennaed hands, and a few other things in last evening's opening ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games. With its dazzling lights, incessant - and jarring - drumming and a spectacular blimp hanging overhead in the hot Delhi sky, the show appeared to be a colourful mix of a Bollywood potboiler, a Delhi wedding, a U2 concert, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. A show which, by all accounts, was liked by most, despite the vapid speeches and the interminably long length.
The foreign media, not surprisingly, is raving about the show. The Washington Post calls it an "epic opening ceremony". Sydney Morning Herald says: "Delhi's dazzling Commonwealth Games opening ceremony has won international praise and boosted the city's mood." The Guardian cooed that "the ceremony was - like the entire effort India has made for the games - monumental in its scale and expense". The Telegraph wondered: "No collapsing scenery or malfunctioning sound system. No fluffed lines, botched choreography or missed cues and not a single stray dog in sight. The preparations for the XIXth Commonwealth Games may have been an unmitigated disaster but India certainly knows how to put on a show."
In a way it also proves how low expectations were from India. If India cannot pull of a decent opening show and games after spending $6bn of taxpayers money, many would say, it should have no business to be even talking about itself as an emerging power. In the hyperbole over the opening ceremony, one should also remember that India's supposed "coming out party " as the media never tires of saying, has come at a price - shutting down Delhi, keeping children at home, driving out the poor, and hiding the urban squalor behind colourful games hoardings. Then there's the massive stink of corruption which needs to be investigated after the games is over.
These are some sobering thoughts, many believe, before we are caught again in the delusion of India Shining. Some of the early signs of this infectious fantasy are already on display. One commentator, Harsha Bhogle, crowed, "This is a fantastic opportunity to show how much India respects athletes." Really? India's athletes remain slaves to badly-run sports fiefdoms run by incompetent politicians. That's why a country of 1.2 billion people has only one individual gold medal in the history of the Olympics. A spectacular games can stun the world, but cannot hide the deformities and rot within. But, for the moment, let us wish the athletes godspeed and hope the rest of the games lives up to its opening.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~18~RS~)
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I think the two things are being confused. For once the author of the article has struck a chord that perhaps rings true with some substance.
Let us take pride in the fact that we are a power to be reckoned with, yet let us also be clear that when a nation of 1.1 billion people can only produce one olympic gold medallist there is a deep rot that stems from politicians running sport. Now a good sport would be to use them(politicians) as bait in front of greyhounds
Further the notion of a 'commonwealth' is pompous and praises the British. The commonwealth of who?- the British- that in this day and age is repugnant at best. Let us see how open the BBC actually is to point out the sheer redundancy of such games.
Let us use this same money to improve the conditions of our young generation of athletes to come. The only way we will succeed is for private firms to increasingly sponsor athletes and political intervention to be to a minimum.
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soutik biswas. ok has it ever occurred to you that the games actually may provide boost to India's sporting scene. That there has to be a start somewhere to actually work towards a greater goal.
or are you not capable of seeing yourself to achieving greater goals?? it certainly explains why you cannot support a country's ambition to grow. yep, that explains why you are still "blogging" for the bbc despite your massive attempts to "please" the bbc.
jai hind.
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he first thing we need to do is to thank all the people associated with commonwealth games organization for their good work despite of being criticized by almost everyone and should hope that they will continue this till the end of the event.
2nd thing what Soutik is doing here is not different from other media persons.Before opening of the games everyone out there was busy criticizing the organizers but today all the newspapers are flooded with the success story of the spectacular opening ceremony of the games. Apart from this views shared by foreign players and delegates about the arrangements are also encouraging. So lets hope a good sport-event and a good show by Indian players too.
One more thing needs to mentioned here is "the warm welcome" given to Pakistani players was remarkable and is indeed a sign of good relationship between the two countries.
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Why is the BBC so negative towards India (and developing countries in general)? The news reports and blogs always seem to focus on the negative aspects, whereas news stories on the condacendingly titled "developed world" always focus on the positive aspects of even negative events. It is time for the BBC to stop being so shamelessly racist in it's new coverage which is after all assumed to be unbiased.
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Excellent article. Author deserves to be congratulated. I like particularly his response(Really? India's athletes remain slaves to badly-run sports fiefdoms run by incompetent politicians) to the comment"This is a fantastic opportunity to show how much India respects athletes" by an Indian sports writer. This explains why we never get to know about our poor administration and management skills in sports. Imagine the budget rising from 680 crores of rupees to Rs. 70, 000/- crores! Most importantly there is not one city( villages- i don't need to mention) in the country which can boast of adequate(Sorry, mostly none) sports grounds or infrastructure. It makes one wonder about the intentions of the authorities in hosting CWG and the Olympics in the future? First please try and build stadia in cities/villages for the young and provide job security for the aspirants ( i don't mean cricket). If this is done i am sure the people will be behind the government in it's efforts to hold such mega events(in spite of massive corruption).Soutik, please continue to write. In India the truth needs to be written even if it is not liked by many.
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I am disappointed the way how BBC is reporting CWG which has started yesterday in INDIA. There is always an attempt to focus only on the negative side undermining the achievements.
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Mr. Biswas,
There is a saying in German " If the end is good everything is good". That is what the Commonwealth Games 2010 is all about. Indians should be proud of what they pulled through. For the media people like you I must say for you "bad news is great and good news is bad news". The pre.coverage of the Commonwealth Games , thanks to stray dogs, mosquitoes, dengue fever, dirty toilets etc we heard a lot in Austria through many channels but very little on the grand opening ceremony. There was no live broadcast by BBC, CNN or Aljazeera of the opening of the Commonwealth Games 2010.
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It seems BBC is decided to target Common wealth Countries or they do not want people from such Country to be on WORLD STAGE .
Even I send some pictures to BBC explaining other side of Commonwealth Village and Stadium .
However BBC display other Photograph of CWG to humiliate the India.
Grown up 2012 is not far away BBC
Why LONDON is Hosting the 2012 OLYMPIC ?
Do the BBC aware about the ECONOMICAL condition of LONDON.
QUEEN is running short of MONEY.
GOVERNMENT DEFICIENT is HUGH ,
GOVERNMENT can't bare the BENEFITS of POOR PEOPLE ( BENEFITS such as CHILD , HOMELESS , JOBLESS et.)
The MONEY created BY MIGRANTS FROM COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES.
Millions of People in UK strugglling for EDUCATION.
UK citizens LOOSING JOBS to EUROPEANS (POLAND, ESTONIA, ROMANIA , TURKEY, ALGERIA,SLOVAKIA) the way they speak in ENGLISH is great .
Some of them do not know the BASIC ALPHABET (A,B,C,D) , and they claim BENEFITS as well in UK , I have seen.
But UK do not mind they want to get rid of NON EUROPEANS.
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Soutik: You are one of the best reporters and bloggers from India. Truth and straight speak has many enemies and some of them might comment here. But it is essential that we do not get distracted by pyrotechnics. Keep writing the way you do. Those who think telling the truth is "negative" or "colonial" should remember the the credo " Satyamev Jayate." It is essential to tell the truth as it is. And you do a good job telling essential truths about India.
Bollywooddy gyrations do not make culture. They do not make a nation proud. They do not make us proud to be Indians. These games will take away what little love and respect of real sports we have in India. They could have achieved the right purpose - make India a sporting nation - but the callous attitude of the whole ruling elite has buried that prospect. No one doubts Indian ability to do things right. It is the ability of our rulers to do anything right that we worry about.
There is an old standing tradition in India. A part of our Hindu culture. We feed poor, the hermits, the saints and the brahmins on festivals and special occasions like biorthdays. This amount of money on opening ceremony could have been spent in thousand better ways. Giving a week's proper meal and running shoes to children to come run in Nehru Stadium, named after their " Dear Nehru Uncle" would have been one of them.
And, by the way, Rolling Stones is also one of the best political magazines in the US. So do not give up your ambition of writing for them.
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Well, I must say that the opening ceremony of the CWG was simply well done. Especially, after all the "challenges" that almost scuttled it.
While it is true that India is still a poor country and all kinds of contradictions exist in that land, there is no denying that it has come a long way. To those who subscribe to the theory that only when all basic problems have been resolved -- the country is entitled to staging such an extravaganza I have this to say: Lighten up! There will always be sour pusses for whom such things would remain 'excessive' -- no matter what their possible up-sides. Biswas appears to be one of them.
I have always marveled at people (from India) like Biswas who, to prove their 'secular' and 'neutral' credentials to their employers, take a position that appears to be 'emancipated' of any nationalistic urges. To do that, they willfully blind themselves to the accomplishments (no matter how small or big) of their country of origin and dredge up negatives to prove the validity of their petty positions. They become critical of the traditions and/or the framework they emerged from. I call that the 'Arundhati Roy' school of social activism. Biswas appears to be a card carrying member of that tradition. Shame on you Biswas!
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That they are as capable of hooplah as the industrialised nations which have hosted Olympics!
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Well Soutik, I disagree about "nationalism-on-steroids" comment. It is unfortunate that India has such a vast cultural and language diversity that getting a single point of sense of nationalism and being proud to be one huge nation are very few. And if this means that we have to put up with our overly glamorized cricketing heros or corrupt officials holding the stadium together just for CWG then so be IT!
And also, think about this, we need to start somewhere to get rid of the "deformities and rot within", to get India to a level to win medals in team sports (other than cricket) and not just individual event.
Such event will at least get the government spending money on sport facilities which were not there in the first place (forget about existing facilities rotting and a bureaucratic access to them!!).
Anyways, I saw Sheila Dixit's interview and her comment about decorating our houses on Diwali and welcoming guests does reflect the recent clean up of Delhi which is justified for such a grandeur event.
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At the first sign of some positive news, you seem bristled.
So a few news articles that applaud the opening ceremony is hyperbole, is it, while all the brouhaha over the country's incompetence at hosting this event was an example of mature, restrained reporting?
Why is the foreign media's raving 'not surprising'? Foreign media has always worked hard to carry forward the trouble-ridden face of India (and other Asian nations). This includes your employer, albeit to a lesser extent than some others.
Your appeal to the people to remember the cost of this is far from being insightful. Everyone is aware of the innumerable problems plaguing the country and while you (foreign media) might like to portray it otherwise, no one is either proud of it nor comfortable with it. There are genuine worries that the corrupt will get away after the games are over.
Harsha Bhogle's call was to the people, not the fiefdom that you are quick to 'point' to. The easiest way to be pessimistic about a country, and especially India, is to look at its politics and bureaucracy. You have chosen to do just that and take the easy way out.
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I think this piece presents a balanced view. This event has put the media spot light on India. We have our challenges, in many cases we are facing up to these with exceptional vigour, and yet there are others which we look away from, hoping they would go away.
Living away from India, many of us, hope and wish we have something to cheer her for. The CWG opening ceremony was perhaps one such occassion, which we can be proud of.
The point is we are what we are, just like poverty is sad reality, so is Bollywood's world of make belief, and musical fantasy. What was on show yesterday was jingoistic nationalism, but a nation, slowly gaining confidence. It was an apt way to welcome guests, many sceptical. The main focus should be the games, which I think has been sadly missing the attention it deserves.
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Of all things I was most surprised by Scotland's moaning about the living conditions in Delhi. Human faeces, vomit, urine, spit, needles etc reminded me of Sauchiehall Street on a random Saturday night!
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It seems that tow totally different issues are mixed here by the supporters of CWG. Gala opening is/was NOT the issue Indian and other media was focusing on when they complained about CWG. It was and still is about corruption, massive corruption. If a thief spends his ill gotten wealth to feed few poor or some other benevolent works, does not absolve him form justice and punishment.
So far opening ceremony is concerned; I have not seen the whole of that, as there was no live telecast in US. Few clips I watched in youtube, was spectacular at the beginning (when it was about Indian culture, by folk artists). Then came the meaningless, naïve bollywood masala mix.
I do not know why organizers had that AR Rahman singing! He is surely great music composure but definitely NOT a singer. Moreover, he can not even speak a full sentence in Hindi yet aspires to sing in Hindi with few memorized words in his weak, broken voice that probably prompted loud music with meaningless scantly dressed performers dancing around, without much rhythm and substance.
As I said before, many people in India are obsessed with Image than reality. They think that organizing such mega events will , at the cost of local people and many other national level issues will bring positive change in the mind-set of general Indian people and abroad. That notion is simply wrong.
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one funny thing.. if you just listen to the ceremony with eyes closed, it will sound like a wedding music being playes .. hahah
but despite being a Pakistani, i accept India has done good enough at the launching. I hope it maintains its standard..
Best of Luck.
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Once again the only thing India is concerned about is its image - and nothing else. Clearly the games have been organised on the backs of India's poor. Will they receive any financial acknowledgement?
What about the thousands who were ejected from Delhi and are now living in makeshift shacks on the outskirts of the city - away from the cameras? Will they be given anywhere permanent to live? It appears the country continues to make huge strides whilst its poorest become poorer -and that's a huge number. Shame India shame. Just a matter of time before the poor stand up to the corruption of the country.
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Though most of the comments made by Soutik make sense, to this reader living in Canada it is absolutely correct to state that BBC and most other western media tried to portray in negative light.
And of course western culture does not believe in humility. Hence, there is no retraction and certainly no apologies. BBC - a very respected media organization - and other such western media should be ashamed of themselves.
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In a lighter tone:
Probably organizing committee of Kalmadi could have done the same job (qualitatively) in a much cheaper way if it asked Bollywood director Karan Johar to use the stadium to re-enact a marriage scene from any of his movies (with a new song and dance sequence of course) for later part of the ceremony. At least the song and music would have been better.
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I'll be interested to get a full financial audit (by CAG) of the whole saga once the CWG is over.
How much money did we spent (directly) and how much did we earn (directly) for this CWG. And that report must be published for general public, in open media.
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Soutik Biswas , Good Job. If you want to show complete picture then you should also go back 60 years and write that India used to be a rich nation till Britishers looted India to make great nation of Britain. You guys are enjoying that life style because of exploitation of Indians and slavery of africans. Britons hand are in Blood.
Soutik Biswas , its because of ulterior selfish motto of people like you that Great India was ruled by crooked Britain. How much you sold you honesty, integrity and patriotism to your white master???
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Actually, Essar--CONSERVATIVE Western culture (I am a desi who has lived in Canada previously--but not in over-liberal Ontario, which ruins that fine country) does believe in retractions/apologies, while liberal (also konwn as lame-stream, a category which includes about 80% of the US media and over 90% of Canuck) doesn't at all.
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Biswas, I wonder if you read the messages that people post on here, or more importantly, I would like to know whether you actually think about the people of India. The whole world is looking at India and saying how fantastic and marvelous a Job it did, the Whole of INDIA is Proud of what Delhi has accomplished and how well we displayed our 5,000 years of history and unity. Living in the United States, Indian Americans here are very prideful and exuberant of how great a show it was. Yet, all you have to say, is the delusion of India shining. India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and we will accomplish what was taken from us, our pride , our honor, and I feel ashamed to read your post, which you have clearly lacked to interpret the mind and soul of India and give credit to India for truly shining above and showing the world, that we are Indians.
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A lot of glitter on a 7 year "loot-the-country" bonanza by Kalmadi and 4000 thieves cannot hide certain basic facts that Soutik is highlighting. How can we get enamored by the lipstick and forget the pig? National pride and the fact that we are a nation on the rise - that is good. Pride on sports infrastructure and environment based on facts - that is even better. Unless we can acknowledge and handle the truth we cannot get out of it. Ever. How much "value for money" are the taxpayers getting - say compared to other nations on the rise - like China or Brazil for instance? I am not surprised that most of us still get lost in hype over substance. I think Soutik's comments are right on the money and we need to channel our anger at Gill/Kalmadi and other fakes who never had any idea or interest or real experience about sports or sportsmanship.
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I was born and raised in India. I now in live in the US. As a kid growing up in India i was one of the better athletes in school. I have been blessed with good hand eye coordination, and sports is something that come very naturally to me. I have to say that until i moved to the US i agreed with this misplaced notion that India does not produce good athletes because of the "sports politics" and lack of "sports money". One does not realize until you live and breathe sports in another country as to how far behind India is in sports. Its a cultural problem more than anything else. "Sports Culture" is what drives most sporting events in other nations. Coming back from a hard day of work and then kicking back and watching a game on TV or taking your family to see a game every weekend, or even watching college sports, or watching your kid play a sport in high school every week...these are things that come together to create a "Sports Culture" in a nation. Indian has NO SPORTS CULTURE.
Thankyou biswas.
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Soutik, I am surprised by the sheer insensibility of your article. When you comapare expenditure & achievments do so on an empirical basis. Note, I use the word "compare". I will quote you -
"...many believe, before we are caught again in the delusion of India Shining. Some of the early signs of this infectious fantasy are already on display..."
I will just 'Find & replace' some words in your quote :
"...many believe, before USA & UK get caught again in the delusion of USA & UK Shining. Some of the early signs of this infectious fantasy are already on display. ...."
USA & UK spent Billion & Billions of $ on Iraq & Af-Pak, killed & maimed millions ... & just apologised shamelessly. Achieved nothing 10 years down the line.
Give me India & its CWG mess anyday. Next time, don,t compare & deride India. We may have our faults but we are peace lovers.
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Good Government may not be a substitute for Self Government. Yet India owes a lot to the Good Government of British India which ushered in Self Government and set the trend for Independent Democracies all over the World. While India may be rediculed for its faults, it cannot be rediculed for dictatorship! To acheive anything in a democracy is probably not as easy as in a dictatorship but the firm roots planted during the Empire days have helped India progress in democracy and what little problems that are faced are a miniscule fraction of the great good that the country has acheived under the democratic set up modelled on the set up in Great Britain. It was Nehru's wisdom and Great Britain's magnanimity that India continued as a member of the British Commonwealth as a Republic. This has been to the mutual advantage of both nations, one the mother of Democracy and the other the fountain of Tolerance. The Common Wealth Games are a display of the good acheived through cooperation between erstwile Masters and their colonies emerging as free Nations.
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I think the author is absolutely right in his comments - pomp and show do not a country make. While it may be praiseworthy that India has been able to organize a spectacular opening ceremony, there are many issues inside and beyond the hosting of the commonwealth game that any patriotic Indian should be concerned about. To name a few:
(i) $6-10 billion for organizing the most expensive games, with so many deadlines missed, probably half of the money in the pockets of organizers, filthy athlete's quarters, a broken bridge - who are we kidding? If we cannot remove such large scale corruption, spending obscene amounts of money and arranging spectacular events won't remove the widespread poverty (along with poor health care and education) in the country, which, I believe, should be the first measure of development.
(ii) These $6-10 billion could have been spent in setting up sports academies, schools and hospitals that would have really brought the country forward- there will be plenty of time to show off, but the lives of the younger generation are passing by, we should act now!
I have to comment on the chauvinistic rhetoric of many of our fellow Indians- patriotism, I believe, does not consist of slogans and flags and anthems alone - a true patriot should point out the nation's faults and be ready to discuss the remedies, because knowing one's faults is the first step to correct them.
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"shutting down Delhi, keeping children at home, driving out the poor, and hiding the urban squalor behind colourful games hoardings"- The writer sounds like a communist. Always cribbing. Poverty is an industry nurtured and kept alive by Indian commies.
"That's why a country of 1.2 billion people has only one individual gold medal in the history of the Olympics"- does it call for more or less investment in sports infrastructure, Biswas?. Biswas found nothing good to write about the whole opening ceremony which ran for 3 hours? He must be either myopic or in a coma!BBC was the first to go to town with the stinky pictures of the villages. I am sure BBC is very disappointed that the helium balloon did not come down or there was no power failure. So this distraction about evacuation of poor people etc. I hope the powers in North Block and South Block are watching the stuff doled out by BBC to understand who is a friend and who is a foe. Balanced reporting and constructicve criticsm ok. Motivated propaganda is not acceptable. Several of my friends are having similar opinion about BBC coverage. We will watch this and if BBC does not change its tack, we will start an email chain to boycot BBC. Do not underestimate the power of world wide web.
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Please do not blame Mr. Biswas to write what BBC likes. If he writes something good about Delhi CWG, which is against the BBC propaganda, he may lose his job. So please let him buy his daily meal.
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"Then there's the massive stink of corruption which needs to be investigated after the games is over." Good luck with that Mr Biswas! You of all people should know that by the time that investigation is over it will be 2020 (or, as they say in India, Twenty-Twenty). The biggest challenge for India, after the games are over, is to organize the upkeep of all new facilities. Perhaps they should be asked to host the games again very soon, and not just in one city but at several different venues. That way the whole nation can be cleaned up again. And that might just be the way to get people interested in athletics enough to have politicians organizing "Rath-Yatras" to demolish old stadiums and build new ones ;-)
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soutik, you seem to take a great pride in always trying to find faults with indian system and you have tried your best with this article. The fact that all newspaper headlines about the grand opening ceremony seem to be congratulatory and you decided to have an absolutely different take and this to me tells all about you.
India you must remember was left in tatters by the time british left and in 63 years of independence with worlds 2nd largest population and a very diverse state how on earth can you fix everything(poor children, urban squalor,corruption,greedy organisations etc) but things will change and for better.
The indian optimism is not westernised society mirage but one which has evolved for centuries and will ensure glory like ancient india.
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I believe the future of India is bright -for one much ignored reason - the extinction of dinosaurs like Soutik, who cannot get over their poverty porn writing that is their bread and butter and who are genuinely baffled by the new, more confident India and its youngsters, who actually managed to do something about India's image, while Soutik and his ilk had their entire youth and final years to bitch and moan, but do nothing to make the country a bitter place. I am sorry to say this but soon Soutik and his compadres in white man's ass kissing will die (or turn senile, doesn't matter) and then we dont have to deal with this false equivalence of anything positive that India does with poverty/caste/filth etc. It was a freaking ceremony, get over yourself Soutik and watch it for what it is. I eagerly look forward to Soutik's comments on British colonialism and mass murders when London Games open in 2016 (yeah right!)
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Biswas and BBC must be very upset that opening ceremony happened without any glitches?
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Well said Biswas.We need more ppl like you in India.I mean how cruel is that beggars are driven out of Delhi so foreigners wont see them. SHAME SHAME SHAME. How many students could've been gone to school with this money? How many hospitals could have been made? how many farmers lives could have been saved who are doing suicides? Im not against doing these games but do them when we are not called one of the poorest countries in the world & very large part of our Indian citizens have all the basic facilities atleast.Look at China, where ever they go they get medals.Leave aside criticizing their political structure, but their athletes are simply great. I havent met any Chinese who is thumping their chest saying they are the world power. Why some Indians keep on saying that? What does Common wealth game mean to poor people in India who are worried about their next meal?Ask yourself before you get back to me with negative comments. KUDOS BISWAS, WE NEED PEOPLE LIKE YOU. DONT LET SOME IMMATURE NEGATIVE COMMENTS STOP YOU FROM SPEAKING THE TRUTH.
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Soutik Biswas well said A spectacular games in India can stun the world but cannot hide the deformities and rot within, like in few Indians like you which brings India's downfall cause of them willing to insult their home country and promote their own life. A deep rot such Indians are ,they study abroad like in Oxford, make merry with western music like Eric Clapton and view western movies like Miller's Crossing and insult their own home country. Where as the singers,actors and people of the country where the Indians studied promote their own country. Apologies to Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and no apologies to Soutik (bay) Biswas you got to kick such people out of the country.
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After listening to all the India trashing going on before the games, while watching the few clips I could find online of the opening ceremonies I was in tears, filled with pride for India. All of India's culture in full resplendence, a gorgeous panorama of what India gives to the world.
In general, it is true that the world's priorities are skewed, and every country spends insane amounts of money on these kinds of sports events, and on athletes. For the salary of one basketball player in the US we could take care of so many people. And the same thing goes for India, who could certainly have made the choice to dispense with the glamour and go for the reality. But there is something to be said for giving people something to look up to, creating pride that inspires love of country.
If India can get that corruption thing under control, she might come to be the most fantastic place yet -
Also:
Reading below that India doesn't have a sports culture makes me want to go there even more!
I can't stand sports culture! Grown people sitting on their butts screaming and yelling, quoting statistics at each other, betting their paychecks away, getting drunk and into fights over it all, when meanwhile there are WAAAAY more important things going on that need that kind of energy and attention put into them.
I admire the skill and dedication of athletes, but what about the skill and dedication of our teachers, of the people that grow our food, of nurses and doctors that serve in war zones, including inner cities? These are the people we should be spending tons of money on, these are the people that should be our sheroes and heroes.
We need some balance in our values, in every country on the planet.
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As Soutik is criticizing the games organization,he should realize that for a developing nation like India holding such big events like CWG is never easy as this is our first such experience. Of-course there are some loop-holes but for this time we need to stand like a nation to welcome world-community.
Soutik being a bbc correspondent is always up to criticize Indians.
Let the games be over then the full picture will come to light & after that we will analyze what has gone wrong & who should be blamed.
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Mr Biswas' profile says a lot about the way the BBC looks at India : "This blog is my take on life and times in the world’s largest democracy"
What hyperbole ! "world's largest democracy", "emerging super-power", "cultural icon"........BBC uses them all with a sneer in it's tone.
It's been a long time since I saw good journalism from the BBC - once the big, white hope of the English-speaking world.
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hello Journalist, do u know how much taxpayer's money wasted media? Media always gives breaking news about terrorist thats why they do blast everywhere. Where is your ethics? people did by many disease, etc but you are not focusing other news. Media always looking their profit they never look growth of a region or the World. I just want to say please, Don't motivate terrorist through media?
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Mr. Sowtik Biswas's blog is a waste of real estate on BBC's site.
I used to think his negativity is a feeble attempt to appear 'Neutral'. But I think I was wrong. His negative attitude about anything Indian seems to permeate all his blog posts.
Perhaps he is a Pakistani undercover !!
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I have noticed that many so-called “patriotic” Indians take shots at Sautik when they do not like his blog. They forget to understand that it is useless and also counterproductive to kill the messenger when you do not like the message.
Such people need to understand that BBC is THE most reputed news media worldwide and that too since ages, for a reason. Moreover, any true patriotic person MUST be very careful when s/he listens or encounter who criticizes his/her country. Perceived “enemies” generally provide us the best opportunity to reform ourselves if we listen them carefully and work in their criticisms.
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News Media in India and abroad can have an eye on how the plush (“super luxury”) apartments, made for this CWG village, is auctioned once the game is over. I can assume huge transaction of black money and rampant corruption in allocation with that as well.
I am not sure who paid for the construction of those apartments. Govt of India (CWG OC)? Or the promoter who built that? If it is Govt of India, then the money earned from sell of such apartments should benefit national exchequer. And if the property is developed by the builder, then we need to know how the land was sold/leased to them, at what cost?
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@BBC is THE most reputed news media worldwid
LOL it is another version of FOX
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From this article and previous articles it seems, Southik is a slave of anti India media. He can write anything for the bread they throw at him. And BBC never stops from being partial against India and then lying about it. In one of the news item today Musharraf admitted that Pakistan trained terrorist to kill innocents in India but BBC calls them terrorists as militants! So Partial, so untrue. No wonder you have the worst columnist you ever had- Southik on board!
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The most spectacular CWG is happen right now in delhi.but whenever i see cwg news in bbc it always focused on the negative side of delhi cwg.why is this?
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Dear Mr. Biswas,
Do keep up your straightforward and honest blog. I think it is necessary for Indians to rise above slogan chanting nationalism to that fueled by genuine love for the people of India. As many would remember from Commodus' line in "The Gladiator", a nation can be controlled by "controlling the mob" by "giving them spectacles", but it cannot be made great unless the foundations are strong. A democracy needs informed and active people to elect its leaders, and education, health care, physical activity, sports, culture are all elements in the development of the people. Only those who want to keep the population as a "mob" and not want their growth into "citizens" would want "games" to take precedence over real development. Spectacular games can be a consequence of prosperity, not the road to it.
Please keep up your efforts in reminding the readers of the mundane, arduous yet honest way to taking the nation to a glorious future.
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Lots of Empty seats at all the venues, poor women in sarees racing against the clock to get the track relaid, swimming being held up whilst insects are fished out of the pool - the pathetic list goes on and on. The corrupt nature of the country which fortunately many of the Indians acknowledge has been exposed and the BBC has done an excellent job bringing this to the surface. Thanks Mr Biswas.
Jay - keep your views coming - we need people like you. Loving one's country doesn't mean turning the cheek, denying or attacking the newsbreaker when things are fundamentally flawed - that's called jingoism!
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Today's (5th. Oct. 2010) BBc news:
"The Commonwealth Games stadium in Delhi is facing a crucial 24 hours as workers battle to ensure it is ready for the athletics which starts on Wednesday.
Tarmac is still being laid on the damaged track, while half of the in-field is still without grass".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9063800.stm
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Some seem to be getting quite excited and agitated by Soutik’s blogs and BBC’s coverage of India (and CWG) – calling them anti-India, etc.
Exposing the double standards, poverty and unprecedented levels of corruption is definitely in everyone’s interest – it’s called global news! You can’t have the media covering the plusses of India whilst shoving the negative points under the carpet. Extreme levels of nationalism is bad all round. We are far better than that? I think the games will end well, but happy if this brings to surface all the crooks in charge of India.
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I think all people specially Indians who are cribbing about poverty in India about corrupt politicians.....People Complaining out here and any where else are good for nothing people. If you are really concerned about it go on ground and help with money or action and do not crib out here. If you crib out here it will show how cheep a person you are. If you are not able help in any way then praise all the good things that is happening in India. Like praise the people who helped in holding such a wonder full CW Games opening Ceremony making Indians Proud ,praise people involved in all aspects of this ceremony like the cleaners, performers, security persons..............they really strived. Praise them this will promote this people and make them better, make listners better,viewers better, this will make "INDIA Better". So please contribute positively to India and not by negative cribbing like cradle babies. I enjoyed the CWG opening Ceremony and felt real proud I salute all the people involved in putting such a good show -Proud Indian
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Sir RaiBahadur Soutik Biswas you are doing a good job.Keep on writing like this so that we Indians can improve.
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It is at times rather annoying to see in India what is not really Indian. Although, one's love for India, and for what is Indian makes one, with time, overlook such things.
The rich traditions of India, particularly in helping the weak and giving a hand to the poor, are certainly threatened by the development of a new culture, a culture that I think was invoked from outside by India's large expatriate contingent, and probably financed from inside from the wages and salaries of hard-working Indians who are certainly not paid or compensated any where near their Western counterparts.
But such a tendency probably existed before. It was realized when patterns were acquired and funds became available.
Socially, this is tragic. Since it inevitably diverts resources away from important social needs. When Britain went through the same cycle, facing the ascending US culture and feeling the urge to imitate it, after World War II, they had already acquired sufficient antidote, a certain degree of attachment to their own culture, which makes Britons to this day appear 'snobbish' and high-handed.
The same happened in Germany. France fought hard against the McDonald Culture. But these countries were distinguished by their being nations not in the romantic sense, but in the sociological sense. They almost formed an ethnicity reinforced by several unified economic and cultural dependencies.
These features are not available in India, nor in China or in developing countries in general. Which, in a sense, explains the earnest striving for appearance, since, it is understood that only time and the creation of a vast India market from the Lacadive Sea to the Border with China and from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal.
During such time, India may even not be the India we know. More emphasis on appearances, more concentration of wealth in particular parts of particular states, social tension, not unlike that seen in many developing countries - including neighboring Pakistan - may fracture the steady state.
In the meantime, the CWGs will come and go, but India and its diverse cultures, languages and peoples will be, and one hopes, for a long, long time.
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@58. Buzz
You present an ideal notional solution. If it were that easy to rectify with money the problem would have been solved by now. You can't eliminate corruption from the ground up. You start from the top and work your way down - eliminating the root causes at each step.
For too many in India - corruption provides them with an easy, comfortable and lucrative lifestyle.
The unsung heroes of these games are the people who the world has seen (women and children) rushing around to get these games started on time.
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@ Buzz (post #58). What can I say to you? Probably I should not say anything to you but feel pity for your ignorance and nativity. Moreover, you do not know if the people who are “cribbing here” (as you said) are doing something else (besides writing here) to help India. One the other hand, I do not know if “feeling proud” can do something positive for the country or not in the long run. Probably majority of Indians “feel proud” so far the country is concerned, but that did not solve any of our problems. It onlt matters if pride is matched with ability and reality.
Majority of Indians feel equally “proud” when they watch Karan Johar or Salman Khan movie. All those daily laborers, auto-rickshaw drivers, truck drivers etc who live in slums, have almost no education also feel “proud” and happy when they watch such movies that show CWG opening ceremony type mega weddings, all Indian students/professionals in New York or other countries live in penthouses/palaces and roam with Ferraris/Mercedes. Such movies paint a dream world that represents only 0.00000000000001% (should I add few more zeros?) of Indian population. It gives a sense of strange fulfillment to those slum dwellers and few affluent people (mostly through crime and corruption from events like CWG) that can correlate with that. But such films neither serve any social purpose, nor represent Indian society. In fact it is said by social scientists that such films increases materialistic demand for majority others (who can only dream of such life but can never achieve that), which in turn increases corruption and crime in Indian society today.
Feeling proud for wrong issues is a sure symptom of lack of education, lack of culture and insanity.
There are many developed countries/cities that never hoisted Olympic Games or world cup but live with sufficient food, good education, mental peace and material prosperity. First build the country and try to build the image.
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Looking at the medal-standings, I was a bit surprised--India actually managed to pull-off 11 Golds to hold (current) #2 spot (Australia holds #1 with 19). So, it looks like Delhi's 2010 Commonwealth Games has so far avoided duplicating the Montreal-1976 embaressments--though it got some embaressments which are uniquely Indian (though not original, as Delhi did get these in Asiad 1982).
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