Finally, India switched on its spotlight on 3 October, 2010, the Sunday evening, to mark the beginning of a grand event - The Commonwealth Games. The much awaited day came, packed with a mixed feeling - hopes of millions, the nation's pride put on stake and the nation's capability put to a question. The series of events preceding the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi unfolded like the scenes from a B-grade bollywood disaster - featuring the collapsed foot overbridge, flooded building basements, the dengue fear - all to question the nation's abilities to hold the event. When according to the press, any foreign visitor at the Commonwealth Games would have inevitably sat in a puddle of red betel spit, and then contracted dengue, and then died in a bridge collapse, the actual event marked a completely different scenario that shunned all such remarks and raised an all new enthusiasm in every Indian, who now acclaimed "I am a proud Indian". The event was enthralling and fulfilling for every Indian, to an extent that's beyond all measures.
Personally having watched each and every moment of it, here's a quick description of the fantabulous ceremony in my words. With the spectators having been instructed to reach the venue before 5 P.M. when the ceremony was to begin at 7, the event had a pre-ceremony where music composer Anand Raj Anand and singer Shibani Kashyap got the crowd on their feet with some of the most well-known renditions. While the spectators had to be seated much before the opening ceremony, the wait must also have been filled with much excitement. Because what lied next was the big moment. And yes the big moment came -Dot 7- The ceremony started with DD live-streaming it in India. The first view of the majestic Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium raised the hopes of every Indian. The gigantic main stage, inspired by the 'mandala', the huge helium aerostat, the brillant lightening effects all created a wonderful ambiance. The 65,000 spectators with the dignitaries like President Pratibha Patil, Prince Charles and P.M. Manmohan Singh all together for the big event. And hence the event started with a young seven year old showing his excellence with the tabla. Passion in the eyes of this little artist filled everyone with amazement. Keshav, the kid was so full of confidence and the applauds that followed were much deserved. Following which was the beautiful song of swagatam by Hari Haran. India welcoming the nations that were here for the 19th Commomwealth Games and singing the beautiful lyrics of the song with school kids performing a dance and the swagatam formation all created a wonderful ambiance. The kids under a white sheets creating a mehendi motiff as Swagatham reached an end. And the only word that defines all this is - Lovely!
The essence was made stronger with the well co-ordinated light and sound arrangements. 1,200 moving lights, 120 space cannons and 16 follow spots weighing approximately 75 tonnes was what it took to enchant the about 60,000 spectators. The 25 stacks of speakers produced 500,000 Watts of sound. But needless to say, the effect was spectacular.
Next came the round of all the nations, part of the games, coming one by one into the stadium with their flags held up and the players led by a leader. The beautiful ladies who led each country were drapped in the heavily worked and very elegant saaries, depicting the culture of India. The host nation India came in the end led by Abhinav Bindra followed by some 680 players. The whole stadium stood to honour the intruding Indian players. The stadium was full of applauds and an ovation from the Indians to welcome India -an overwhelming moment for the entire nation.
Next came, the speech by Kalmadi. What Indians had to say about that was quite clear. (For more look for my tweets. To cut the crap out of here...) Next came the speech by Prince Charles, PM M.M.S. and the final one by President Patil who's words - "Let the games begin!" marked the official opening of the 19th Commonwealth Games, hosted by INDIA! CWG and national flags were brought in while the military bands played. And hence opening of the games was marked beautifully.
Following this came some cultural performances by Indian females, putting forward the culture and danceform of each state and needless to say it was an elegant, truly beautiful and a remarkable session. Then was the yoga session where with body, mind and soul in unison, over 800 performers gave a stunning performance of Yoga forming the shape of a sun using most difficult 'asans' (postures). The session was completely enthralling for each viewer. Next was the Bharat Darshan with Hussain dancing on the tunes of a much popular track Chaiyan chiyan, adding the bollywood tarhka to the entire show. It was again, truly entertaining. Not to forget, the fabulous tribute to Mahatma Gandhi by sand artists needs to mentioned here. The sand art was truly beautiful!
And then..... came the legend A.R.Rahman with the theme song. "Jiyo utho barho jeeto" and the entire stadium was to put to life, each and every person, be it the one in stadium or the one watching it live on DD was singing to his tunes and his magic was spread like always. The oscar winning track of "Jai Ho" instilled in Indians a passion and craze which made them dance to his tunes and filled them with utter pride. And hence the spectacular evening came to an end....!!!
And hence the nineteenth Commonwealth Games got off to an inspiring and magnificent start oat the Indian Capital with the opening ceremony, which unfolded without any glitch. The ceremony beautifully portrayed and upholded the great journey of India with all its unique features and made every Indian utterly proud!
And here I come to the end of this post but trust me for an Indian, it was overwhelming. The hopes associated with the event were all lived up to and it made every Indian proudly acclaim of how proud he is to be associated with it. What do you feel about the same? Are you also a proud Indian like me? Do share your opinion by posting your comment. Signing of at the moment. Hope to see you soon. :)
Till then, Jai Ho!
Personally having watched each and every moment of it, here's a quick description of the fantabulous ceremony in my words. With the spectators having been instructed to reach the venue before 5 P.M. when the ceremony was to begin at 7, the event had a pre-ceremony where music composer Anand Raj Anand and singer Shibani Kashyap got the crowd on their feet with some of the most well-known renditions. While the spectators had to be seated much before the opening ceremony, the wait must also have been filled with much excitement. Because what lied next was the big moment. And yes the big moment came -Dot 7- The ceremony started with DD live-streaming it in India. The first view of the majestic Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium raised the hopes of every Indian. The gigantic main stage, inspired by the 'mandala', the huge helium aerostat, the brillant lightening effects all created a wonderful ambiance. The 65,000 spectators with the dignitaries like President Pratibha Patil, Prince Charles and P.M. Manmohan Singh all together for the big event. And hence the event started with a young seven year old showing his excellence with the tabla. Passion in the eyes of this little artist filled everyone with amazement. Keshav, the kid was so full of confidence and the applauds that followed were much deserved. Following which was the beautiful song of swagatam by Hari Haran. India welcoming the nations that were here for the 19th Commomwealth Games and singing the beautiful lyrics of the song with school kids performing a dance and the swagatam formation all created a wonderful ambiance. The kids under a white sheets creating a mehendi motiff as Swagatham reached an end. And the only word that defines all this is - Lovely!
The essence was made stronger with the well co-ordinated light and sound arrangements. 1,200 moving lights, 120 space cannons and 16 follow spots weighing approximately 75 tonnes was what it took to enchant the about 60,000 spectators. The 25 stacks of speakers produced 500,000 Watts of sound. But needless to say, the effect was spectacular.
Next came the round of all the nations, part of the games, coming one by one into the stadium with their flags held up and the players led by a leader. The beautiful ladies who led each country were drapped in the heavily worked and very elegant saaries, depicting the culture of India. The host nation India came in the end led by Abhinav Bindra followed by some 680 players. The whole stadium stood to honour the intruding Indian players. The stadium was full of applauds and an ovation from the Indians to welcome India -an overwhelming moment for the entire nation.
Next came, the speech by Kalmadi. What Indians had to say about that was quite clear. (For more look for my tweets. To cut the crap out of here...) Next came the speech by Prince Charles, PM M.M.S. and the final one by President Patil who's words - "Let the games begin!" marked the official opening of the 19th Commonwealth Games, hosted by INDIA! CWG and national flags were brought in while the military bands played. And hence opening of the games was marked beautifully.
Following this came some cultural performances by Indian females, putting forward the culture and danceform of each state and needless to say it was an elegant, truly beautiful and a remarkable session. Then was the yoga session where with body, mind and soul in unison, over 800 performers gave a stunning performance of Yoga forming the shape of a sun using most difficult 'asans' (postures). The session was completely enthralling for each viewer. Next was the Bharat Darshan with Hussain dancing on the tunes of a much popular track Chaiyan chiyan, adding the bollywood tarhka to the entire show. It was again, truly entertaining. Not to forget, the fabulous tribute to Mahatma Gandhi by sand artists needs to mentioned here. The sand art was truly beautiful!
And then..... came the legend A.R.Rahman with the theme song. "Jiyo utho barho jeeto" and the entire stadium was to put to life, each and every person, be it the one in stadium or the one watching it live on DD was singing to his tunes and his magic was spread like always. The oscar winning track of "Jai Ho" instilled in Indians a passion and craze which made them dance to his tunes and filled them with utter pride. And hence the spectacular evening came to an end....!!!
And hence the nineteenth Commonwealth Games got off to an inspiring and magnificent start oat the Indian Capital with the opening ceremony, which unfolded without any glitch. The ceremony beautifully portrayed and upholded the great journey of India with all its unique features and made every Indian utterly proud!
And here I come to the end of this post but trust me for an Indian, it was overwhelming. The hopes associated with the event were all lived up to and it made every Indian proudly acclaim of how proud he is to be associated with it. What do you feel about the same? Are you also a proud Indian like me? Do share your opinion by posting your comment. Signing of at the moment. Hope to see you soon. :)
Till then, Jai Ho!
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