CommonWealthGames - The spectacular opening Ceremony

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!

Is India really shining?

India Shining - A phrase coined back in 2003 but the one that continues to be a topic much in limelight even today in 2010. Back in 2003, it was first used to refer to the overall feeling of economic optimism in India after the plentiful rains and the success of the Indian IT boom. A slogan, popularized by the then-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2004 Indian general elections, it was initially developed as part of an Indian government campaign intended to promote India internationally. But a phrase that today brings with itself the question,
Is India really shining?

India – A nation that now needs no proof for it’s excellence, Be it, Education, Technology, Sports, Music, Researches, or any other possible field, it has given to the world some of the best individuals. It is being cited among the top countries globally in almost every field today. India will start growing faster than China in 2013, so says a Morgan Stanley report. Yes, it is shining, so proves the report and predicts a better future. The primary reason it cites is the demographic dividend, supported by continuing economic reform and globalisation. India will see a declining trend in the share of non-working dependents (children and the elderly) in the population, and contribute 136 million people to the workforce over the next 10 years, while China will add just 23 million workers. India’s savings rate would go up, as would the share of consumption in China’s GDP.

Though the forecast is entirely realistic, yet it’s dubious – “Is India really shining?”

Yes, it is shining, in the malls, in the PVRs, in the pubs and the nightclubs, in the flyovers and the high rises of the metros. It is shining in the glitz and glamour of high income class living in the modern luxuries, earning high salaries. We certainly have come a long way from what we were, But.... Sadly, This is not the whole picture. This is very small part of the real picture of the nation taken as a whole. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot more to it. India is shining...
Still, people live on streets and pathetic slums.
Still, the homeless are dying in the severe cold of winters and burning heat of summers.
Still, dirty scantily clad children of the poor construction labourers can be easily found playing in unhygienic environment, who have never even thought of going to school.
Still, women, educated and working, are harassed for dowry, leading to dowry deaths.
Still, several villages are without electricity and pucca roads.
Still, agriculture depends on monsoons and farmers are committing suicides on crop failures and debts.
Yet, India is shining! Isn’t it? Yes, it indeed is a strong pun that I intend to put forward!

With facts and figures stating- Sensex is shooting, GDP growth rate is astronomical, Sports excelling, IT sector shining – all that put forward India’s progress and induce in us a belief that India will soon be heading the global lists in almost every sector, yet when it comes to reality, it is still a big question mark. Yes, we have such instances that make us very proud – Even the interns today are getting big opportunities and earning as much as one lakh per month, the researches made by students of Engineering colleges are making the country proud and yes we have examples of such good brains who are ruling the world, but still I land up questioning myself, Is India really shining???

So what makes me question myself again and again? It is the fact that the area of progress is just the urbanized India. Where in one place, we have a modern metro India enjoying the boon that technology offers, there’s another rural India completely deprived and unaware of it. There is a change required, a change that can make India shine in the real sense. A change, which if successful, can lead to astronomic improvement, An initiative by the government “To promote and support rural India”.

“Rural India” – Education, Awareness and Poverty are the main areas we need to work and improve in. Making the farmers aware of the technology, teaching them new and improved ways of agriculture, improving their standards of living will make the country grow considerably. The present scenario of “rich growing richer and poor growing poorer” leaves us nowhere. India- the land of various cultures, various castes, various religions is considered to be developing at a very fast pace yet it is a known for caste-distinctions, girls being killed for dowry, people being humiliated for their caste and yet........ We say India is shining? A big fail in itself, Isn’t it?

So the need of hour is to lay more focus on rural India, address the issues like corruption, terrorism, molestation and above all the need to raise the level of common man. It will be with the rural India shining, that India will shine. Another important need of India is to learn “The lesson of self-help and self-reliance”. On June 10, 1947, Gandhi said: “The first lesson we must learn is of self-help and self-reliance. If we assimilate this lesson, we shall at once free ourselves from disastrous dependence upon foreign countries and ultimate bankruptcy. This is not said in arrogance but as a matter of fact. We are not a small place... We are a subcontinent, a nation of nearly 400 millions. We are a country of mighty rivers and a rich variety of agricultural land with inexhaustible natural-wealth. Our country, if it had not been neglected during the past few centuries, should not today only be providing herself with sufficient food, but also be playing a useful role in supplying the outside world with much-needed stuff of which the late war has unfortunately left practically the whole world in want. This does not exclude India”.

Powerful words, which if understood, induce an all-new confidence in us, make us believe in ourselves and our country. We need to realize that we have immense sources which if utilized can make India shine in real sense. We are a powerful nation and moves by us in the proper direction can make us succeed beyond imagination. But what we need to ask ourselves is: “Who is more powerful to change or improve you more than YOU yourself?” If this becomes the slogan of the nation and each person tries to put his small effort for country’s progress, collectively it can have a huge impact. All we do is complain, complain and further complain! We complain about corruption, molestation, terrorism! But do we do our bit? There is a stark change required, in the thinking of Indians! Another problem with the people of India is the lack of respect for their own country! We “Indians”, from dance to dresses we want to be westernized. Our kids want to learn western dance, wear western dresses, they love pasta more than any Indian dish and then we call ourselves Indians. So who is be blamed if not us? We want to see things happening but don’t want to contribute. And it is this thinking which is the biggest hindrance in our path.
So, the day,
when Rural India will be developed, aware and educated,
when All Indians will be proud of themselves,
when there’ll be least corruption, least molestation, equality in all respects in India,
will be considered as the day of victory for India.

It’ll be that proud day I’ll believe India is really shining.

The cognizance of the momentousness of this day!!!

This day- 26 January- The Republic Day- The day that marked the transition of India being a British Dominion to India being a Republic, back in 1950, is here today for the 60th time. Yes, it's back! But as the Independent Indian republic aged to turn 60, so did the spirit with which the people welcome this day, the realization of the fact that how important this day was in Indian history, the cognizance of the momentousness of this day. Didn't it? Sadly but yes it did!

This day marked the establishment of a truly sovereign India with the enforcement of the constitution of the Independent India. But, How many of us realize what all this day brings with itself? It brings with itself the memories of all the freedom fighters who struggled hard, sacrificed their life for this sole dream of an Independent Indian REPUBLIC. A great day indeed!!! Isn't it? But let me ask you a question, How many of you actually got up today morning with a thought that Wow! It's our Republic Day, a day when our country finally realized the dreams of the great Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous Indians who had fought for years only in hope of this day. Not many right? Rather very few. A fact, let's face it! Most of us look upon it as a mere holiday. A holiday to go and visit even the most distant relatives or to plan a get together with our friends, least bothered about the essence of the day, the patriotic spirit of the day.

Patriotism ??? What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility ... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. But it has lost it's meaning in today's world! So the exigency of the moment is to apprehend our national responsibility. If we become cognizant of our role in country's development, it's national affairs and merely start following our fundamental duties, our purpose will be solved.

Inspite of the fact that India is a flourishing country today, with it's name in the top list in each and every field may it be technical or sports, our people want to be westernized. Each kid wants to learn western dance, wear imported things and follow the western culture. I'm not against it. My only emphasis is have the same respect for your own culture, our own language, our own country, because IT IS YOUR OWN. Rise above the caste or colour distinctions to have a united and a progressing India. Understand the fact that solution doesn't lie in cribbing upon things, it lies in searching for it and acting accordingly. Most of the Indian people are dis-satisfied by the politicians' work but when it comes to voting, we are too lazy!! Change this mentality and see the results. Because that's your duty as a citizen.

Taking utter pride in being an Indian, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Republic Day. Don't let it go this time as a mere holiday. As the tricolour unfurls this time, realize the essence of it and do your best to make your country proud. Don't wait for a change be the change!!! Because you are plenipotentiary, if you know how to use your power properly!!!