Driving through Delhi I feel GOOD. I say GOOD in capitals because I am one of the small percentage of people who feel proud that our city is hosting this event. I would advise the CWG haters not read this article as it can be hazardous to their health and mind.
The attitude of the city’s majority population is appalling and in fact very saddening; the media is having a field day (or year) highlighting the shortcomings of the organizers, the government and the Games itself. I am not a spokesperson for CWG or the Organizing Committee but just trying to do my bit as a citizen of Delhi.
Negative news is being sensationalized and reported because it sells. It serves as fodder for cracking stupid jokes to cynics, and gossip for Page 3 wannabes who sit in coffee shops and show off their knowledge gathered from the ill-informed media. It has become fashionable and trendy to be critical of CWG. People look at you like an ‘outcast’ if you talk positively about the games.
There has been so much development in Delhi in the past few years which somehow went unnoticed (I guess they were busy noticing a stray dog walking through the game village). I hardly see any reports on the fantastic infrastructure that has been built in and around Delhi, the amazing network of the Delhi Metro, the world class Terminal 3 of the Delhi International Airport, the amazing sports facilities. We see reports of a false ceiling falling in a stadium but no one talks about the world class designing of the stadium. We see pictures of dirty toilets without any context but not at the excellent design of the games village. I will not dwell into the great infrastructure our city has developed coz that you can find all over the internet.
Today, by cracking idiotic jokes and repeating what the news channels feed us, we are undermining the efforts of every professional and worker who have put in their best to make the games a success. Some of the people talking about the collapsing infrastructure are pretty lame and ignorant about construction and planning methods and even though we have always been taught to keep our mouth shut about things we know nothing of, the general trend seems to be in the complete opposite direction. Everyone suddenly seems to have become an expert on planning policies and have started finding faults with the anything and everything related to CWG.
The painful part is that some people actually want the games to be a failure. What they don’t realize is that every joke and every insult that they commit actually falls back on them.
The criticism and the negativity won’t be a shame for just the OC and the CWG; it will be a shame for the whole nation we are a part of.
Do we really want that?
CWG has been a blessing in disguise for the city and even though I may not totally agree with the structure the games and the infrastructure has been planned out, I still choose to look at the positive side of it and urge everyone to do so too.
I generally steer clear of controversial topics like these, but my city is something I feel very passionate about. My purpose of writing this note is to inform all my friends who are reading this it is too late in the day to be criticizing. If nothing at least be there for the games. You don’t need to be an official CWG volunteer to help the thousands of visitors descending upon our city, you can do your bit by helping anyone in need around you.
My choice is clear – to be a part of the games make them a success and show the world that we are capable of hosting a great event.
I would certainly like to know yours.