Sorry, I have been quite busy in the past weeks, and did not have much time (or much energy) to regularly update our Blog. I’ll use this post to put together ‘higgledy-piggledy’ some of the thoughts that crossed my mind in the past days on the main topic of conversation in these days: the XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
- Open Ceremony. The Games officially opened on Sunday eve. Criticisms didn’t miss (‘the tribal dances portrait a stereotyped India that does not exist anymore’). I personally liked it: I found it colourful and original. Youtube has plenty of videos of the Ceremony under ‘Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony 2010’. The part of the Ceremony that I liked the most is this one.
- In a way it has been a loooong (seven years long) delivery. The Government praises itself that despite all the delays, (almost) everything was finally ready on time. Well, true (or partially true) - but this does not hide at least two serious flaws. First, the quality of the works. Already a pedestrian bridge and the ceiling of one of the sport facilities built for the Games collapsed before the Games even started. We have to hope that nothing collapses during the Games, but even if it doesn’t, I can bet that within a few months from the end of the games several of the facilities built for the Games will be obsolete or permanently out of order. Second the cost of the works. If it is true that the works costed thirty-six times more than what initially budgeted (a friend of mine told me sixty times!), it means that someone (actually several) ‘pocketed the difference’, and this is shameful. As dumbfounding is the justification that several Indians seem to have ready when you point this out (‘well, at least we live in a democracy, and these things become public’). Well, perhaps. But I haven’t seen a single politician resigning and returning the loot...
- How are we living the Games? In a way it is exciting to witness all the excitement surrounding this event. From a practical point of view however, the Games brought more inconveniences than other. The already jammed roads became even more jammed as preferential lanes for Games’ vehicles were made, basically reducing by half the roadway surface (thus doubling the congestion!). We were indoctrinated on what to do in case of terroristic attacks, revolts, curfews, and there are more troops on the Delhi roads in these days than in the whole Iraq last year. At the same time, there is a semi-festive atmosphere in the office. Management encouraged the staff to either take annual leaves or to go on mission in these days, and allowed 'flexi' hours (arriving early and leaving early) and 'telecommuting' (working from home). For those that stoically decided to remain in the office (myself included), lunch breaks and coffee breaks become convivial moments, as we all gather in front of the TV in the cafeteria to support the Indian athletes...
More in the next days...
No comments:
Post a Comment