(Un) Commonwealth!!!

After India won the bid to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi back in 2003, the entire country, from athletes to the sports ministry and civilians, were ecstatic. Everyone were of the opinion that the Games would not only bring a lot of pride to the nation but also help India win bids to host many other major tournaments in future. But who would have thought that the Commonwealth Games would be made a mockery of before the world?

With just two months to go, the CWG 2010 is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this year, CWG officials had raised concerns of incomplete & shoddy work done in the stadiums. And now, shocking revelations by media claim that the Indian officials, including big gun, Suresh Kalmadi, made loads of money from the hosting of the games. The media reports have been flooded with the CWG scam .And not just the television and the newspapers, but bloggers, too, are expressing anger and anguish against those who are playing with national pride.

Unlike TV and newspapers, where only a limited number of people can express their opinions; the upside of blogs is that a whole lot of masses, especially the youth, have a chance to voice their opinions. And it doesn’t come as a surprise that there are so many blogs that clearly showcase people’s anger and dismay.

While many CWG-related blogs provide all sorts of information that include the events, the venues, ticket bookings, athletes and medalists, on the flipside others have gone a step ahead to dig deeper into the issue.

There are blogs that cover everything about the Games right from its history, origin and the latest updates. The home page of most of such blogs interestingly is a mixed bag with both, good and bad news, still giving readers some hope that the Games will do some good!

Blogger sureshmiyer in his blog has presented some hope even amongst apprehensions. Very optimistically and interestingly he has said that if the big fat Indian weddings can take place with great pomp even after huge debacles like last minute changes and preparations, why can’t we expect positive results to take place with the Games? I liked his blog! And am sure many others will, after all we are tired of hearing about scams and lack of preparation. We want to hear something good and encouraging. But he also adds sarcasm in his blog by saying that Indians have always been slow starters. According to him there is no reason to worry because right from preparing exams to completing office deadlines, we never start in time! In fact a lot of readers have commented on his blog saying that they liked his post. This also shows that readers like reading about positive info and that doesn’t just limit to the CWG but also any other happening.

Similarly another blogger, Gaurav has given a fair prospect of the Games where he has talked about the politicos and the babus making money, but he has not left hope on the successful hosting of the Games.

On Financial Times, Amy Kazmim has drawn criticism about the games & not one good thing is written by him. Well, I don’t like blogs that are too critical and only negative. Yes, facts should be presented impartially but some ray of hope should be presented in your blogs. That is exactly why blogs are different from news articles. While news articles are totally factual and will be harsh on words, blogs will reflect the sentiments of the people in large.

And since I believe in optimism, I thought that even I should skip all the negativity, after all everyone is talking only about the scams .I want to believe that though everything is messed up now, on October 3^rd everything will fall in place and India will put up a good show not only in hosting the Games but also in the medal tally! And after the Games close on the 14^th, I hope the blogs will be all praise for India!

Till then just keep saying,” All is well!!!”