Commonwealth Games 2010 : From “mind-games” to reality!

“Pillar by pillar it rises,
Loading my every new day with surprises,
Every new visuals are marked with the “signature”,
That clearly defines the inevitable omnipresence of its “creator”!
As I sit down & write about Commonwealth Games 2010, popularly known as “CWG 2010”, I’ll have to admit my own “knowledge-based” infrastructure about the event may not be up to the mark to support my views about the showdown on our “part” of earth. But let’s see what I have to offer!
Now that the games are within “striking distance” all the possible human emotions have started playing on the minds of people located at each & every strata that is related to the event.
For me, it’s only now that these “mind-games” have taken quite a control of my mind as the time starts closing down.
My idea of Games has been governed by two behaviours of me:
· CWG 2010 – From the mind of an impression-ist,
· CWG 2010 – From the mind of an expression-ist,

CWG 2010 – From the mind of an impression-ist:
The very opportunity of holding big-scale games itself boosts the city & accounts for many developments to happen on a pacy scale. Same has happened with New Delhi . When the first set of “golden letters” talking about the developments that will happen for commenwealth games 2010 appeared in the newspapers, i was quite anxious to see what developments would happen in the name of the GAMES, and the list was huge & ambitious!
That “epic-list” consisted of some heartening necessities like “expansion of Delhi-metro routes, widened roads, many world-class sport arenas “etc.
The impact of the games was so proportionately spread-out that even the ground beneath our feet & our farthest skies were made aware of it. With such ambitions building, i only hoped for a better things to come in the future.
I admit that even I had gone a bit ambitious.
CWG 2010 – From the mind of an expression-ist:
Now when the games have arrived there’s lot to offer from the government in terms of “actions” & we- the people, in terms of “reactions”.
Once I had read that New Delhi has already made her mark by being the “wealthiest” Commonwealth Games organized so far with its total “assets” surpassing the previous best - Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
But when it comes to the distribution of this “wealth”, it somehow starts showing on the city’s “health” and a further “check-up” of those ambitious “check-lists” brings out many expectedly harsh realities.
Amidst of all these scary “legal road-occupation” induced traffic jams, haphazard movement patterns, dust filled air-free surroundings, numerous dug-up holes (seeming far more purposeful & a fresh change from those governmental “loop-holes”) , large scale renovations & low-scale innovations on buildings, ever piling garbage dumps, etc., I would still say that in totality the Games have been a good opportunity for us not only to come up & match some celebrated “hi-tech-giant” cities but most importantly also to come up & create innovative, sustainable & meaningful solutions.
Talking about the built-forms, unfortunately there hasn’t been much visual delight in terms of aesthetics & design but one or two names are still worth mention, these are : JLN stadium & the Indira Gandhi Air-port. Hope this pattern improves in the future. The ancient-built heritage of New Delhi needs to be seriously dealt with. We still have many areas that need to be conserved properly e.x. the Purana Qila, the mosque in the Qutub etc. Hope this is also dealt with properly in the future.
Two biggest achievements during this “Games-reign” are “Delhi-metro expansion” & the “BRT-corridor”.
BRT-corridor, I think is a success for me. Apart from the better public transport, it has brought cyclists & their “cycling” back to life- alive & kicking! This is a welcome “greener sides” of the Games 2010, known more for their “darker sides”!
We have never been efficient organizers, and therefore the last year “scare” of Games being slipping from India’s hands wasn’t much of a surprise. It was good that the “scare” was short-lived. But the change is happening & we are improving, but this change will happen gradually. Some grievous issues of labour-exploitation, inadequate supply of funds through the “work-chain” , pillars falling off, etc. need to be addressed more severely & I hope it happens.
Being-green is the need of the hour & the more we conserve the more we’ll have for longer needs to be implemented properly. This also accounts for “judicious handling” of funds, the more we “blow-off” results in much more pressure on limited resources. This is where “vigilance-guys” come into the picture. They should keep an eye on these scams & should not spare any “wealthy-bummer”!
The overall appearance of the city has undergone a major “surgery”, but some of the “scars” (unwanted ugly fly-overs) unfortunately cannot be accepted & erased!
We still have done quite a bit in terms of “green & sustainability” for Games 2010 & that’s good start. Hope we fare better in the future! Culturally, it should be a rich experience, and hopefully New Delhi celebrates a rich cultural carnival with its “former-colonial mates”!
The future lies on being “sustainable” & this is what we need to pick up & infuse in our other “usual-preparations”.
Last but not the least:
We are now into the “Gaming” zone,
& the arrival of “queen’s baton” has set the tone,
For all the “showdown” to hit the centre-stage,
But the “mega-models” are still far from final-makeover backstage,
& within striking distance have “they” reached,
Here we still have many “hospitality” lessons to be preached,
I hope we are & we will be ready,
To celebrate the legacies of our erstwhile colonialists,
& together we all create one of the best “play-stations”!

By Akhil Nagar

THE SMALLER PIECES OF LIFE THAT WE FORGET IN OUR BIGGER ISSUES

When I read the newspaper, I sometimes feel that I live in a totally different world. How can I, sitting in the luxury of my drawing room my legs fully stretched on the cushy sofa legs understand the misery of a child forced to work in a firecracker workshop inhaling millions of poisonous gases, so that he can get a morsel of food. I am definitely not capable of understanding either what a young girl goes through when her parents just to feed their remaining children sell her off. I thought I knew what pain was until I saw children at the construction site pick up bricks twice their weight. This is probably one of the many things I can never understand rather dread to understand.

Once when I was traveling in the train with my friend, I saw a small girl not more than 6 years old with her face all painted in different colours. On entering the compartment she immediately started doing Hoola-hoop around her neck and then around her waist. Her mother carrying a toddler was singing a song to whose tunes the young girl was dancing. She had a big smile painted on her face and on finishing her act when she came to me to ask for money, I saw her eyes. Her eyes bare of any emotions yet deep down I felt connected to her sorrows, and I couldn’t look at her any longer. For a 6 year old to dance like her I can imagine how much her mother must have beaten her. And then is when my friend said that the toddler’s face is also painted……..rather her fate is painted. I wondered how a mother could do such a thing to her daughters. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the empty fields where the wheat was brightly shining under the blazing sun.

Our current government is often accused of increasing the prices, making the lives of the common man miserable but one credit I would definitely want to give this government is to make RTE as an act. Well the question of how effective it might finally turn out to be is a question I always ponder on.

Sometimes I feel without the awareness that the media creates I would have remained ignorant throughout my life. Awareness plays a very vital role in making people aware of their own rights. Children are not aware of their rights but their parents ought to know them. I strongly believe that EDUCATION makes a huge difference in the life of a child. This is what made me join Manorath because it works on a much broader platform of child rights. I always knew that I had to do something for these children and by joining Manorath I have got a real purpose in life. It has been 3 months since I have joined Manorath, and my awareness levels on RTE has increased manifoldly. I have seen the passion in the eyes of my fellow volunteers and the moment you reach the CRY Office the motivation to do something just can’t escape you. Earlier I used to think that as a volunteer I can bring dramatic changes in the education system but my involvement with Manorath has taught me that changes have to be dynamic and sustained and it has to be achieved in collaboration with the respective bodies not by fighting against them. And this in turn has helped me in my professional life also.
Recently I attended a session with the new volunteers and I could see the same amount of confusion in the faces but a zeal to do something. I am sure that Manorath will guide them well. My association with Manorath and CRY has been extremely enriching and I hope to do a lot a future.

P.S. - Say NO to Crackers !

- By Nithya Ranganathan

ME AND MANORATH

12 years of schooling. 1 year of college.100 sets of paper, 100’s of outings with friends, but never thought of those unprivileged children whom we often meet at a traffic signal on our way to work. Only thing we usually do is pity them and may be beg them a ten rupee note or abuse the government for their not so working strategies. But what after that?
Another signal, another set of children and our same set of emotions. Its then when I realized to use my free time to help such children to go to school, to educate them, to help them get their childhood back and made up my mind to join CRY. Through cry and its group MANORATH I feel that I can really make a difference to at least some of the children. It feels great to be part of such an organization where you have great freedom and a nice atmosphere to work.
The orientation session really sorted the differences in my mind. It made the direction and goal of joining CRY very clear to me and trust me, it feels great even if u do a small bit for such children. For instance- when I visited the schools on second Saturday, I felt bad for the children who study there, just because the state of the MCD School is really bad. The schools were supposed to organize a PTM but were closed. It was really disappointing at first but on the other hand it gives me a confidence to do something and bring about change through my efforts.
As said by Ellen Glasgow- All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. One day our efforts for sure will result in a measurable growth!


- By Mansi Nagpal