Common Shame To The Wealthys Game..

'The Best Thing About Corruption As A System Of Governance Is That It Works So Well’ – Gregory David Roberts has rightly written in his book ‘Shantaram’ what today seems to be the well known thumb rule as far as Indian administration is concerned. In yet another striking but customary revelation, the Commonwealth Organizing Committee has been allegedly involved in host of foul activities that would not only fill up their own paunches but would go a long way in vitiating the repute of our Nation. The allegations regarding corruption involved in construction of stadia, distribution of tickets are sure to make India a laughing stock all around the world. And we Indians with our inherent quality of demeaning ourselves are leaving no stones unturned to make sure we are in the news for all the wrong reasons.

The news of how our country is impotent in organizing an event of such magnitude has been flashing all over some of our ‘credible’ news channels. Let’s face the fact first. Corruption does exist. I would like to stick my neck out and say that organizing any event at such a huge scale cannot remain absolutely corruption free. But the extent to which it has been magnified and glorified is only going to harm our image as country vying to host Olympics in near future. We always wonder how India, a country of 1 billion, is unable to produce a single athlete of Olympics stature. What we don’t take into account is how, for every single person trying to climb up the ladder, there are 10 people trying to plot his downfall!

I was casually browsing through a website which listed all the news pertaining to the games for the last 1 year. Unfortunately I couldn’t bump into any news that did actually show the games in a positive light. Again I have no idea what kind of signal are we trying to send to the outside world. Media’s obsession with negativity has attained a whole new level in the past decade. I guess in any other country these issues would have been brought to light but surely not at the expense of all the positive work carried out by the authorities. I still remember how we used to back our college in inter-collegiate competitions, brushing aside all the internal matters like teaching frailties, Internal grudges etc. Why should it be any different when it comes to our own country? How can we allow the magnificence and the richness of this country to be overshadowed by few thick-skinned bureaucrats who are nothing more than blood sucking parasites trying to acquire mileage at the cost of country's development?

Why can’t we highlight the impact the games will have in boosting the sporting spirit in India and encourage sports other than cricket? How many of us know that these Games are to be ‘solar powered’ and Reliance RIL Solar Group has implemented India’s first 1MW solar PV power plant to power a stadium? Why has there been no spotlight on the immense employment that these games have generated? How come no one is looking at amount of revenue the number of tourist flocking into the capital to watch the games will generate? Why is that we can’t take effort to exhibit sophisticated technology of international standards that is being used by the government along with private enterprise to renovate and repair new-grade separators, flyovers, bridges and roads? Why isn’t anyone looking at how these games will create an atmosphere for economic, social as well as political cooperation between the member nations?

Today, as we brace ourselves to host the third largest multi-sport event in the world, I am pretty clear that these games will surely be a success but how much they will contribute in restoring the dent created in India’s image is still hazy to me. The successful conduct of these games will go a long way in strengthening India's position as a 'Soft Power'. I sincerely hope that the concerned authorities will pull themselves to put together a scintillating show, and also that the media takes up a responsible role in portraying the games in a disciplined manner and finally, hoping that we can serve as the perfect hosts.

Post Script: In an “emotional appeal” with a visual of the Indian tricolor published in all leading newspapers on the weekend, industrialist Subrata Roy has flayed the “recent continuous and negative media coverage” that has left organizers and volunteers feeling “totally demoralized and dejected”. The media, Roy said, has overdone it, “causing very big damage in maligning the image of our country”.

The Soul Odyssey..

‘There is no way you are getting up at 6.30 in the morning, that too on a weekend’ one of my roommates threw a gauntlet at me. But this was not like any other lazy Saturday. The OSP (Oracle Solution Practice) team at Cognizant had taken up a noble initiative of adopting a deprived school somewhere on the outskirts of Pune. A school in Velle district, around 80kms from Pune city was to be our destination. At 7.45 A.M I boarded the Toyota and we were all set to roll. At that point, little did I realize that, what was supposed to be a brief sojourn we had embarked on for enlightening the ‘little souls’ would turn out to be an epic journey that would leave all of us in a soul searching mode of our own.

As soon as we left the hubbub of the city, we were greeted by blazing mountains which engulfed us on all the four sides. Barring tarred road everything else we could see was sheathed with a green blanket. The clouds too were vying for attention but somewhat subdued sun was giving it a tough competition. It was close to impossible to get our eyes off such a pleasing visual treat. I pitied the driver for he had to keep his eyeballs strictly on the road ahead. A brief halt for breakfast gave us a much needed break to admire the mother earth in its most pristine form. As the highways gave way to two lane roads which in turn were superseded by single lane village roads we had a kind of anxious feeling as we drew closer and closer to our destination. In no time we had left behind the 'New' India and I quietly braced myself to face the 'Real' India.

The sounds of chatter and rumble were enough for us to know that we were finally there. Dozens of puerile heads were patiently awaiting our arrival. We were then taken to the place where the children used to learn. 'School is a Temple Of Learning' has for long been one of the most sought after essay topics for the school teachers. But this topic would need, to speak strictly in software terms, a little bit of ‘customization’ if we were to present it to these children. It was because in here it was actually a temple where the school was being run..Right from 1st medium till the 8th!..Immediately my mind wandered to my school days when we used to grumble for not having with good quality benches. The fact that some of them had to walk 7 KMs one way to attend the school sent a chill down my spine and my legs suddenly felt numb.

A dainty little girl applied ‘tika’ to our foreheads as we entered the school premises. The welcome ceremony was comprised of presenting us with a bouquet of myriad flowers handpicked and handmade by the little kids themselves. The fragrance of our deodorants paled in comparison to scent that erupted from those tiny flowers. The little artists then staged couple of folk songs which were, considering the language was alien to me, very pleasing to the ears. The fun continued with the question-answer session that followed the welcome ceremony. As Martin H. Fischer aptly put it “The entire world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind”, the seemingly innocent kids came up with such astute questions that at times even our able volunteers were bamboozled. Questions like 'Who is God?', 'How did the sun came into existence?', 'How does the projector work?' gave us a glimpse into the minds of these little Einsteins. Hats off to our volunteers as they were able to ideate such surreal answers to the tricky questions. The brainstorming session was followed by distribution of books to children at various levels.

As the day progressed the kids were treated with magic shows, educational cartoons, craft sessions and many more fun activities. Irrespective of the activity there was one thing we could not miss. It was an unmistakable happiness in the eyes of those little souls. And considering you, albeit in a small way, have contributed towards the glint in their eyes gave you immense satisfaction. And the fact that these kids gave us a chance to be one of their own helped us regain the child like vigor which was long lost in the swarm of IT savvy professionals. When we had reached here our sole aim was to make them feel special but in reality it was they who made us feel that we were special which was indeed very touching.

The lunch that followed was, I would say, one of the best meals I have had in quite a sometime. After all it had the most important ingredients of all - The warmth and the affection of the village dwellers. As we bid farewell to the village, an epochal responsibility beckoned us - the responsibility of carrying this school forward. This trip was a small step towards fulfilling this promise. I would like to sincerely thank Ashwin Bramhe, the chief architect of this initiative, and the outreach volunteers for giving us an opportunity to be a part of such a noble cause.

Post Script: On our way to the village we were enlightened with the fact that there was another village nearby which was accessible only on foot. People there had to walk for 2 hours just to come in contact with outside world. The name of the village was ‘SINGAPORE’. How ironic!! I thought.

POSTER COURTESY: http://mr-ram.blogspot.com/!