FOR those who like the big-budget, high-tech opening ceremonies, this must have been a great disappointment. For those who are averse to money being squandered in the name of ceremonies, this must have looked an ideal mix.
The opening ceremony at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana to mark the beginning of the National Games was rather simple, a bit chaotic, ill-conceived in patches and monotonous for long spells.
If the protocol part was dominated by the speech-makers, led by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, himself, the cultural segment belonged almost entirely to the Punjab folk dancers.
Thanks in the main to the speech-makers, as well as to the competitors and officials who did not easily vacate the centre of the field to allow the cultural troupes to come in, the programme stretched beyond the time-frame by an hour and more.
That the Co-Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, welcomed the gathering, from all parts of the country, in Punjabi was a surprise. That Mr. Kalmadi would confront the chief guest, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, with a request to reconsider fresh dates for the Afro-Asian Games was a bigger surprise.
Mr. Kalmadi's obsession with the Afro-Asian Games is too well known. Yet, no one would have bargained for such a request from him on such a platform when all he was expected to do was to request the chief guest to declare the Games open. Mr. Advani seemed to have sensed the mood of the audience, mainly 'herded' schoolchildren to fill up the popular stands, as he noted, with a touch of sarcasm that stadia were for games and not speech-making. Mercifully, he was short and precise as he declared the Games open.
The one man who would surely have loved to be there to see his initiative come to fruition, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, could not attend the ceremony. Only the previous day he had a fall and suffered a fracture.
The bringing in of the torch and the lighting of the cauldron were the highlights of the evening, as they invariably are at such opening ceremonies. Punjab remembered some of its great Olympians and sportspersons, forgot a few others. Some of them were involved in the torch relay inside the stadium, some others were included in the batch of eminent sportspersons who marched at the rear of the participating teams. Still some more were given the honour of carrying the IOA flag.
Charanjit Singh, R. S. Bhola, Haripal Kaushik and Keshav Dutt were there. So too Hardyal Singh and Balkishan Singh. All great hockey players the state seemed to produce by the dozen in those glory days. Rightly, hockey dominated the galaxy of stars, but Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, the high hurdler who should rank among the best athletes India has produced, was forgotten. Two days later he came and said that he had indeed represented Punjab, but was ignored. (He watched the athletic events for just one day and left for Delhi.)
Athlete Jagdev Singh and boxer Kaur Singh were the ones who brought in the flame. Then on, those who were involved in carrying it forward included Pargat Singh, Bishan Singh Bedi, Ajitpal Singh, athlete Kamaljit Sandhu and wrestler Kartar Singh.
Bodybuilder Prem Chand Dogra was given equal status as the legendary Milkha Singh as they took the torch up the stairs leading to the cauldron. Fittingly, Milkha was given the honour of lighting the cauldron.
That the 'Flying Sikh' escaped serious burn injuries just as he lighted the cauldron was providence. Someone must have turned the burners on too early, with the result the flame leapt towards the great athlete too quickly for his comfort. On his part, Milkha was slow to step away and dropped the torch leading to some commotion.
In a way, that incident plus several others during the opening ceremony only pointed to the fact that Punjab had not really readied itself for the task that confronted it for the next 12 days.
As tempers frayed even as officials tried to cope with the demands of the visiting contingents and an assortment of officials, representing the IOA, National federations and State Olympic associations, one wondered whether these Games were really necessary.
But then, looking at the keenness with which the competitors approached their task, at the spirit with which they fought and won medals, and the anxiety with which contingent officials - at least some of the serious ones - kept track of their states' fortunes, we have to admit something. These were not Games for the sake of fulfilling a formality. Not for those who came to 'compete'.
Yes, perhaps they were for the host and the IOA. And for those who think that any trip is good enough as long as everything is free.
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