Thousands of dancers, drummers and yoga performers opened Delhi’s Commonwealth Games in a display of India’s heritage and its status as a rising economic power, a reputation dented by bungling during the buildup.
India’s President Pratibha Patil and Britain’s Prince Charles declared the 12-day event open late yesterday during a three-hour celebration at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, while Oscar-winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ composer A.R. Rahman sang the official games song and the theme tune from the movie. A giant helium-filled balloon with mirrors and lights lifted a huge image of Indian freedom icon Mahatma Gandhi into the air.
“Our dream is coming true, India’s big moment is finally here,” Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Delhi Organizing Committee, said in a speech. “India is ready” to show the world its rise after overcoming many challenges in the run up to the 17-sport competition that runs until Oct. 14, he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh looked on as the competition involving 71 nations and territories got under way. He wanted India’s biggest sporting event in three decades to attract overseas investment. Instead, filthy accommodation for athletes, the collapse of a footbridge and monsoon floods that led teams to delay their arrival threatened to deter the investors needed to drive growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy, Moody’s Analytics said on Sept. 24.
‘Financial Irregularities’
The Organizing Committee suspended two top officials for alleged “financial irregularities,” while a third resigned, the panel’s spokesman Lalit Bhanot said on Aug. 5.
Games officials, in the past two weeks, undertook a cleaning and rebuilding operation to have venues ready on time after newspaper headlines described dirty bathrooms and mattresses muddied by stray dogs at the games village, wiring and plumbing that didn’t work and the wounding of two Taiwanese nationals in a shooting at the city’s main mosque.
“The image of being corrupt and inefficient has gone around the world and that cannot be recovered whatever we may do at the last moment,” said Ajay K. Mehra, director of New Delhi’s Centre for Public Affairs. “Let’s hope no mishap happens during the games because of bad construction. We are still keeping our fingers crossed.”
The crowd jeered when Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Mike Fennell mentioned Kalmadi’s name in his address. Kalmadi said he expected the games to contribute to India’s $1.2 trillion economy, and leave a “fantastic legacy.” He thanked all the teams for standing by India amid its troubles.
Vuvuzelas, Puppets
India deployed 100,000 security personnel in New Delhi ahead of the official opening while markets, malls and businesses, many of which normally function on Sundays, shut. Streets near sport venues were almost deserted.
About 7,000 performers entertained 60,000 spectators inside the stadium as Buddhist monks shared the stage with musicians from across the country wearing white sarongs, horned headgear and turbans.
The balloon rose from the center of the stadium as the opening ceremony began, lifting huge Rajasthani puppets into the air. The names and flags of competing nations rolled along its sides as the athletes entered, many dressed in traditional clothing from Scottish kilts to African gowns. South Africa’s team blew vuvuzelas, the plastic horns that accompanied every soccer match in this year’s World Cup.
Yoga practitioners wearing gold twisted limbs while men played electric-blue sitars. Bollywood extravagance and the bustle of Indian village life gave way to solemnity as a march during Mahatma Gandhi’s challenge to British colonial rule was created from sand.
Leave Canceled
Police in the city canceled all leave and sent roof-top snipers and helicopters to protect 41 games-related sites, the airport and the village for athletes attending the games.
Singh, concerned the nation’s image was being sullied as teams from Scotland, Canada and New Zealand delayed their departure for the games, instructed ministers to closely monitor preparations as organizers pressed thousands of emergency workers into round-the-clock operations.
Giant screens were installed in parts of the city for viewing the ceremony. Schools are closed for two weeks.
The government spent $4.6 billion upgrading stadiums, refurbishing roads, building overpasses, and power and water utilities to stage the event. About 15 kilometers (9.4 miles) of new metro line linking the stadium was opened yesterday, adding to the city’s urban rail network.
Investor Concern
Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell said at a Sept. 25 press conference in Delhi he was disappointed with the Indian organizers and that the lack of preparedness for the sporting event has hurt the reputation of the country.
“A lot of damage has been done to India as a host country,” Fennell said. “I would hope at the end of all this, India would have learnt a great lesson.”
Australia’s Dani Samuels, the discus world champion, and English triple-jumper Phillips Idowu were among athletes to withdraw from the event citing health and safety fears.
The event, held every four years and first staged in 1930, features 8,000 athletes and officials, most from the U.K. and its former colonies and dependencies.
To contact the reporters on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net; Tushar Dhara in New Delhi at tdhara1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Hari Govind at hgovind@bloomberg.net;
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