Party begins as India sweeps aside the fuss- Matt Wade-October 2, 2010

Party begins as India sweeps aside the fuss -Matt Wade

October 2, 2010

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Commonwealth Games 2010TimesOfIndia.Indiatimes.com



Sports officials are hoping to put their troubles behind them, writes Matt Wade in Delhi.


The organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games are banking on an extravaganza combining the glitz of Bollywood with the aura and colour of India's ancient culture to offset the miserable build-up to the event.

The atmosphere of crisis that gripped the city last week when filthy, unfinished rooms were revealed at the Games village, structures at venues collapsed and two tourists were shot at a historic mosque has abated a little. Preparations have been relatively accident-free for several days and thousands of athletes have arrived. The monsoon deluge that hampered organisers' late scramble to get ready has passed and the sun is shining.

Advertisement: Story continues belowIs Delhi ready? Tomorrow night's opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, completely rebuilt for the Games, will be the first big test.

The vast Indian cultural palate has given those masterminding the ceremony plenty to work with. Organisers say the ceremony will span 5000 years of history, especially the rich story of Delhi, an ancient city and the national capital.

It is expected that the six-part show will kick off with 1000 drummers beating the rhythms of India. Artists will perform classical Indian music and dance before 1000 yoga experts take the stage. In a segment called the Great Indian Journey, 1500 performers will provide a glimpse of rural life including the colour and movement of village bazaars.

Bollywood will make an inevitable appearance when A.R. Rahman, who wrote the Oscar-winning score for the movie Slumdog Millionaire, performs an anthem he wrote for the Games.

A tunnel, built at vast expense, will allow the 8000 performers to emerge from under the ground in the middle of the stadium. The focal point for much of the action will be an ''aerostat'' helium balloon.

Organisers say performers from each one of India's 28 states will be involved in the ceremony. That includes the disputed state of Kashmir, claimed by Pakistan, and the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the north-east, a large portion of which is claimed by China.

The ceremony has not been without controversy. There has been a push to have the Games declared open by the President, Pratibha Patil, instead of by Prince Charles, who will represent the Queen.

However a statement from Clarence House, the Prince's official residence in London, confirmed this week that he will read out a message from the Queen which ends by ''declaring the Games open''.

In what has been described as a compromise in India, Patil is expected to give a short speech after the prince and say ''let the Games begin''.

The Australian team, with more than 600 members, will be the biggest to march into the stadium, with athletes from 71 other countries and territories participating. But Australia will also be well represented behind the scenes.

''All in all, in the ceremonies team, there's probably about 50 to 60 Aussies here,'' Andrew Howard, director of Howard and Sons, the company staging the fireworks at the opening and closing ceremonies, said.

The event will have an Australian production manager and audio engineer. Australian-born Ric Birch, who masterminded the opening and closing ceremonies at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Brisbane Commonwealth Games in 1982, is a consultant to the organising committee.

Howard's firm, which staged the fireworks at the opening ceremony of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games four years ago, has had 20 Australian pyrotechnic riggers installing the fireworks at the main stadium.

''I've done plenty of big jobs in exotic places around the world but none of them have been as challenging as this one,'' he said. ''But I'm not complaining. I like the vibe of the joint … it's like a great Indian train ride: you've got to hop on and take the ride.''

Howard said the opening ceremony has ''got a huge cast, lots of colour, telling a story about the history and culture of Delhi … the choreography will have frantic pace with plenty of action and movement, just like Bollywood or the traffic of India's roads.''

However, the pomp will not hide reminders of the troubled prelude to the Games. Spectators attending the opening ceremony will walk over a temporary military bridge hurriedly erected to replace the one that collapsed last week, injuring 27 workers.

Early last month, authorities delivered certification documents to the Commonwealth Games Federation stating that all completed venues were safe to operate. But on September 22 a section of ceiling in the wrestling venue fell in. Organisers insist that all venues are sound and ready for use.

Teams from across the Commonwealth are giving them the benefit of the doubt.


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