Twitter
Advertisement

No spirit, no crowd

Here’s a pertinent think for the IOA to ponder - next time hold the Olympic Torch relay in the arid wastes of Ladakh.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin
NEW DELHI:Here’s a pertinent think for the IOA to ponder - next time hold the Olympic Torch relay in the arid wastes of Ladakh. The remotest corner of the Andamans could also be a logical choice.

After all, the number of common Indians who watched the event would just about be the same given the choking security blanket that was thrown around the event.

Smothered beneath it all was the participatory spirit that the Olympics are all about. From being a celebration of sport, the relay devolved to an exhibition of paranoia with the runners plodding along within a cocoon of paramilitary personnel in mufti.

Apart from the runners, officials, a huge media presence and a bunch of school children huddled in to fill the stands at the end; Delhi was barred from what is meant to be a joyous participation by common people across the world in the Olympic ideal. Multiple layers of security cordon had turned the Rajpath into a fort after one o’clock in the afternoon.

If security is meant to be a gaggle of roughly 10,000 khaki clad in a five-kilometre radius of one of the shortest torch relays ever witnessed by the world, then Indian agencies did a great job. Subtlety was definitely not the norm. The only beings that fluttered easy around India Gate were birds; the rest were directed along narrowly defined cordons with confusion being the dominant trend.

It was a success as far as keeping the relay incident-free is concerned but the fumbles at the beginning, which was delayed, and the subsequent bustle and uncertainty around just how it was to unfold would not have been a great exhibition of Indian efficiency to a world audience.

“It was disappointing to not have the crowds to cheer us on. But the situation perhaps demanded such tight security,” shooter Abhinav Bindra said later. But for the runners it was still a great feeling though the truncated route meant that each got just about 30 steps to try and jog.

“The Olympics are not about politics. These are Games that celebrate sport. To hold the torch was a great feeling of being part of the worldwide celebration that the torch run is all about,” said Atlanta bronze medallist Leander Paes. In fact one of the highlights of the run was Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi running the last leg and then lighting the flame together at the end. As to just how much of their differences are a headache to the IOA was apparent as the body is doing all it can to bring the two together. IOA president Suresh Kalmadi hoped from the dais that the two would get a medal from Beijing, though the duo are yet to sort out just how they would prepare for the Games.

The barricades persisted late into the evening, hours after the relay had terminated. The traffic chaos and the inconvenience to the average fellow out for a day’s work would surely have made the majority of Delhi wish that such exhibitions stay away. There is definite merit to the Ladakh idea.
Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement