2nd October (birth anniversary of the Mahatma) had a calming influence on the anxious city which was god send considering that the following day the much-maligned Games were to be inaugurated with fanfare. The Games, the preparations of which will go down in history as a case study in poor management and misgovernance, have begun finally. It is generally observed and felt that India does well in crisis like situation. The rains vanished in Delhi and things started looking up under the moderate October sun. Hate them or love them, the Games were there to be there at any cost. Management pundits may call this 'effectiveness': getting things done. Do not ask how and at what cost. Do not ask how efficiently the tax payers' monenies were spent. Do not ask how many hours our labourers could sleep in a day. Do not ask how may abuses rolled down the tongues of our embarrased and worried officials and ministers to get the Village cleaned up. The 'effectiveness' means that you were ready on the evening of October 3 to welcome the world and diffuse the feeling amongst the citizens of Delhi that ALL IZ WELL.
I recall having read something about the handling of Mumbai floods being rated higher than the handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We don't have planners in India, we have crisis managers, fire fighters and damage controllers. Smoke does billow out but it's not a conflagration that you run into eventually.
TAILPIECE
Delhi 2010 are supposed to be 'green games'. I do not know how and why. An event of this scale is bound to guzzle much more fuel and energy than activities of the normal times, no matter how nicely you dress up your city with jute sculptures. Being green can't be just a fad or PR statement.
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