Beijing

This is to discuss to some extent the phenomenon that was the 2008 Olympics thus far, and the reactions in India to the same. Whilst the vivid and colourful opening ceremony was taking place, with the I.O.A president Suresh Kalmadi a witness to greatness, history was surely made.
The aura surrounding the national stadium, nicknamed the bird's nest for obvious reasons on the evening of 08/08/08 is indescribable. They even kicked off at 8 pm:). Picture this- India wants to host the Olympics too. Say they win the bid for the 2020 Olympics ( 2016 they'll probably lose in the first round). And the opening ceremony is scheduled to start at 8 pm on some date...
By Indian standard time "standards", it's very safe to say that the chief guest( or should i say chief guests- numbering a hundred or so incompetent bastards ) turn up by nine. People like Deve Gowda ( I have nothing against him), Lalu Yadav, Mayawati ( a prime ministerial candidate:p ) and a bunch of other losers, wearing them dhoti's and those "towels", chewing paan in the vvip box. So yeah, you get the picture.
Let's assume that by 2020, these vvips' attires change for the better. Screw presentation and attire and behaviour for the moment.
The real deal is, can we get the money approved for investment. Can we for once, see to it that no sub-standard work is carried out. Can we vie, toil, push on with courage to try and emulate the Chinese. I strongly believe WE CAN and we're obliged to. We're a country of a billion people, a Country with culture and heritage like none other.
We have it all. The talent in any field be it science or technology or sport. We lack execution. We are not able to impersonate and dramatise "the prestige of the magic trick" that is the Olympic dream. India has in its realm a prolific culture. Be it music, folklore, heritage, literature or anything for that matter. We have it all!!! What better stage to showcase just a gist of our greatness, than the summer Olympics.
The only possible way we can do this is to somehow keep politics and bureaucrats away! (Maybe slip them some land deeds or money under the table:D). Ndtv and other leading news-broadcasters had debates on whether we can host an 'Olympic games', and not surprisingly, the answer was no. A similar reason being too much disruption at the bureaucratic level.
So it is time, to stop talking and putting our asses to work. Mario Puzo once wrote- actions speak. Words are like fart in the air:p . I couldn't agree more!! Though we're light years away, we're definitely inching closer. We'll be there surely!! Round one action- 2010 commonwealth games.
A win or a loss remains to be seen. Cheers.

Just a thought. Isn't it ironic how an autocratic nation with Hu Jintao as premier, who has a say in everything, gets all the work done while India, the biggest democracy take everything to the parliament where we veto it, or leave it to the judiciary to decide. We're still in that "feel good factor" phase. All chiched. No use