With just about 40 days to go, the nerves have started feeling the heat. The clock is ticking and Delhi 2010 is fast becoming the cynosure of world attention. The countdown has started and India will soon be on show. In such a desperate state, we are yet to launch Delhi 2010 branded merchandise, key to the success of any mega event of truly global proportions. Amidst speculation over whether Premier Brands, the company initially vested with the merchandise contract, is yet again coming back to the Games fold, the real loser is the event itself. For anyone coming to India, it is only natural to pick up Games-related merchandise for folks back home.
Expressing disbelief at the state of affairs, Gagan Narang, India?s best shooter on form and one who has broken seven world records in the past three years, said, ?I spent Rs 20,000 in Beijing buying merchandise for friends back home. It is very important we started selling our products, for that is what the foreign tourist will want to buy.?
If asked why it has come to this, the OC and Premier Brands get into a blame game, which ultimately leads one into a blind alley.
With the Prime Minister now taking a keen personal interest in the Games and the GOM having been empowered, it is imperative they turn their attention to this gaping lacuna in Games organisation, capable of shaming India before the world. Without further delay, the products need to be launched and with August 29 being India?s national sports day, the OC and the government also have an occasion to turn to.
I have often been asked recently as to how we can convert this overarching ambience of negativity into a feeling of hope?
The most potent and simple answer I can offer is that Kalmadi and company need to give up being the face of the Games with immediate effect. An immediate launch of the Games theme song composed by A R Rehman and a proper publicity campaign using the song in the same vein as Shakira?s Waka Waka will surely divert people?s attention from all the muck floating around. Another simple but effective means of spreading Games awareness is by distributing stickers with the simple message ?support India, support the Games? in all corners of the country. The 23,000-strong volunteer force working for the Games should also be entrusted with this task. Their morale, at an all-time low with regular stories of deception doing the rounds, needs an immediate lift and the launch of the theme song and an activation of the Games brand ambassadors can help in the process. With Saina, Vijender, Abhinav speaking to the volunteers, the lost sense of national pride is sure to come back.
Also worth a thought is if the Prime Minister should make an exception and address the nation on August 29, National Sports Day, and restore belief in the Games. Coming from the Prime Minister, this might have the necessary galvanising effect the Games so badly need. If a clarion call by the Prime Minister is picked up by India Inc, we will finally have the truly professional feel to the Games that it so badly is in need of. More than politicians, we need professionals to get the Games back on track. It is time for efficiency and the army and corporate India continue to be our best bets.
Can we truly stage the best-ever Commonwealth games? The short answer is no. It is time we bury this dream, one frequently bandied round by the chairman of the OC for the past three years. At the same time, it is time we realise that we can still stage a reasonable games, one the world will be happy to participate in. In doing so, internecine fights, personal animosities, deep-seated jealousies and finally political allegiances need to be given a burial in the final few days. Only if there is a feeling of unity among members driving this mammoth initiative can there be a salvaging of the situation. Not always is there a need to think of India in the real sense of the term. This is one and I hope our people?s representatives realise that.
?The writer is a cricket historian