Can we realistically continue to dream that CWG 2010 will be the best Commonwealth Games ever, a statement that has become synonymous with the chairman of the Organizing Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, or is it finally beginning to sound hollow with time fast catching up on us and substantial work still remaining underdone?
We wanted to restore the pride of place to the athlete, the ultimate stakeholder of the games, and also explore what the lasting legacies of the mega event will be like? Can we finally say that the games are a prudent investment that will leave infrastructure that will serve as well into the future or will the tax payer lament the use of his money in ways unacceptable as the games descend on us? All of this and more was achieved while also allowing us the opportunity to get together on one platform the best assemblage of persons to talk on the games from across the country.
The inaugural plenary panel, including Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi, Suresh Kalmadi, chairman CWG 2010, Abhijit Sarkar, head, corporate communications, Sahara India Pariwar, S. Sridhar, CMD, Central Bank, Rina Ray, MD, Delhi Tourism and V.K. Karthika, publisher and chief editor, Harper Collins, India helped set the stage.
While Suresh Kalmadi and Sheila Dikshit offered an objective update on the state of preparedness, Rina Ray articulated plans for 'empowering every tourist', from abroad and also from within the country, who visit Delhi during the games.
All speakers agreed on the need for community integration and emphasized upon the huge opportunity that Delhi 2010 offered in its wake. While Karthika suggested that much more could be done, the chief minister and the chairman of the CWG outlined the complexities involved in staging the games of this nature and urged for more patience and understanding. "We are moving with a definite plan to raise hype. We don't want to start too early wherein the hype can get diffused", suggested Dikshit. "It will all start with 60 days to go".
Kalmadi was his usual buoyant self, "I am convinced it will be a great games and it will set the stage for the evolution of a sports culture in India", he asserted. With Karthika and Sarkar at their provocative best, the packed Stein Auditorium at the India Habitat Center enjoyed every moment of the one and a half hour discussion.
Cameras clicked quick and fast when the panelists were joined by Arindam Sengupta, executive editor of the Times of India, to launch the Times Commonwealth Guide and when Roop Kishore Maheshwari, chairman of Imagesbazaare.com, the event's primary supporter, offered mementos to the speakers.
He was accompanied by his son Sandeep, whose contribution was essential in making sure that the audience enjoyed a truly engaging morning. With questions hurled at the speakers from almost all corners of the auditorium, the end of the panel on account of time constraints left the audience asking for more, a pleasant departure from the existing norm at conferences of this nature.
This was followed by a stimulating discussion on "Commonwealth 2010 as Investment" chaired by Paromita Chatterjee of ET Now. M.J. Akbar did not let the intensity dip and B.S. Lalli, chairman of Prasar Bharti, articulated the challenges that lay ahead for the host broadcaster.
With Manish Kumar offering an insider's view, the intensity not for once was lost, a fact proved by a packed Steyn auditorium enjoying the deliberations.
The post lunch panel saw the coming together of some of the best corporate brains, men and women, who deliberated on issues of 'legacy' that the games are expected to leave behind.
This panel, chaired by Latika Khaneja, saw Ram Tamara, Abhijit Sarkar, Navroz Dhondy, Sandeep Maheswari and the Joint DG of the CWG OC, T.S. Darbari, emphasize on the singular importance of a positive legacy that CWG 2010 can, if organized well, will leave behind.
Discussions veered on issues of tangible and intangible legacy and Khaneja, in her inimitable style, got the audience into the discussion to ensure the panel was entertaining and stimulating.
The day's last panel began with a reality check. All of the panelists, members of the sports media fraternity and sportsmen who have represented India at the world stage, emphasized the overpowering presence of the market and the TRP's. Cricket, it was repeatedly emphasized, garners eyeballs and despite efforts to promote and market other sports, we remain a nation that only follows stars.
At the same time Ayaz Memon, Charu Sharma, Akash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Hakimuddin Habibullah hoped that a successful CWG 2010 will ensure that Olympic sports get their rightful place in the Indian sporting pantheon. The panel highlighted the need for sport for all and emphasized the role of sport in promoting development and peace.
These concerns, going beyond the confines of the sports field, are key concepts enshrined in the legacy document for CWG 2010. All of the panelists drew attention to the close connection between sport and nationalism, a linkage that can only become stronger with a significant number of podium finishes at CWG 2010.
At the end of the day, Gautam Sen, one of the key movers of the summit, summed up the proceedings.
No comments:
Post a Comment