As I write this blogpost, I feel very proud to be born in Dehi. The city is all decked up like a bride, and you can feel the festive spirit already in the air.
There is this great feeling in the air, which tells you that tonight will be a good night. We are couple of hours away from the opening ceremony and I have a feeling, we will make it memorable.
Entry to the venue was substantially hassle-free when we arrived about 2 hours before the ceremony, escorted by the Delhi Traffic Police in the exclusive CWG lane. Mind you, we felt blessed not getting stuck in the jam. As you near the main venue, you will see that Delhi means business and has done everything in order to ensure a safe Games. We were greeted by home minister P Chidambaram who was personally overseeing last minute preparations.
Home minister P Chidambaram at the Game Opening Ceremony. Priyanka Parashar/Mint
I am currently in the media block, with access to Laptop and amazing LAN. I must say, the press operation team is doing everything possible to leave no stone unturned. The volunteers, technical team and the officers are very helpful and courteous.
The Aerostat, largest helium balloon was the highlight of the evening. Tim Wimborne/Reuters
In no time, the stadium started getting filled up. Delhihites have come out in large numbers. The atmosphere inside the venue is electric with crowds constantly applauding and cheering. We can constantly hear Hooting, Jai Hind slogans and the occasional Vuvuzela! As the natural light dims and flood lights take over, the hard work by the organizers to ensure the glitz and glamour of the event is apparent. The highlight of the evening is the huge Aerostat, the biggest Helium ballon, right now lying low near the centre stage. Later in the evening, it will be suspended 25 mm in the air.
As the media was busy settling in, the pre-ceremony events started hosted by Delhi’s famous emcee, Nitin. We’ve had performances by popular Delhi bands and solo artistes on the various themes. The stadium reverberates with A R Rehman’s official CWG track every now and then, and it is wonderful to see the crowd joining in to cheer.
President Pratibha Patil, her husband Devi Singh Shekhawat, Britain's Prince Charles, his wife Camilla Parker, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur and Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi at the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. R Senthil Kumar/PTI
As we near the 7: 00 pm mark, guests have started pouring in. First to arrive was the Commonwealth Games Chief Federation chief Michael Fennell, followed by union sports minister, M.S. Gill, tourism minister Kumari Selja and Lt. Governor Tejinder Khanna. Shortly after them, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and OC chief Suresh Kalmadi joined the other dignatories. It was very ironic, as they both came, the crowd cheered loudly, applauding them. I am sure this feeling of being accepted by the Delhi citizens must have been the music to their ears, after the many brickbats. They acknowledged the respect by waving back to the crowd.
The huge scorboard is playing videos from outside the venue, dignatories arriving and by the time I finish this sentence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be seated amongst us.
This is all I have for the time being, I will update further once we start off with ceremony. As I said earlier, it will be a good night for Delhi for sure. And we’ll be on time, not the IST (Indian Stretchable Time)
Update 2
The opening ceremony was typical Indian welcome, with all the elements from different states across the country. The announcement of the beginning of the grand evening was made by the Indian drums or nagadas. The countdown starts with the Nagadas playing a beat to each count from 10 to 0. And slowly the whole stadia is revealed with flashes of light.
The 19th Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Priyanka Parashar/Mint
Every beat was met with equal enthusiastic claps from the audience. I was able to feel the thunder of the nagadas beneath the seats, the thumping which reverberates with energy. With this, the aerostat rose from the ground to be suspended in the air. This was a spectacular site; it rose and with it raised the tempo of the music.
The act was titled rhythms of India, with musicians from the country playing traditional musical instruments. Basically, all were different types of Indian drums like Pung Cholon, Chenda and Dhol. Also, included was a jugalbandi of tabla recital by Keshav.
The guests were welcomed by Hariharan, in a song titled ‘Sawagatam’ with children making a Namaste formation. The best part of the act were the part where children pull up a fabric over their head and paint a pattern on two opened palms like a Mehendi/Henna design. A picture worth a thousand words indeed.
By then, it was the time to welcome the 71 contingents and the balls was set rolling by Australia, the host for 2006 CWG. Various nations came, received with warmth and gusto by the Delhi people. Asian countries were received with unexpected roar, may be the affinity of being from one continent. South Africa made it’s presence felt as it’s players blowed their way with Vuvuzelas.
South African sportspersons blowing 'vuvuzela' during the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. R Senthil Kumar/PTI
Another thing to be noted, every lady that was leading the country was wearing a saree. Now, these weren’t just sarees, but 71 different styles of wearing a sarees from across the country.
Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra, carrying the Tricolour, leads the Indian contingent at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Sunday. Priyanka Parashar/Mint
Indian contingent was the last to arrive and was met with constant claps, Jai Hind and India slogans. The group was headed by Abhinav Bindra. The audience was just not getting enough of them applauding till they settled down.
Prince Charles receives the Queen's Baton from wrestler Sushil Kumar at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Sunday. Priyanka Parashar/Mint
Queens Baton was brought into the stadium carried by Indian boxer Vijendar Singh, Mary Kom, Samresh Jung and Susheel Kumar. Lastly, it was handed over to Prince Charles who read out the Queen’s message for the Games. That was it, and was the time to officially open the games as Prince Charles and President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said in their respective addresses.
By the time I finish writing, the classic and most revered Armed Forces Band will also finish their act. A special music composition for the commonwealth nations. And the Commonwealth Games flag unfurls and with this Abhinav Bindra takes oath on behalf of others to play a fair game and in the true spirit of sportsman ship.
Update 3
The next act was titled ” Tree of Knowledge ” a tribute to the various classical dance forms of India. Manipuri, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi were the focus. The act was conceptualized by the dancing legends from each form. This was an interesting thing to see but after a while got boring. Nevertheless, it was put together in a nice way, a feel good factor.
A show on seven 'kundalini chakras' in progress at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Sunday. Manvender Vashist/PTI
Followed by this, was the ancient exercise form called Yoga performed by Patanjali Peeth group (Baba Ram Dev) and stressing on the point of 7 chakras and their power. The ending was one picture perfect moment, when a larger then life ephemeral shape of a man in a giant Padma asana emerged from beneath the stage to lighten up the whole arena.
Oscar winning music composer A R Rehman performs during the opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Sunday evening. Manvender Vashist/PTI
The last act, or the second last act I should say was more like a chaos but was trying to find a method in the madness. Titled Great Indian Journey, it was the story of Indian Railways, also the lead partners in Games. It was chaotic in the sense that too much was happening on the stage with folk artistes performing, caricatures and props. The arena looked pretty and colourful but after a while, it became hard to follow what was happening. The life size train model with Hussain Kejriwala doing Chaiya Chaiya was too filmy but this number from Dil Se has been one of the few to do justice to trains as a prop.
Then another act celebrating the Indianness was lined up, with folk artistes performing their traditional dances. The highlight after the helium balloon was the Grand Finale featuring Oscar winning A R Rehman and his CWG creation ‘Jiyo, Utho, Bado, Jeeto’. Though, he got severely criticized for his song but when he was singing it live, the whole stadium joined him in chorus. I was able to feel that energy in the air, in those thousands voices and claps that made me sing along too. Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire was also on the playlist and had to be. It is by default has become the song of India, representing our spirit. Finally, after all the dance and song sequence, the opening ceremony came to an end with a vote of thanks to all.
I am sure, people will talk about this one till the time we don’t see the next one in Glasgow. It was efforts of so many people, and it showed. Everyone was doing their bit to make it a success, and it seemed like a success. Do share us, what you have to think about this great show after the brickbats?