101 Not Out

We all know that the build up to the Games was not very pleasant. As soon as there was evidence of corruption, national media made it a point to showcase Kalmadi and Co. in bad light. But what they also did was put India in bad light in front of the international media which reacted in their own Indophobic ways.

Things escalated further when the common man took it on him/her self to condemn everyone connected to the CWG (mind you, being an Indian was considered connection enough). I guess with the boom of social networking, everyone's a critic these days.

The Swagatam sequence: CWG Opening Ceremony

Of course the angst was justified. But we overdid it. That's because we are very emotional and touchy when it comes to ourselves. Setting aside the budget overshoot and corruption, which is more of an internal matter anyways, we did put up a darned good show for the world. The opening and closing ceremonies were splendid, hospitality commendable, security tight enough! And we did achieve the target of 100 medals, finishing 2nd overall.

National shame? I don't think so.