This is India and to understand India, one must understand the journey of the Commonwealth Games. Awarded in 2003, India did not start building the venues in earnest until 2007. Contracts were awarded to non-existant firms, relatives of the government and other unsavory characters. Now, in the west, we do not understand how a country could risk national embarrassment for a little money on the side. I'm not saying we in the west are not motivated by personal gain - just look at the President's appearance at the Chicago Olympic bid on behalf of his friend Valerie Jarrett - but we would ensure that the job was done before we took our graft. We do this solely because it takes away the political will to investigate. We're smart that way.
In India, there is no political will to investigate anything, so one can risk national embarrassment if it is the shorter route to riches. This got so out of hand that with two weeks to go before the games, the athlete's village was declared unfit for human habitation. They actually found piles of human shit on the floors in the rooms from the workers who had been living there. The response from the Government was priceless - "The West has a different standard of hygiene than we do in India." You can't make this stuff up! Then we had the pedestrian bridge collapse and the wrestling arena fall down. Apparently, we have a different standard of building quality, as well.
The opening ceremonies from our terrace
There is another story to the Commonwealth games that is equally representative of India and that is the fact that in the end, despite the delays, despite the monsoons and despite the incompetency, they actually pulled it off. Under pressure, they always seem to come through. They are not good at planning, or even building for that matter, but they are good at getting across the finish - even if it is just barely!
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