A phenomenon called the Beijing Olympics

What better day could the Chinese ask for their maiden Olympic hosting, 08-08-08. The games opening ceremony started at 8 o’clock exact. Everyone, with the possible exception of those wanting to cherish the ‘auspicious day’ of 08-08-08 as their wedding day or stuff like that, were gearing up for the greatest sporting extravaganza on the planet.

Having a keen interest in all kind of sports, I was sure to catch up with the Olympics. But, with China being the host, I had expected a good deal of grandeur in the opening ceremony. The preparations too were kept very low key. True to all the expectations, the function was just phenomenal.

Olympic opening ceremonies were always a treat to the eyes. I had watched the last two Olympics - Sydney and Athens. Many had also mentioned that the 1992 Barcelona Olympics’ torch was lighted by a blind archer. They said that he had shot a lit arrow towards the torch. Although, I wasn’t expecting that kind of an opening, this blew me off. I had read somewhere that the performers were trained for 10 months. They were given half-days at offices and were trained. Such rigorous implementation can only be realized in a communist country like China. True to the country’s population, the number of performers for the inauguration was – believe it or not – 15000! The visual treat provided by them was jaw-dropping. The synchronization was so meticulous that anyone watching could have forgotten to blink till they ended. The firework display that followed was exquisite too.

With all things going great, the only thing that was disappointing was the Indian contingent. All male athletes dressed in traditional Sherwanis, the female counterparts came to the stadium with sorry looking attires – a few in saris, and the rest in track pants and mismatched jackets. I don’t expect India to be in the medal’s tally, but at least I wished they had caught a few eyes on the opening day with a descent appearance. With things like Monika Devi - the weightlifter’s fake doping scandal going IOC and SAI’s way, I guess they didn’t have enough time to spare for this kind of stuff. Anyway, with a ghastly start, things may turn for India – although I think that’s not going to happen. Enjoy the 3 weeks of action.

Back from time travelling…

Remember the early days of this millennium, how you passed time? Computers could be seen only at classrooms. TV’s were there, but I doubt we were hanging around that (esp. when there was no cable). Scratchin’ your head why I’m dragging you backwards in time? Well, the last 10 days for me, it was like being catapulted by a time machine back to the period I was talking…

It all started on 16^th. Phone line went dead. I had plans for the next week that followed, so, didn’t bother to get that repaired. A week from then on - thanks to the rain god - load shedding of 6 hours was “formally” announced. So, what was I supposed to do? No computer, no TV and no phone to talk. Wasn’t this how it was in the late 90’s?

But, this was a welcome change for my boring lifestyle. Vacations till now meant watching movies, listening to repetitive tracks or watch some crap on TV. Occasionally, I’d go visiting cousins or relatives. Eventually, days would run out of my so called vacation. This time around, it was different. Time was so abundant this time; I had to find ways to waste it. Thanks to John Grisham for writing “A Time to Kill” and thanks to my buddy Shiva for lending me this book, I returned to my old avocation of reading novels. It was followed by Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”, Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas”, Sydney Sheldon’s “Naked Face” and “Stranger in the Mirror”. I even tried my hand in cooking.

Well, these sorts of things were what I used to do back then. I had interest in all such extra activities, which till recently I never cared to give a thought. Thanks to all the irregularities in the government run institutions like BSNL and BESCOM, I’ve been carted to new-found interests whom I hope to keep alive in the coming days.