The Pervading Games Spirit

By Sr. Francin

The 11-day Sports Kumba Mela is over. It is time to take a closer look at the impact of Common Wealth Games on people living outside Delhi, the venue of the real action. Do people feel proud of the Games? How far the spirit of the Games spread to remote India? The combined efforts of thousands of people made it a triumph. The delight and charm of this sport event has gone beyond the boundaries of the national Capital.

The remote, nondescript Dhariwal village in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district in an example of how the Games have changed the life style of people. Villagers here said that they were really taken up and amazed by the Opening Ceremony itself. The routine of common people had changed. Most of them wanted to be in front of the television sets, glued to various channels watching sports events.

People were eager to know the latest medal tally of India. When the shooters and other athletes from Punjab bagged medals, I could see villagers erupting in joy. Many of them could be seen praying with folded handed for the success of their sportspersons. Yes, Punjabis are sports-spirited people. When Mandeep Kaur and Manjeet Kaur of the 4x400 relay team won the gold, the village youths celebrated it by distributing sweets and bursting fire crackers.

To get a feel of these village-folks, I, along with Swaran Singh who is a reporter with Punjabi daily Ajit, went to some of the villages. We met several young men and women besides political leaders in Daduwan village near Dhariwal.

Gurbrinder Singh Chahalm, a district delegate of Gurdaspur Youth Congress, said: “With Common Wealth Games, India established its name globally; news channels didn’t play their role responsibly. Its India’s biggest ever sporting extravaganza; in spite of criticism regarding the organization of the Games, it had been a great success. The Games will improve the image of the country among other nations as now they will not think India as a land of snake-charmers only. The world has become aware of the rich culture and heritage of India. Now India has laid the foundation for Olympic bid in future.”

Pawan Chouhan, Gurdaspur block Congress president, remarked: “The Common Wealth Games proved to the world that Indian players and people have the capacity to handle every problem and ability to organise such events.”

Many village youths said that they were not bothered about the ongoing cricket matches. Their focus was on CWG and India’s performance in various events. They summed up their opinion when one of them said: “Common Wealth Games are giving the best opportunity to the players worldwide to show their talent. It also helps India to better its image worldwide because of its systematic and well planned arrangements.”

School children are now waiting for the declaration of a holiday to honour the sports persons from Punjab who came out with flying colours. The gems of Punjab added lovely jewels to the crown of India.