Corruption Wala Games (CWG) to Olympics..?

Overheard - Lalit Modi asking Suresh Kalmadi if he needed help organizing Common Wealth Games...


CWG has got many names from different ppl now.. Corruption Wala Games, Calmadi Wealth Games, Common-Wealth Gate (after Watergate)

But.. I just hope this goes off well.. I know many ppl want this to fail so that corruption of such magnitudes (36K Crore) will not occur in future (you see we stand a borderline chance of getting the 2020 Olympics).

Why? Its important to get some start for a nation like ours.. ppl world over (esp West) have a very bad image of India. Most Westerners connect to India of Villages, snake charmers, elephants... illetrate masses who struggle to eat a square meal a day.. etc etc..

I agree this image is not wrong alltogether - Indians have always grown in the midst of dichotomous world divided between have's and have nots... 'Slumdog Millionaire' type images are not totally absent yet..

Yet.. yet I feel this stereotyping is not correct.. we are also a nation of rich people. Top 5% of India's rich would certainly be richer than top 5% of US, Japan, China, etc.. there is a slow yet identifyable transition from being a hopeless nation to one with hope.. there is a slow shift one can see coming... because you see India is a very young nation. The median age of India is only 22 years.. the median ages of other nations are as follows- US 36yrs, China 32yrs and EU/JP over 40 yrs. Ever heard of demographic dividend?? In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared with 37 in China and the US, 45 in West Europe and 48 in Japan. People in our country need to think big.. thats what is needed.

I believe to change perceptions of a nation you need a right forum to showcase the change.. for images of a nation to change from snake charmers to Info tech savvy engineers.. a inflexion point needs to present itself. What better than Olympics? I am sure we can make a decent Olympics even with ppl like Kalmadi & Co. still in the midst of system. Even an 'average' Olympics in India is better than 'no' Olympics right?

For now.. wishing Common Wealth Games all the best :-P

Ciao till next time...Harsha