the last time i wrote here i was clueless about what all will i learn from the cwg 2010. the world we live in is often cited as a compact one. even though we have lesser distances to travel in lesser time we always remain in a complete ignorance about this beautiful planet of ours. people often demand a world without any territorial bifurcation or any country but i disagree. i had never heard of any island nation called 'cook islands' but now i know that people there have a tradition of wearing a crown made of flowers. every morning when i used to report for my work at the ashok hotel, i used to find this lady with that flower crown on her head and the best part was when the entire team of cook islands appeared in those crowns during the opening ceremony walk. this made me think a lot. we never even care about this 'entire' world even though we are a part of it. we never think and neither do we realize that this world is not just india,pakistan,china,U.S.A.,britain,canada,africa.russia. the world is HUGE.
the day of the openeing ceremony when all the guests were boarding the bus for the jawaharlal nehru stadium i got an oppurtunity to smile and i myself know that the smile wasnt fake. every individual was dressed in the native attire. and it was beautiful to see all of them. i realize that for many of us it would be odd to wear a red bermuda along with a black blazer with black stockings till the knees. i smiled at the gentleman and realized how lucky i was to see such a blend of cultures from across the globe. i might be focusing on clothing just because that was the only way i could understand every person around me. a tall lady wearing some traditional gown with her head wrapped in a cloth that matched the gown marched to the bus. this wasnt a usual gown. whatever it was, it was interesting. amidst all these people i did get a glimpse of people wearing something i was known to. it was when a lady from pakistan appeared in the lobby in salwaar kameez that i returned from a world of thoughts where i was lost.
st.helina. it takes around two weeks for the people of this nation to reach india. an isolated nation in the south atlantic ocean. how do they celebrate?what do they do on new years? do they all discuss about global warming?
rasta. no i am not talking about any path. its the style that bob marley carried on his head. someone who has a rasta ia a ras.
trinidad and tobago in the carribean is an island nation where 47% of the people are of indian origin.hindi is amongst the languages spoken there. my delegate was from trinidad. the first time i met mr. michael romany, i was a bit nervous. i never knew the next twelve days would be my most memorable days. i had a great time with the trinadian people. i sat on the front seat next to the drivers where my view was blocked by the cwg sticker and the trinidad flag i had pasted above it. extending my neck to the right offered me the view of the road ahead. on my way back from the airport after me delegate left india i peeled off the flag carefully from the glass and placed it in my pocket. i started missing them. my delegate who was calm and cool, president of the CGA of his counry loved to see live matches in india, from netball to velodrome to hockey and rugby on the last day.
a plenty of things can be written but the most important one is that the world which has infinite horizons, uncountable people can be dealt with just one expression and that is a smile which we indians need to learn. the only curve that sets everything straight.
