Time Is Running Out

The Commonwealth Games (CWG) are Delhi's biggest sporting event ever. Yet with just days left for the event, the national media discourse on Delhi 2010, world opinion and indeed the mood in the city present a rather gloomy picture.
In Canada and Australia, athletes have been issued instructions that India isn't secure enough amidst recent terror threats and Canadian athletes are not to stay on in Delhi following their event.While some are upset at the prospect of missing out on the cultural experience of India, others concur that it is ultimately the Canadian Olympic Committee's responsibility to ensure security concerns are given due importance. New Zealand has gone further, voicing concerns about whether the Games can finally start on time. Scotland, Wales and a series of other smaller commonwealth countries too have spoken out about the state of under-preparedness, in the process dealing a body blow to India's global brand positioning.
Similarly, while many may dismiss the Queen's decision to give Delhi a miss her first non-attendance at the Games in years as irrelevant, it only underscores the negative undercurrent of the discussion in Britain. Human rights activists, at home and abroad, continue to be concerned about the working conditions of labourers in this last-ditch effort to finish things, a concern likely to deepen with organisers' pronouncements on differing standards of hygiene in the West and in India.
Three clear strands emerge in the discourse surrounding the Games. First, our politicians remain confident but some of the confidence on display appears to be false bravado. Second, they betray a growing sense of urgency in trying to wrap things up. This sense of desperation explains the rapid pace of work in the last two weeks, a pace in sharp contrast to the agonising apathy witnessed between 2003-09. Third is the sentiment expressed in the official website for the Delhi Games, which says the "Games will leave behind dramatically improved, world-class sports facilities that generations of Indian sportspersons can use in the future. The establishment of an Olympic-size pool as well as a gym in Delhi University will boost sports among the youth of Delhi."
Are such claims tenable? The answer now hinges not only on what happens during the Games but, more appropriately, on the legacy they will leave behind. On the plus side of the ledger, Delhi is ready to offer the world's athletes some first-rate stadiums for most sports competitions. But is this enough? Can CWG 2010 create a rallying cry of "sport for all" or will Indian sport continue to remain a lottery destined only for a few? These questions continue to animate experts on the eve of the Games. The notion of sport for all was certainly part of the Delhi 2010 legacy vision, which states: "More than all, the legacy of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi will be to boost the sports culture as a part of the daily life of every Indian, particularly the youth."
Also, going by the definition that soft power is the ability to get what you want by attracting others to your values, the government and the CWG Organising Committee have promoted the Games as a tool to attract the West to what they call a truly "modern India". At the same time, it is obvious to everyone that there is a sizeable section of India that chooses to remain beyond the realm of this marketing effort, for whom the Games don't signify much more than opulent spending with little tangible gain in the long run.
As Ashis Nandy has recently argued, "Anybody who spends a few days here will know that there is another India which is rebelling against the version of the official India, the ultra modern India being hammered home by the government. The slums of Delhi for example are in a different kind of dialogue with the mainstream discourse on the Commonwealth Games."
For Nandy, the contradiction between the official rhetoric on India championed by the government and the "dissent" so easily noticeable in the slums of Delhi are too obvious not to be taken note of by global commentators and policymakers interested in studying the Games' legacy. Such comments are gaining strength as the clock ticks, once again drawing attention to the issue of the sustainable legacy of the Games.
In the final analysis, despite all the contradictions surrounding the legacy rhetoric, the CWG, if staged well, will make a statement to a sizeable global audience. A failed Games experience, on the other hand, will add strength to the murmurs that there remains a serious disconnect between India's newfound modernity and the masses of Indians who still face pitiable conditions of existence.
At its best, Delhi 2010 was to herald the start of a new journey. At the time of writing, such a possibility appears remote. Delhi 2010 was meant to reorder the city, herald a new era, but it now looks to be a last-chance dash to finish the remaining work. Whether or not the Games are a spectacle to remember and the organisers are able to erase negative projections will shape the CWG's lasting legacy, a necessary assessment that will commence exactly three weeks from now.
The writer is senior research fellow, University of Central Lancashire.