Why it is always us?

The thoughts of writing about Commonwealth Games have been popping up in my mind for the last few days but every time I geared up myself with a pen and paper, I got flummoxed thanks to the variety of things that needed to be put down in black and white and finally ended up in a blank page.

I was simply unable to delve into the depth of my mind to find out what really bothered me about these Games, so I decided to get started with the most fundamental question that is still unanswered- why it is always India which has to succumb to the contempt with which the world looks down upon it. Why it is India which fails to put on display a major event successfully? Why does our image always get tarnished in front of other countries?

It all commenced with extensive corruption charges, amount worth crores and crores being wasted in buying sports equipments,toilet papers, treadmills and so on. All these corruption allegations were followed by the security fears that arose due to firing outside Jama Masjid and dengue scare which resulted in Delhi witnessing many top athletes pulling out of the Games. Lately as the Games village was finally inaugurated, images of the filthy and "unlivable" conditions shocked all the Commonwealth nations, which forced many to delay the arrival of their athletes. And now the rescuing from snakes from the athletes' rooms as well as tennis stadia- I wonder if there is any end to all these or not.

These controversies have put a big question mark before our commitment and sincerity to hosting such a major event. I am afraid whether Delhi would be able to put up a successful Games or not, whether we would ever be able to bag another opportunity to host such an event or not and finally, whether India's ever-sinking reputation would ever improve or not. I am still groping in the dark frantically to find out the answers and a permanent solution to these fears.

Is it lack of a work culture that has been existent since ages? Or the greed for money that has taken a toll on the organisers? Or maybe the indifferent attitude of the persons concerned that has plagued us since time immemorial? The cause may be anything but the fact is that we have FAILED. Now it's time to act upon our tarnished image-what do we really want? Are we able to come out of the tag that has already been created by us for ourselves or do we punish ourselves consciously?