India Needs a Miracle?

The Core RPGC Main Forum
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Hi Guys

As most of you have probably heard, there have been growing concerns regarding India hosting the Commonwealth games due to the state of the athletes village that is almost nearly completely constructed. The article I have linked (below) provides what I must admit is a fairly biased perspective of this issue, However I see if it as fitting as it represents the views of the vast majority of the global population (in my opinion) as well as many of the high ranking officials and athletes as we have come to see over the past few days!

I for one believe that India needs to step up it’s game and actually provide so decent conditions. I may not have seen it for myself, but if athletes and officials are getting all up-tight and serious about it, then there’s most likely something wrong… really wrong. There have been tonnes of countries that have hosted the Olympics and set the standard time and time again, each time bettering the last! For a country with a powerful economy like India, this is no doubt appalling! This is there opportunity to show the world what they’re made of once again (as they’ve done it before… hosting the cricket IPL.) It’s time they got up and did a proper job…

However the article did make one interesting statement: “…the Commonwealth Games Federation has swallowed whole the notion that the awarding of a Games is a magic pill that cures all ills.” I have heard this discussed before, like hosting brings not only incredible amounts of tourism but further develops the local community in many ways as well. Who knows… only time will tell

So what do you guys think?

link: India needs a miracle

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The articles I read on the topic pointed out that a majority or near majority of the housing buildings for athletes weren’t complete by the time the games had started and that rumors of shoddy construction were confirmed when a bridge collapsed last week. Its not time that they “got up and did a proper job” since its simply too late at this point for any significant changes. The athletes will be fine despite their whining. Its just probably not going to be the most comfortable or glamorous of games. It simply makes India look bad.

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What I meant was that they should have prepared it to a globally recognized standard when they first started, since the world is practically monitoring them. Your right, it is kinda late… but I heard there’s still about a week or more left to try get things done?

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Of course they should have given it appropriate priority from the start. And the problems can still be, if not fixed, then made up for: the government could hire private building to host the athletes for the duration, things like that. Yes it still makes India look bad, but I still think hosting international games is a good thing. C’mon, weren’t we all united a few months ago for the African Cup? everything from Shakira videos to clairvoyant octopi (!!) made it a unique spectacle that filled its host nation with pride, and suddenly South Africa wasn’t known as that country that had Apartheid once, but a nation that had moved on . And before that, the Canada Winter Olympics did a similar thing. And you’re hearing this from someone who finds sports boring. Best of all, it gave people the feeling that something nice was going on in the World, not just disasters and crime and wars. We need more of that!

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Well, Barcelona transformed itself with the 1992 Olympics, Atlanta was a failure in that regard, Sydney got a boost until at least the next Olympics but I’m not sure what happened afterwards, Athens got a boost for 2 years and we’re still paying them off, boo (like other cities) and the jury is still out on long-term effects for Beijing. If the Olympic Games are a mixed proposition, believing the CG are a magic pill isn’t that rational an idea.

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Whether or not the games provide permanent benefits for the hosting country (in this case, India), it will still provide a boost of some sort (as you mentioned, whether it be temporary or longer lasting) therefore it could still be utilized to build the economy and increase global recognition.

However, at this current point in time, despite the fact many of the countries have accepted to go, India’s reputation has been badly scarred. This is no doubt a major embarrassment, considering things are still not up to scratch. However, I guess we have to consider there has been significant flooding in that region in recent times which would have affected the process quite drastically. But not much of an excuse none-the-less. Perhaps the games will make up for the disappointment so far (as Wilfredo mentioned.) They need to “Awe” the crowds, something unique and unforgettable…

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lmfao they’re ATHLETES. Since when do some of the fittest people on earth bitch about silly shit like this? I didn’t even read the article, but someone somewhere needs to man up. HAH.

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India has a corrupt police force, disease, and has about a third of the world’s poor. Fuck all of those problems! They need to fix the living conditions of visiting athletes.

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India needs a miracle… hair removal! Am I right? Indian girls are so hairy…

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You’ve got a point, they have so many other problems that need addressing! yet, their so intent on satisfying foreigners. I’m not surprised tho, practically every country in this same situation does the same thing… for instance in Beijing they supposedly had a wall that blocked out the poor from the rest of societies view (I saw footage on TV during the time of the games) however I am uncertain whether it is legit or not.

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Yeah, you’d think nations would focus on their actual priorities first. But sadly the Olympics have become a spectacle to be sought after for its sake, even if your country isn’t sure they can afford it.

But on the other hand, if all you do is focus on the problems in your land, won’t you depress the populace, which in turn will make progress harder?

I’m reminded of an episode of National Geographic I saw many years ago. It was about a festival in a small village in Rwanda. It was a “thanks god for what we got” kind of thing. I remember thinking, “What are this people celebrating for? They are poor, starving, diseased, and often caught in military violence!” From my POV, their lives were a living Hell.

But not only they had the festival, they celebrated with genuine joy. You could see children running on the streets squealing with glee, adults dancing in what best they could wear, etc. They were grateful for what little they had!

This had a profound effect on me. I realized, life is important, and just having it is a miracle. People will always strive to survive, but life without Joy has no merit. You could argue they were just fooling themselves for a while, but if it made their lives bearable, does it matter?

Not to mention that they could just have been genuinely glad to exist. To experience this world even if it was for a short, difficult time. After seeing this, I stopped feeling sorry for myself for being poor and sick. At least I live in a first-world country where the State helps take care of me and I have friends and family to share my life with. Next to many Rwandans, I must look like a millionaire.

So yeah, sport events have their merit too, if you remember that human life isn’t just about the day-to-day trials. And if hosting the Olympics improves India’s international standing so that they may get better trade relationships, so much the better!

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Yes that is true, but I didn’t mean that the country should solely focus on their own problems alone. What I intended to say was that they should prioritize their own problems ahead of other projects and stuff as such. In this case India should concentrate the bulk of their expenses on their own people before tending to the necessities of others… and from what I’ve seen so far, that isn’t the case. However, in the end, the commonwealth games could only potentially aid their economy and social status, not fix the problem altogether.

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That’s another thing: do we really know how much of India’s national budget is being spent on the games, and how much on helping the poor? Maybe they thought they could afford to host them and then they realized that they needed to spend the money elsewhere (they have ONE BILLION inhabitants now, you know.) If I’d been in their place I would not have taken on the games to begin with, but there you have it. God knows we screw up our budgets too. What I’m saying is, before we start pointing fingers we should research the matter better; it’s very easy to go “My God! The athletes’ accomodations aren’t ready?” without finding out why like this article does.

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But the fact of the matter is India has had problems for many years now (perhaps even decades.) Sure the state of the games is difficult to evaluate without looking into the issue further, but in regards to the countries status, if they had been spending enough money on it… then we should have seen some results by now (over the past years.) The problem is still bad now as well. However there are parts of India which are quite nice (or so I’ve heard), but the country as a whole… still has a long way to go.

NB: I did mention before that the article was biased. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Dont knock it til ya try it