Common wealth & Patriotism

GAMES & PATRIOTISM

The 28th commonwealth games came to a spectacular end & now all thoughts are towards the next game to be held in India in 2010.The Indian flag held high & a lot of improvement with regards to the Indian medal tally standings on the medal table as India stood 4th overall. The high note was the display of the spectacular event where the former world beauty queen, the bollywood beauties & dancers gave a scintillating performance showing the rich culture & traditions of Indian heritage plus waving to the crowd & pocketing a cool Rs 3 crore for the 11 minute performance. All this is fine & it was a great showmanship. The unacceptable part is when Aishwaria Rai says she did this out of patriotism for her country & I fail to understand this, if it is for patriotism, why the Rs 3 crore for the performance? instead she should be doing it for free. Isn’t this hypocrisy of the highest order? Politicians are to be blamed for the this bollywood mania & the hype they create which makes the crowd go hystrical.The games are a show of endurance & hard work the athletes have to go through to achieve the best for the nation. That is patriotism in my opinion. But for all their effort they are given second class treatment compared to the divas. If you ask the Indian populace to name the athletes who won the medal no one knows but Rani Mukerjeee wow! All know her. I think the government should spend a lot of money to improve the athletes & give them the status they deserve so that many talented youth are encouraged to join sports instead of heading to bollywood.We need to set our priorities right.