Deception of CWG

Authorspeak: Characters of movie ‘Inception’ have been used in this article. It is again a big post but can’t help it. Like every Indian, I am hurt by the way things have been handled in the build up to the Commonwealth Games. Mismanagement and inadequate infrastructure have been the hallmark of the buildup to CWG 2010. If we cannot deliver even after spending such huge amount of money then it does not paint a good picture of India / Indians. What anguish me most is that we have failed to celebrate the spirit of such extravaganza – ‘Sports’ in the buildup to the games. World Cup soccer (which was not hosted in India and where India had not even qualified) had seen a 90 days countdown from Indian media with in depth analysis and much more. Alas, we have failed to celebrate our biggest sporting carnival in such a way till now.

‘Cobb! Whom are we running from?’ asked Ariadne.

‘I’ll tell you once we are safe.’

‘Safe!! What’s the danger?’

‘I have been asked to do a very big job… probably the grandest of our lives even our our times. I refused and we are being hunted now. The entire team is in danger.’

They were sitting on a private jet on its way to drop them off to farthest point in Northern hemisphere. Cobb’s facilitator in this escape had assured him that no one will be able to locate them and they will be safe in their hideout until the imminent danger is over. Cobb and Ariadne were accompanied by their team members – Arthur (the pointman), Earnes (the forger) and Yusuf (the chemist).

‘And why would you refuse the opportunity to do the grandest act of our times? Where is the Dom Cobb we know?’ asked Arthur.

‘Very much here. I refused because it is very complicated… almost next to impossible, risky and morally incorrect.’

‘Come on man. We have done Inception. It was impossible till we did it. Also, what we do never comes under the purview of morality. What is it Cobb? What was the job?’ Earnes questioned.

‘Okay. Heard of Commonwealth Games?’

‘Yeah. Erstwhile British colonies take part in it. This time it is happening in India – next week I believe.’ Yusuf shared his knowledge.

‘Yes. Well, the Games this time is in mess. Heard that lack of planning, preparedness & coordination along with excessive corruption caused this.’

‘So?’ exclaimed all.

‘The guy in the midst of all this is named Kalmadi. He wants us to put an illusion on the entire world so that the Games can be hailed as a success. He wants it to be perceived as better than the Beijing Olympics.’

‘I say we do it. Those Chinese are gloating about the Olympics ever since they have hosted it. We do it and shut the mouth of those bloody Chinese forever.’ quipped Arthur excitedly.

‘No. We should not.’

‘Why not? Aren’t they offering good money?’ asked Earnes.

‘They are. Beyond even our imagination. After all they have apparently made huge sums for themselves.’

‘So what’s the problem?’

‘First, it is difficult to cast a spell on the entire world simultaneously – the design will be too complicated. Second and more importantly, we are talking of ‘Sports’ guys. The only thing which can help to unite this torn-strife world is Sports. Cinema is a distant second. We cannot let someone corrupt the spirit of Sports so that he can hide his incompetency.’

‘I do not get the whole thing. Are we supposed to be moralists after all we have done?’ asked Ariadne, ‘and though I know that the design will be complicated, I am confident that I can make it work.’

‘Look…’ while Cobb’s team was debating the issue events were unfolding at rapid pace in India.

Kalmadi was a disturbed man. He was supposed to meet CWG boss in an hour and till then he had no word on whether Cobb had been recruited or not. He was pacing in his office when there was a soft knock on the door.

‘Come in.’ a close aide moved in.

‘Give me some good news.’ Kalmadi said in exasperation.

‘Sorry. But till now we have not been able to trace either Cobb or any other member of his team.’

‘What am I supposed to say to the media when I meet them with the CWG boss? I was stressing on the fact that ‘Games will be better than Beijing Olympics’ because you let me believe that Cobb will work for us.’

‘He will. We will trace him. For the time being scale down your rhetoric. Say we will host good games.’

‘As if that is possible in current state!! Why can’t we hire someone like P.C Sorkar to cast a spell on all? Or have some potions from Harry Potter movies to make everyone forget everything – perhaps even the fact that Delhi is supposed to host the games.’

‘Don’t panic sir. We will be able to manage it well by the end. Just like our Sports Minister had said – it will be like a big Indian Wedding.’ He chuckled a little.

‘What?’

‘Nothing. The first thing which came to my mind while I uttered the views of our respected Sports Minister was the movie ‘Monsoon Wedding’ – this Games is quite similar to that. We have a hyperactive monsoon season and everything is in chaos and we still expect everything to be fine.’

‘There is nothing hilarious in what you said. Let me talk to the Sports Minister. And ask the chauffeur to get the car. We need to drive to the airport soon.’

The phone rang for quite some time before being picked up by the operator – ‘Hello, Sports Ministry.’

‘This is Kalmadi. I need to speak to the Minister.’

‘Sir, he is busy preparing a presentation for the Prime Minister…’

‘Tell him it’s urgent.’

Soon he was connected to the Sports Minister who by his appearance would represent any Ministry but the Sports Ministry.

‘Hello.’

‘Gill sahib… Good Morning. How are you?’

‘I’m fine Kalmadi. Nice weather… I am enjoying it. Tell me what’s so urgent?’

‘Sir, we still do not have Cobb. Without him, it is impossible to have this ‘Games’ successfully. You have assured that we will have him by today. What am I going to say the CWG boss?’

‘Assure him that we will host a great ‘Games’. As far as Cobb is concerned, I have assigned some of our best men to track him down. We will have him soon. And why are you so concerned about the deadline of his delivery? You of all people should know that in India nothing is done within deadline.’

‘Gill Sahib… ab aap bhi mazak uda lo.’

‘Are baba… just relax. Even if we do not have Cobb, I have an idea which will make this ‘Games’ memorable for the visiting teams.’

‘You do?’

‘Yes. Look, despite our economic growth, what is one image of India which has stuck with the foreigners?’

‘What?’

‘Exotic land – land of snake charmers and sadhus and of filth. Look at the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ or any other depiction of Indians in their movies (of my time).’

‘So?’

‘So, if we have not been able to clean the entire village then also it will be able to let them relate to ‘Slumdog’. Also, the entire village in built near Yamuna so the visiting teams are bound to see snakes in this Monsoon season. I have already put some snake charmers to work near the village compound. The teams will carry a long lasting image of India with them. It will be much more than their expectations.’

‘Sir, this is a brilliant idea but I am a bit apprehensive.’

‘Don’t worry. It will work.’

‘Okay Gill Sahib… I have to move now to welcome the CWG boss.’ With that he disconnected the phone.

While Kalmadi was moving to airport to welcome the CWG boss, Cobb was not able to convince his teammates to not get involved in this ‘task’. All, apart from Cobb, were highly charged by the challenges thrown by this ‘Impossible Task’.

‘Look Cobb!! We are a team because we do things we believe in. This may not be right thing to you but we will not be able to get such huge opportunity in our life span. We have to do this man and we will fail without you and your expertise.’ pleaded Earnes.

‘All right. But I am doing this for you guys. I do not agree with what we are doing.’

‘Great!!’ said the rest of his team.

‘Okay. This is a very complex task. We need to take the help of Nolan to accomplish this. We did ‘Inception’ with him successfully. It is time to prove that even ‘Deception’ is possible.’