So... were the Rs70,000 crore worth it?
Who can tell? How much money would you pay to watch 60,000 people rising to salute hitherto unknown Indian athletes? And how would you contrast it to the cost of the Commonwealth Games: the labourers injured in the collapse of the footbridge; the blow to national dignity when newspapers around the world splashed pictures of filth?
No balance sheet can be made on the success or failure of these Games, but the Indian athletes gave spectators their money’s worth. Runners out-sprinted rivals from Nigeria and Trinidad; shooters, boxers and wrestlers out-pointed their opponents; an Indian gymnast even won two medals.
For the first time since the 1982 Asian Games, Indian sportspersons were feted, followed by the nation. For too long, they have remained in obscurity. At long last, they became the centre of it all.
India, with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze, 101 in all, finished No 2 behind Australia and just ahead of England. The contest for the second spot played until the last event of the Games — the badminton women’s singles match featuring Saina Nehwal, who was within a point of losing and thereby conceding that place. But this was India’s Games, a time of magical possibilities. Saina won, India took second place.
