Gala opening show kicks off Commonwealth Games

A spectacular show capturing the rich cultural tradition of India left the audience from across the world enthralled at the packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here as the 19th Commonwealth Games got off to an exciting start on Sunday night.

Prince Charles declared the Games open in the presence of President Pratibha Patil and host of other dignitaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after a grand opening ceremony marked by songs, dance, percussion, yoga and a burst of colourful, high-tech marvels.

The grand opening ceremony had it all. The rendition of singer Hariharan welcoming the Commonwealth nations, titled ?Swagatam,? captivated the crowd , as did a live performance by music maestro AR Rahman.

The concept of the opening ceremony concept was ?The Wheel of Life? , sending the message that the whole world is one family.

It was followed by a programme-? Rhythm of India?- where a total of 800 drummers drawn from several Indian states performed.

The performances were followed by a march past by the athletes from the 71 participating nations. The 619-member Indian contingent at the Games was led by Olympian shooter Abhinav Bindra.

The showpiece opening ceremony witnessed the participation of 7000 performers.

Nearly 7000 athletes from the Commonwealth nations and territories are participating in the Games.

“We are ready. India’s big moment is finally here,” said Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) who was blamed for much of the delays and other maladies plaguing the Games and the Games village.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged all the visitors the sights and sounds of India and pledged to promote peace and understanding.

The Commonwealth Games baton arrived in the stadium to lusty cheers soon after the Prime Minister welcomed all in Delhi. Boxer Vijender Singh entered the stadium with the Queen’s baton and handed over to his female counterpart Mary Kom.

Finally Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar handed it over to Prince Charles to read out the message of the Queen. “I declare the Games open,” Prince Charles said.

“Let the game begin,” said President Pratibha Patil as she delivered her speech soon after Prince Charles.

After the speeches more performances followed. Next was the Tree of Knowledge, the performance encapsulating the ?Guru Sishya Parampara,? which means the passing on of the art from the teacher to the pupils in true Indian tradition.

It is followed by a yoga performance.

The concluding part of the programme was a theme song : Jeeyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto ( Live, Rise, Move and Win ), composed by the Oscar winning A R Rahman.

Ahead of the opening ceremony, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the Games will be a huge success, but did not mince words to criticize the Organizing Committee and the other groups like Delhi Development Authority and private developer Emaar MGF for the poor condition of the Games Village initially and negative publicity.

The organisers said they were confident of pulling off a great show at the 12-day event (Oct 3 to 14), whose cost has accelerated to an estimated 6 billion USD from 100 million USD when India was awarded the Games seven years ago, making it an expensive affair for a country like India where majority of the 1.2 billion people suffered from malnutrition.

Commonwealth nations, despite adverse publicity from domestic media regarding alleged siphoning of funds and delay in building the stadiums for venues, supported India so far to make the Games a success.

Though some top ranking sport persons from few different nations pulled out citing personal ground, no Commonwealth country officially withdrew despite initial threatening for lack of hygiene and security threats.

But with the showpiece declared officially open on Sunday, thousands of athletes have arrived and the last-ditch desperate clean-up of the village seemed to have paid off.

The capital has been blanketed by massive security with 17,000 paramilitary troopers reinforcing 80,000 police to make the show a success as they guard all the 41 venues.

A total of 650 police vans and 350 quick reaction teams are patrolling the national capital while the paramilitary forces are kept standby.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram advised the participating nations to enjoy the games and win medals rather than apprehending about security.

“All leaves of the police personnel have been cancelled till the Games are over. This is a moment of great challenge for the Delhi police. We will leave no stone unturned,” said Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal told the reporters.

Meanwhile, Delhi witnessed a near shutdown on Sunday.

All shops, markets and business establishments were asked to remain shut to ensure a foolproof security.