Citius , Altius , Fortius ... 3 words that embody the spirit of the 'THE GAMES' and that of mankind and its zest for perennial perfection. It's here at the Olympic Games, the stage is set for the final showdown ... the best in class fight it out for over 2 weeks with a single minded determination for THE GOLD and thereby settle many a score , prove a point or two, put their country on the sporting map of the world and above all raise the bar for the next one.
'Olympics' perhaps is one word that brings to mind multiple images- excellence, pomp & show, history, internationalism, peace, despair and even shame for some.
I have been a great fan of The Games, for as long as I can remember. It was at the '80 Moscow games ( XXII Olympiad ) where my country won its last gold . Shame that a country of over a billion people has not produced an Olympic hero. The gold in '80 was for Hockey, a team sport. India' national game , has become a national shame...we could not even qualify for the latest edition of The Games. Perhaps we can take cover under Xenophanes' argument that athletic achievements pale in front of intellectual achievements, and so you will find us winning at the Math Olympiads or a chess Olympiad or even the Spelling Bee.
When at 8 on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008 , The Games of the XXIX Olympiad begins, it's China's moment of truth. One would think for the Asian behemoth, the 4th largest economy in the world, it has been a delayed landing...thanks to human rights, politics, pollution and what not. It's yet another feather to the cap soiled only slightly by its own internal strife. All eyes and ears of at least half the world are tuned to the Olympic games and the Chinese sure are basking in reflected glory of The Games. They will leave no stone unturned to put together what will be the greatest show on earth !
A friend of mine asked me a few years ago, what difference the Olympics made to the cockroach on my shelf or if it even knew of the Olympics...till today I don't have answer to his question. Perhaps I must think the Olympics is just another carnival, a passing show , a foolish show of strength , man's own private festival which fades miserably in front of the big picture. The cockroach was here before us, it will be here after us...I have to tell my friend not to be too concerned this time around...
When the dust settles on Beijing in a fortnight , the XXIX Olympics will be forgotten by most of us, but to the hundreds of sportspersons, all of them heroes in their own right, who held their heads high ... except perhaps to receive the odd medal, when they bow in humility...The Games is different from any other anywhere.
Long live The Games & the spirit of sports !!
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