Jittery Thoughts On CWG

Last Saturday, I suddenly got worried about my humble share in the Rs 2,394 crore that the government had loaned to Mr Kalmadi. So, to calm my nerves, I bought myself a few tickets of the CWG events of the day.

Accompanied by a banker-turned-games fanatic friend, I found myself yawning in front of a ticket counter at eight in the morning. No, Rakhi Sawant hadn't decided to finally get married (for real) but the queue at the counter was equally meandering and endless. By the time our turn came, a young volunteer enquired, "How can I help you?" "By letting me buy two tickets of India's hockey match today," I replied.u00a0 "Sorry saar, all seat full.

Can give only Scotland match," she said. "But I know the seats are all empty," I protested. "I also knowing saar, seat empty. But computer showing full so I have to say full," she said.

Not to be vanquished so easily, my friend dialled a helpline number and handed over the phone to me. Again, a haggard voice replied. I patiently asked why the tickets were unavailable when the seats were empty. "I don't know, maybe it has been distributed in bulk to officials or organisations who weren't decent enough to turn up," he replied, slightly irritated.

"So where can a common man complain then?"

"Try the media, they love such stories."

"But I'm from the media."

"Oh great, then write about it. And yes, do also add this information that people should responsibly enjoy the games and not make useless enquiries."
u00a0
To cut a long story short, we ended up buying the Scotland match tickets. I enjoyed the match. There weren't any Scottish guys showing off hairy legs in kilts but eleven robust Scottish women in shorts or skirts (don't remember clearly for I was too busy admiring the silky legs) running after something, which from a distance seemed like a ball. I don't remember which team won the match either (there were also eleven Australian girls with silky legs playing against them). But I do remember that more than half of the seats were empty. Once the show was over, the empty seats started worrying me about the Rs 670 crore spent on building the stadia, the Rs 2,934 crore on sports infrastructure, Rs 650 crore for street scraping, Rs 3,700 crore on bridges and flyovers ufffd.

Now, I think I need to spend more money and watch some more events before I can get rid of my fears and finally say CWG=Rs 28,054 crore vasool!