Sunday 3 October 2010

Commonwealth Games 2010- Opening Ceremony- For the Honor and Glory of Sports


Enjoy the spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on Oct 3rd.


(L-R) Prince Charles and Camilla, President Patil with her husband, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his wife.


The Indian delegation led by Olympic gold medalist (shooting) Abhinav Bindra.
20,000 dancers moved gracefully center stage.




The Canadian contingent
Here is a news report from NDTV.
New Delhi:
The spectacular opening ceremony for the XIXth Commonwealth Games on Sunday put the spotlight back on to the Games. And for a change, the media that had largely been critical of Delhi's efforts in the build up to the Games, showered praise for the wonderful show.
The Guardian said, "Concerns of recent weeks forgotten as dazzling event launches games amid atmosphere of national pride and celebrations.

"The Telegraph, also published from London, described the event as, "The biggest sporting spectacle India has ever hosted kicked off in typically colourful fashion... And there we were thinking it might never happen.

"The Herald Sun that comes out from Melbourne went a step ahead comparing the opening ceremony to that of the Beijing Olympics stating, "Indian Games officials should feel proud of the opening ceremony, classy and showy but somehow warmer and less contrived than the Beijing experience." (The helium filled aerostat ballon suspended above the stadium)
The Australian, published from New South Wales, wrote, "After weeks dominated by the old India of corruption, poverty and chaos the new "Incredible India" of diversity and cultural pride showed its face."The opening ceremony took place at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium that was dressed like a newly wed bride with Henna on her hands. And just so that the athletes don't miss out on all the action, the teams marched into the stadium right at the beginning of the programme, a first for the Commonwealth Games.The most beautiful moment of the night though was the huge roar for the Pakistani contingent. The 620-member strong Indian contingent led by Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra got a stand ovation from the crowd.While Prince Charles declared the Games open, President Pratibha Patil said, "The Games are now open. Let the Games begin."The cultural show took the audience on a journey of the country showcasing the diversity that is India featuring everyday life of the common man. In the end, all the negativity and criticism was forgotten as "Jiyo Utho Badho jeeto" becomes the mantra for the next 11days.

The Tree of Knowledge suspended from the balloon.


Dancers from Manipur (NE India)


Shera enjoying his moment
The South African brought their vuvuzelas along
Dancing with the performers
Strict security is in place

International friendships being chiseled.
Here are videos which you must watch of you want to see the rich diversity and culture of India.
The firs t one is the percussion performance with drummers from across the length and breadth of India. Right in the midst of them is a 7 year old child prodigy, Keshav who is displays such magnificence on the drums.



In this video is a yoga display and an explanation of what yoga is. Yoga are exercises to unveil or attain the hidden god or Brahma in you, according to Hindu philosophy. This is done by activating the 7 chakras which arouses the kundalini at the base of the spine which is believed to be in the form of a serpent or sarp. One does yoga to arouse the kundalini or serpent.
After the yoga you can see The Great Indian Train Journey, which is a pageant of everyday Indian life seen while travelling on an Indian train.

The photographs have been taken from The Indian Express and IBN7 websites

19 Fertilize my soul:

Terra said...

Amrita, I always enjoy your posts and this one is exceptionally gorgeous, with the photos of athletes, dancers, and the displays. Are you there watching, or watching from your home?

monsoon dreams said...

Amrita,
After all those corruption stories I am glad that everything went well.I am proud to be Indian.I was literally crying seeing the opening ceremony.

Amrita said...

Thank you Terra. I am gla dyou can catch a glimpe of India through my blog. No I was not so fortunate to go to Delh. We watche d on telly.

Dear MD indeed it was such a proud moment for all of us. After all the hue and cry, everything went off wonderfully an d I hope our participants collect lots of medals too.

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
I share your pride over your country India.
After what I have seen from earlier years, great parades and feasts must bean Indian specialty.
Good when feasts bring peace instead of war.
Also intriguing to think that Terry and you are members of the same Commonwealth.
Go India, Go Canada!

डा0 हेमंत कुमार ♠ Dr Hemant Kumar said...

Amrita ,
It's a nice Photo feature and complete story of common wealth games.Really i enjoyed it.
Best wishes.
Hemant

Nadwrażliwiec said...

Great photos. This ceremony had to be wonderful. Indian woman on the fourth photo looks like queen.

Anonymous said...

I did watch the opening ceremony in the telly. Very glamorous :)

Do you know, my cat is also named 'Shera'? Actually his name is 'Sherkhan', but I call him 'Shera' for short :)

Anonymous said...

Great Photos and videos! Wow! That's quite an opening ceremony! :-)

Gerry said...

India is always so wonderfully colorful to me, and that little boy on the drums was quite extraordinary. I enjoyed this video. I did not watch the one on Yoga. Maybe another time. Thanks for educating us about what takes place in India. This was a very impressive opening ceremony.

Vaisakh said...

Hey Amrita,

Great Job,

I think we all should be proud of this achievement..

Really loved your pictures..

Regards,
Cheers.

Ash said...

Beautiful post...lovely photos!

Amrita said...

Dear Felisol, thank you for cheering for Canada an d India. We have already won several medals.

Hementji, I am sure you enjoyed the show , I only have one complaint for DD tha t they showed too many ads, 83 minute s in all and we got to see the recorded version


Ji Zimb, that girl is very pretty indeed.


I am sur e your Shera is as cute as the tiger cub Reenie (smile)


Hello Ron, I am glad you liked the post.


Dear Gerry hope you are feeling well. I like reading about your life an d interaction with people around you.

Hello Vaisash, doctor in the making. Indeed it was a proud moment for all of us it was carried out with great aplomb. Don 't you wish yhou were there in the crowd of 60,000!

Wecome to my blog.

Hi Ash thee are web photos and I know i f you were there you would hav e taken some brilliant shots yourself.

Arts&Disability said...

Hi Amrita,

Not really into sports... but understand it makes so many others happy.

Great coverage & work, Amrita!

Are the dancers .... like the Bollywood dance type... is it that open & popular?

Love His Sonshine

Amrita said...

Hi Merry Lynn, I am not sports person myself, never played any because of my disabilities, but I like to watch some on TV,

I want to learn how to play snooker or billiards also known as pool - in India its played mainly by the elite club.

No these are traditional or classical dancers from 6 types. There were 11 segments of drummers.

The Bollywood dancing is a mish mash- fusion of Indian and western and good deal of fantasy.Have you watched Bollywood movies?

Arts&Disability said...

Bollywood is popular on the Univ. of South Florida campus where Merry Lynn was asked to choreograph some dances for an Indian cultural club.

She teaches traditional folk dances from around the world... and since we have not seen Bollywood movies - we are now getting familiar with it.
Sonshine (& Merry Lynn)

Amrita said...

I am so surprised to hea r tha tMerry Lynn. Bollywood in FL.

You are so creative and innovative. The classic movements of Indian dance might interst you.

Vaisakh said...

Yes I did Wish....

Amrita said...

Hi Vaisakh, there is th e closing ceremony too (smile) Ud my circumstance s were different I would hav e gone.LOL

Unknown said...

Dinamalar shares the joy of celebrating Commonwealth Games 2010 in India by providing updates of CWG such as results, participants and etc.,

Further details Chk dis page : http://sports.dinamalar.com/commonwealth_games_2010/index.asp