New Delhi: From Incredible India to Disaster Delhi - that seems to be the story of the Capital with the Commonwealth Games on.And if Delhiites themselves are planning to give the Games a miss, what should you expect from the visitors?
The Singh family is planning their dream vacation to Hong Kong during what they believe will be a nightmarish Commonwealth Games fortnight.
"We all want to get out of here, nobody wants to stay. Probably out of 100 per cent in our school, 99 per cent are going out of town," said Sukhmani Singh, a student.
There was a very interesting article I read in Singapore saying Delhi's loss is Hong Kong and Singapore's gain. So there are people offering special CWG getaway packages," said Gurpreet Singh, a businessman.
The negative media has certainly taken a toll on 'Incredible India'.
Flip the pages of the newspapers and you have travel companies urging people to getaway during the Games. Maybe they realised it's was more lucrative to get people to travel out of the Capital than to persuade them to come to Delhi.Annually, India gets about 5 million visitors and the Delhi Tourism was expecting just 100,000 foreigners during the Commonwealth Games fortnight. But tour operators say that the actual amount may be 1/10th of that at just 10,000 foreigners.Delhi's 422 bed and breakfast accommodations and hotels are now getting seriously worried about the lack of bookings. According to a Commonwealth survey by the popular website tripadvisor.com, 93.5 per cent of foreigners from Commonwealth nations are not interested in coming to New Delhi.
"We did an online poll and found out that 93 percent of them didn't want to travel to India - 14 per cent of them due to security," said Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, Tripadvisor.com
However, tourism inflows at all multi-discipline sports events have been disappointing at other venues too. Beijing expected 400,000 visitors for the last Olympics but only 230,000 turned up.
It's not all gloom and doom. Since Delhi does have a very festive atmosphere right now for the Games - with hop-on-hop-off buses called the 'HoHos' and special tourist cafes - so even if the foreigners aren't coming perhaps domestic tourists from around India could use this opportunity for a Dilli darshan.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
CRICKET- A Religion in India
When it comes to games, Cricket is leading the way in India, the national game Hockey lagging miles behind. The passion among the people for the game is evident in the matches that are hosted in India. Thus it is said more than often that cricket has achieved the status of a religion in India with millions of followers to its credit. The fan base transcends all the cultural and religious barriers of the country. The people are so passionate about the game that it is almost impossible for a neutral cricket viewer to come and enjoy the game. The crowds begin to fill the stadium 5 hours prior on match days.
The different versions of the game have their respective followers with the One day matches and Twenty 20 comprising of youth and the Test matches for avid lovers of the game. The game which is played primarily by 8-10 nations is a rage in the Indian sub-continent with India leading the way. People follow their favorite cricketers closely and even a minute incident in their lives becomes a top story in the News. It might be fascinating for the sports fraternity across the world that the boards of such a game are among the richest in the world. For instance, the BCCI (Board for Cricket and Control in India) is the richest in the world leaving behind top Football clubs and the game which is being played by almost every country in the world.
Thus it is quite natural for people to know how one can create a success story with a game that is played only by miniscule number of nations of which some are still developing economies. But it will be an eye opener for them and for the followers of the game that there are very few spectators that come to witness the local or club level matches and thus turn out at only International matches. Most of them turn out at the matches where the home team is playing and see the home team winning. There are quite a number of occasions when India was losing the match and the stadium had to be evacuated as there was uproar from the crowd and throwing of bottles on the opponent team. There is maddening celebration after winning a game and effigies of players being burnt after losing a game. Thus it raises a basic question that whether we Indians really love the game of Cricket?
If Indians really appreciate the game then there should be ample public in the local club level matches and the standard of these games would also be higher. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India. It's true that people are crazy but they want to see India winning. They cannot appreciate the finer things of the game even if home country is winning forget about when losing a game. This may not look an appropriate justification to an avid cricket lover from India but the picture will be crystal clear if we visit other countries and sports.
For instance the stadium is full of capacity in the club level matches in England and Australia with people staying till the very end of the game. They appreciate a good shot even by an opponent player's team which is just opposite in India as there is a pin drop silence even if the opposition player has hit a beautiful shot or taken a crucial wicket. This is magnifies if we get to witness other games like tennis. It is a common instance there when people come together to appreciate a good game rather than support a particular player. There are quite a number of instances when Swiss maestro ace Roger Federer is cheered for his shot making over Briton Andy Murray in Wimbledon. The game of cricket, ironically, is facing a stiff competition from its various versions like One Day Cricket is Threatening Test Matches while Twenty20 is threatening them all.
Thus if Cricket has its ambitions to become a global game then its reception has to be a bit more serious in a country like India which has the largest following for the game. Otherwise, the success story of BCCI will be a temporary one and about just cashing the sentiments of the masses. They will have to promote the game at the grass root level and then go the next level of introducing it to the nations that are completely new to the game.
The different versions of the game have their respective followers with the One day matches and Twenty 20 comprising of youth and the Test matches for avid lovers of the game. The game which is played primarily by 8-10 nations is a rage in the Indian sub-continent with India leading the way. People follow their favorite cricketers closely and even a minute incident in their lives becomes a top story in the News. It might be fascinating for the sports fraternity across the world that the boards of such a game are among the richest in the world. For instance, the BCCI (Board for Cricket and Control in India) is the richest in the world leaving behind top Football clubs and the game which is being played by almost every country in the world.
Thus it is quite natural for people to know how one can create a success story with a game that is played only by miniscule number of nations of which some are still developing economies. But it will be an eye opener for them and for the followers of the game that there are very few spectators that come to witness the local or club level matches and thus turn out at only International matches. Most of them turn out at the matches where the home team is playing and see the home team winning. There are quite a number of occasions when India was losing the match and the stadium had to be evacuated as there was uproar from the crowd and throwing of bottles on the opponent team. There is maddening celebration after winning a game and effigies of players being burnt after losing a game. Thus it raises a basic question that whether we Indians really love the game of Cricket?
If Indians really appreciate the game then there should be ample public in the local club level matches and the standard of these games would also be higher. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India. It's true that people are crazy but they want to see India winning. They cannot appreciate the finer things of the game even if home country is winning forget about when losing a game. This may not look an appropriate justification to an avid cricket lover from India but the picture will be crystal clear if we visit other countries and sports.
For instance the stadium is full of capacity in the club level matches in England and Australia with people staying till the very end of the game. They appreciate a good shot even by an opponent player's team which is just opposite in India as there is a pin drop silence even if the opposition player has hit a beautiful shot or taken a crucial wicket. This is magnifies if we get to witness other games like tennis. It is a common instance there when people come together to appreciate a good game rather than support a particular player. There are quite a number of instances when Swiss maestro ace Roger Federer is cheered for his shot making over Briton Andy Murray in Wimbledon. The game of cricket, ironically, is facing a stiff competition from its various versions like One Day Cricket is Threatening Test Matches while Twenty20 is threatening them all.
Thus if Cricket has its ambitions to become a global game then its reception has to be a bit more serious in a country like India which has the largest following for the game. Otherwise, the success story of BCCI will be a temporary one and about just cashing the sentiments of the masses. They will have to promote the game at the grass root level and then go the next level of introducing it to the nations that are completely new to the game.
Entertainment based News Channels
News channels have largely become a hub of entertainment nowadays. The content of news channels is no more NEWS. Tune into any news channel and you will find some masala news on who killed whom in a particular TV Serial or a review of the episodes of a particular. Instead of news you will find reality shows running during prime time. Serials like 'saas bahu aur sajish' (Star News), 'tadka' (IBN 7), 'Serial Jaisa Koi Nahi (IBN 7) have become extremely popular and much liked by the people.These occupy an important position in the FCP of the channels & play a major role in increasing the TRPs. The news channels are increasingly showing entertainment based content. The hype provided by these channels on the fights and brawls in the TV Shows or among celebrities somehow encourages the bad content. More vulgarity is poured by the News channels by showing that story repetitively than the actual serial. For instance the fights of Big Boss were got more attention after being highlighted in the news channels than they originally did in the show.
A rational person will be more interested in knowing about the situation of the economy rather than how much money Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty spent on their wedding. But one may find opposite attention being given to the two by the News Channels. With the rough content,foul language and meaningless story has somewhere dimnished the essence of meaningful 'journalism' .
A rational person will be more interested in knowing about the situation of the economy rather than how much money Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty spent on their wedding. But one may find opposite attention being given to the two by the News Channels. With the rough content,foul language and meaningless story has somewhere dimnished the essence of meaningful 'journalism' .
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Travelling in the Ladies Special
The Delhi metro's first coach became reserved for ladies on the 2nd of October on father of the nation, Gandhiji's Birthday. As a girl it was a piece of good news for me. But I did not expect a lot from it, being familiar with the law implementation and following of the city. On that day itself lot of male passengers were found aboard on the ladies special ompartment, some out of unawareness, some out of ignorance and rest due to indifference. Then our Government came up with the idea of imposing a fine of Rs.200 on those found travelling in the compartment.Well it is not quite clear as to what effect it had on those people who are always in need of a seat more than the ladies and elderly. Though when I got to travel in metro after the commonwealth games holidays were over I sort of liked the experience.
After a long period of travelling in the overcrowded metros I was relieved to see a compartment where you could see some parts of the train rather than just the frustrated or confused faces& faces. It was also a big relief from the uncles who are always in a hurry and always willing to push you to their way through. It has proved to be a good point for the women in the city who otherwise don't feel safe in the city of Delhi. Plus now you don't need to stand in front of all the male passengers sitting in fronnt of you and never feeling the need of getting up and offering the seat. However still it cannot be called a complete success because regardless of the repetitve announcements, warnings through employees of metro and the fine you still can find one or two uncles and boys standing their in between all the 'ladies'
After a long period of travelling in the overcrowded metros I was relieved to see a compartment where you could see some parts of the train rather than just the frustrated or confused faces& faces. It was also a big relief from the uncles who are always in a hurry and always willing to push you to their way through. It has proved to be a good point for the women in the city who otherwise don't feel safe in the city of Delhi. Plus now you don't need to stand in front of all the male passengers sitting in fronnt of you and never feeling the need of getting up and offering the seat. However still it cannot be called a complete success because regardless of the repetitve announcements, warnings through employees of metro and the fine you still can find one or two uncles and boys standing their in between all the 'ladies'
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The SPANDAN Fever
Two days after its over I still thought about Spandan - conventionally a media fest of the institute but actually something very close to the heart of every VIPSian. This time also the fervor and spirit were quite high right from the beginning, a little flaccid work towards the start and then the more rigorous hard work towards the end. There were as always mixed emotions, fights, tensions, conflicts but there were also some new friendships budding between the people who hadn't known each other well before the fifth semester For me it was even more more special because for the first time in all three years I participated in a dance performance for the valedictory function. There were however a few disappointments on account of some nasty comments by someone but while thinking of the whole experience it was an enriching cum fun experience. Spandan taught me many things ranging from event management to dealing with people both socially & professionally. So on in all SPANDAN 2010 will surely be registered in my the few of wonderful memories of my college life.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Latest Trend in Bollywood
On a friday morning the first thing that I see in the newspaper are the new Bollywood flicks. So talking about Bollywood I got to think of some of the latest trends in Bollywood. Beginning with the names it has been increasingly a mix of Hindi and English that is hinglish - break k baad, love aaj kal, dunno y na jane kyu and a much more of english names rather than Hindi- crook, knock out, we are a family, action replay etc. Along with the mix & match names we also find an item number in almost every movie- munni badnaam (dabbang), shiela ki jawani (tees mar kha), tere ishq se meetha (aakrosh) for instance. These songs are not only there to spice up the movie but have become increasingly popular found buzzing in marriages, parties, dance shows and further on. The stories have become short and more urbanized. So we find that Bollywood is moving ahead and is definitely witnessing a drastic change from the 70s, 80s & 90s. Now it is there to see whether these trends get acceptance from the audience or would the Bollywood have to move back to the 'golden era' or discover something newer though.
The SPANDAN Fever
Two days after its over I still thought about Spandan - conventionally a media fest of the institute but actually something very close to the heart of every VIPSian. This time also the fervor and spirit were quite high right from the beginning, a little flaccid work towards the start and then the more rigorous hard work towards the end. There were as always mixed emotions, fights, tensions, conflicts but there were also some new friendships budding between the people who hadn't known each other well before the fifth semester For me it was even more more special because for the first time in all three years I participated in a dance performance for the valedictory function. There were however a few disappointments on account of some nasty comments by someone but while thinking of the whole experience it was an enriching cum fun experience. Spandan taught me many things ranging from event management to dealing with people both socially & professionally. So on in all SPANDAN 2010 will surely be registered in my the few of wonderful memories of my college life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)