New Delhi: The XIX Commonwealth Games got underway here on Sunday evening with the drums and hearts of India beating as one as performers from across the nation came together to leave spectators at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and worldwide television audiences spellbound as Prince Charles and President Pratibha Patil jointly declared the Games open.
Prince Charles read out the message from Queen Elizabeth, the head of the Commonwealth, and declared the games open, before President Patil gave her message for the Games and said, "Let the Games begin", as the crowd went delirious with joy.
Military bands from the three services then played tunes as the Commonwealth Games Flag was hoisted and India's flag bearer Abhinav Bindra took the players' oath on behalf of all the athletes.
The opening ceremony made the heart swell with pride as 800 percussion artistes from all corners of the country - Manipur, Kerala, Punjab, and Karnataka among others played each of their unique drums in unision and child prodigy seven-year-old Keshav on the tabla held centrestage.
Dancing to their beats and to the tunes of the Tibetan Horn, an instrument dating back to the 1500 BC and the been, an instrument mostly associated with the snake charmers of India, were the giant Rajasthani puppets and the 60,000 spectators in the aisle who applauded with glee and joined in the celebration.
The helium balloon, the biggest ever used for any event, was one to behold as it lifted off after a pyrochtechnical display of fireworks that followed the playing of the national anthem.
After the opening act of the opening ceremony that lasted for 12 minutes, singer Hariharan sang Swagatam (Welcome all) along with students from different schools of Delhi, who showcased the art of mehndi (henna) painting white sheets with it to exhibit hands full of artistic designs.
The performance was followed by the march past as the 6,700 athletes and officials from the 71 countries made their entry into the stadium. They were led by ladies showcasing 71 Indian dresses and sarees as the aerostat displayed the country names in huge, colourful style.
The Pakistani contingent was greeted with a huge cheer, and so were the Sri Lankans. But as expected, the whole 60,000-strong crowd and the dignitaries gave the host contingent a standing ovation as they were led in by Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra. The men were dressed in Sherwani and the women in brown sarees.
The march past was followed by speeches by Suresh Kalmadi, Organising Committee Chairman, Mike Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Olympic medallist and boxing world champion Vijender Singh then entered the stadium with the Queen's baton and handed it over to multiple women's boxing world champion MC Marykom. She handed over the baton to shooter Samaresh Jung, who was the athlete of the Games at Melbourne 2006. He handed over the baton, that has seen the longest relay ever, to Olympic medallist and world wrestling champion Sushil Kumar who ran through to hand over the baton to Prince Charles.
The ceremony, which was divided into three parts - the opening segment, the march past and speeches, and the grand finale was a spectacle in colour that truly defined India's unity in diversity.
If the first segment set the tone for the Games with the energy of the drums, the final segment was a celebration of the great Indian journey that showcased the seasons through the various classical dance forms of India - Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Manipuri, Mohinattam and Kuchipudi; the inner strength of yoga; the colours of the nation through the eyes of the Indian Railways; and the recreation of Mahatma Gandhi's dandi march by sand artistes. In a country obsessed with Bollywood, it was a welcome absence of the stars from the tinsel world. The opening ceremony reached its crescendo with A R Rehman singing the theme song and the Oscar winning Jai Ho as fireworks lit up the Delhi sky.
It was truly a picture of India at its overwhelming best.
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