Ive never had much interest in visiting India.
Id like to say that theres some great principle involved. But actually it revolves around my own cowardice and guilt......guilt that I am enjoying a decent life style and it is at other peoples expense and cowardice in the sense that I like to turn my eyes away from such things.....because it forces me to do something......which is always too little.
Its how I deal with it. Maybe its how some of you deal with it.
Others might prefer to say "who cares?"
Effectively they are the same thing...a way to deal with it.
Actually I dont think that this Indian crisis can be seen in isolation from the Pakistan cricket crisis.
The Indian crisis feeds into a western notion that Indians are somehow more incompetent at dealing with things......not to mention the hygene issue.........and frankly it doesnt help when an Indian minister says that "the western standards are different" (ie in our terms "higher")
The Pakistan cricket controversy is similar in that theres a very unsubtle thread in the media, internet and water cooler conversations that there are different ethical standards applying. "Our boys" would not do this sorta thing.
And whatever the merits or otherwise of the two crises....thats slightly unhealthy.
And I myself in both conversations would allude to the impoverished state of both India and Pakistan and mumble about how this money could be better spent.
As has been pointed out the perceived risk in holding the World Cup in South Africa...turned out to be a triumph while holding the 1972 Olympics in (western) Munich was a tragedy.
And in terms of site delivery...infrastructure......security......London has still to happen.
We are in danger of having a two tier sports system operating in the World. Maybe it already exists to at least some degree and confining international sport to the "First World".
The Commonwealth Games has always been a mismatch.......some sprinters from the West Indies and african long distance runners wont make up for the fact that its about Canada, Australia, England......with New Zealand, Scotland and a few others doing well. Cue BBC Commentator using the phrase "the Friendly Games" and talking about the plucky swimmer from St Lucia and the plucky rifle shooter from from Norfolk Island.
Id like to say that theres some great principle involved. But actually it revolves around my own cowardice and guilt......guilt that I am enjoying a decent life style and it is at other peoples expense and cowardice in the sense that I like to turn my eyes away from such things.....because it forces me to do something......which is always too little.
Its how I deal with it. Maybe its how some of you deal with it.
Others might prefer to say "who cares?"
Effectively they are the same thing...a way to deal with it.
Actually I dont think that this Indian crisis can be seen in isolation from the Pakistan cricket crisis.
The Indian crisis feeds into a western notion that Indians are somehow more incompetent at dealing with things......not to mention the hygene issue.........and frankly it doesnt help when an Indian minister says that "the western standards are different" (ie in our terms "higher")
The Pakistan cricket controversy is similar in that theres a very unsubtle thread in the media, internet and water cooler conversations that there are different ethical standards applying. "Our boys" would not do this sorta thing.
And whatever the merits or otherwise of the two crises....thats slightly unhealthy.
And I myself in both conversations would allude to the impoverished state of both India and Pakistan and mumble about how this money could be better spent.
As has been pointed out the perceived risk in holding the World Cup in South Africa...turned out to be a triumph while holding the 1972 Olympics in (western) Munich was a tragedy.
And in terms of site delivery...infrastructure......security......London has still to happen.
We are in danger of having a two tier sports system operating in the World. Maybe it already exists to at least some degree and confining international sport to the "First World".
The Commonwealth Games has always been a mismatch.......some sprinters from the West Indies and african long distance runners wont make up for the fact that its about Canada, Australia, England......with New Zealand, Scotland and a few others doing well. Cue BBC Commentator using the phrase "the Friendly Games" and talking about the plucky swimmer from St Lucia and the plucky rifle shooter from from Norfolk Island.
).
