delhi does the biz, liz

although the indian government may have been criticized for slinging-up a second-rate stadium for a second-rate sports-event, for the duration of the intricately lavish inaugural ceremony of the 2010 commonwealth games, the jawaharlal nehru arena, in new delhi, proved to be a first-rate set for a premium-rate advertizing slot - of which the opportunistic authorities made the fullest use to promote indian commerce and culture to grand effect. after an 80-year sentence of serial social-snubbery, the ancient civilization of the asian sub-continent has at last been granted the doubtful privilege of hosting this historic event and, in strict observance of time-honoured british tradition, the fastest politicians in the east have knocked-up the infra-structure on-the-cheap and pocketed the record-breaking difference without even breaking into a sweat - but one can hardly blame the maharajahs and maharanis for defecating on the commonwealth games, which were previously known as the british empire games, which, in turn, evolved from the gladiatorial spectacles of inter-kingdom power-struggles and wars of independence so generously promoted by queen victoria throughout the worldwide-web of british colonies...

...and there we have it...the paradox of an independent superstate, which has little interest in playing games (when there's so much money to be made and such influence to be won) yet plays host to the quaint martial melodies and nostalgic majesterial whims of an enslaved defunct monarchy - whose subjects and rulers are commonly addicted to sports. in london, you will notice that indians do not make a great show of celebrating the day on which they gained independence - they were not granted it sham-to-shambles fashion, as in so many african and caribbean countries, they grabbed it back, and never looked back. indians celebrate their independence every day of the year by striving to consolidate it - whereas the nigerians, for example, make a big deal of their 'independence' day, yet do not even own, in any real or meaningful sense, the precious natural resources which lie beneath their mother-lands's rich home-soil; lagos, the business-hub-capital of black africa, is more-often-than-not subject to a power black-out - a symptomatic state of affairs which sadly defines, and is almost synonymous with, african 'independence'...formerly known as colonialism...formerly known as slavery.

south africa put on a fantastic football tournament, but it brought no freedom to its people...because soccer is 'something' spread (if not originally invented) by the british. now...the indians may not be the greatest stadium-builders, nor hold much respect for the founders of democracy after whom they name these statutory status-symbols, but when they wish to construct something important to themselves, such as the taj mahal, the akshardham temple, or their own mother-nation, it will undoubtedly last a good deal longer than the commonwealth games stadium, the commonwealth games, the british raj, or the british empire - which in the five-thousand-year long scheme of india's dynamic dynastic history...is but a bloody blip.

edwin lutyens, eat your heart out.