With only a few days to go before the opening ceremony of this year's troubled Commonwealth Games in Delhi, tensions are high. Will the city be ready on time or won’t it?
There has been no shortage of setbacks, including unfinished facilities, a collapsed bridge, tales of large scale corruption and major safety concerns for the thousands of athletes and officials.
But haven't we heard all this before? Earlier this year, the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa had almost identical stories, but it all turned out OK in the end.
For our weekly radio programme, we invited the comments of two people who should know – RNW's South Africa correspondent Elles van Gelder and Pooja Prakash, a reporter in Delhi.
If you have any comments on how Delhi is coping with the Commonwealth Games, please let us know by using the 'comments' option below.
Find more South Asia Wired stories and audio here.
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Indians have given a befitting reply to the media pundits who predicted doom for the CWG. The opening ceremony has been a HUGE SUCCESS today! I bet the players who withdrew their names from the games are missing something hugely- the Delhi Common Wealth Games 2010. It is their loss, not ours. We will have new sporting heroes. The show goes on and no player is indispensable...
.....'Elsewhere today, the feedback on how preparations are going has continued to be more positive than negative. The England athletes I spoke to up at the village all said they felt it was well up to the mark.
Mick Gault made me laugh. The veteran shooter said he had heard all the media reports before coming to Delhi, adding of the set-up: "This one is one of the best I've seen. Before we came out there was all the bad press. We were all going 'oh my God - dengue fever, mossies and we're gonna die' but it's brilliant, it's really nice."
He is a man who is at his fifth Games, so his view has to be respected....''
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/gordonfarquhar/2010/10/delhis_dress_rehearsal...
India is ready for the CWG!
Security is of huge importance to Indian authorities, so minor hiccups are bound to happen when security is that tight. However, I do not understand the mentality of participating nations: sometimes they crib about security, sometimes about laxity and sometimes about cleanliness. And, every time they threaten to leave the games. This is totally unfair, as if they and their countries are perfect in every way. We have foreign players praising the arrangements, which they say are better in previous games in other countries.And everyone says that all had problems in all the games in past host countries, but since the CWG were in developed countries, nobody raised a voice. The international media too is going around with a microscope to find irritants in the games while ignoring the plus points that are already there. Now what do the top players who have pulled out of the games, think of themselves: Gods? There will be new heroes and records made by new players. I am sure CWG will be a huge success due to the nations and players who have put a huge trust in us, and are participating happily. Jai Hind!
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