China's Olympic Games

By hosting these Games, China has taught the world many lessons. India would do well to learn some with the Commonwealth Games just a year and a half away for one, the games were always about "China" - never Beijing. This brought out an intense feeling of national involvement and purpose. That is why the organisers received hundreds of thousands of applications for volunteers from all over China - people who just wanted to be a small part of this proud moment for their country. Even if it was sitting at a drinks stall in the sweltering heat for hours or guiding lost tourists, the volunteers did it with a smile on their face and in their voice. They wanted to show the best their country had to offer.

China was also always ahead of its construction schedule. At one point, it was even advised to slow down as maintaining the new state-of-the-art stadia would cost a lot of money. Transportation facilities have also been extended, with several new subway lines built before the '08 Games. Getting around Beijing is now quite easy. There are detailed maps are available all over and most subway and buses have names and numbers written in English.

Sadly, most Indians don't even know about the 2010 Commonwealth Games, even fewer care. Hopefully, talk on how China has handled these Olympics will arouse more concern about how India is seen by the world in 2010. Let's hope that after the CWG, the world stands up and says, "Well done India".