How The 2010 Commonwealth Games Changed India’s Image
/The Changing World View of India
First Published Date : October 24, 2010 ADawnJournal.com
There was a time when India was looked at as a backward nation that no one wanted to visit. It was a nation people saw as dirty, dangerous and a place you just did not want to go. However, that has long since changed and India is now changing to a nation that is progressive and rapidly becoming a developed nation.
Yes, the economy of India is moving fast, the middle class of India is growing, cars are becoming plentiful and poverty is rapidly falling. However, there are other ways that India is changing and this comes into the fact that it is now hosting world-class competitions.
The 2010 World Cup was held in South Africa, the first time it was ever held in Africa and that helped to show that countries once thought of as Third World could in fact hold world-class competitions. Rio De Janeiro is hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics and India just hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
While there were some problems with the games recently, overall the Commonwealth Games were very successful and popular. This means that India has proven it can take on a major world competition and that means the changing world view of India could be changing to the point where India may be hosting the Summer Olympics in as little as 10 years.
After hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the India Olympic Association said that Delhi will be bidding on the 2020 Olympics. The Indian Sports Minister Manohar Gill stated that there would be funding for the 2020 bid and that Delhi is very interested in hosting the games. While some worry about the problems with the Commonwealth Games affecting the potential for the Olympics to be held in India, there is a good chance that India could be hosting those games.
Other countries trying to host the games include Mexico, Canada, several countries in Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Japan and South Korea. If the games end up in India, it would be the largest event ever held in the country and would go a long way to helping show the world that India has changed.
Just 20 years ago, the thought of India hosting the Olympics was unimaginable. It was just not possible given the infrastructure of the country. However, things have changed so much that it is now possible. After all, in 2008 China hosted the Olympics and they were considered to be far behind the rest of the world only 20 years ago.
The world is changing and India is changing as well. India is joining a host of countries in South America, Asia and even Africa who may be leading the world in the future. The sphere of influence is changing and with the Commonwealth Games in India, the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the World Cup in South Africa, we can see that there are changing perceptions of these countries. This is the changing view of India around the world in the 21st century.
