New Delhi: The biggest sporting carnival India has ever hosted - the XIX Commonwealth Games - is going to kick start in a short while from now at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital. The grand opening ceremony will showcase India's rich culture and tradition.
The ceremony has been designed by a creative team including directors Shyam Benegal and Bharat Bala.
It is a D-day for the Organising Committee, for Delhi and for India. After seven years of planning, controversies and delays three billion people around the world will tune in to see what India has to offer. The opening ceremony after all always sets the tone for multi –discipline Games of this kind.
The renovated Nehru stadium will host the nearly three-hour ceremony. CNN-IBN can share some exclusive details of just what to expect today. The aerostat will be the centerpiece of the ceremony. It will rise to the top with drums from all over India and flutes taking the crescendo to a fever pitch.
Singer Hariharan will perform the ‘Swagatam’ song which will welcome the Commonwealth countres to India with school children forming the ‘namaste’ on the ground. The tree of knowledge segment will showcase India's ‘guru shishya’ tradition with folk dancers and musicians taking centre stage. A yoga performance will raise the bar while the great Indian journey will showcase the spirit of India.
The grand finale will be Oscar winner AR Rahman performing live and while the magic unfolds the athletes will for the first time witness the ceremony from the stands. Australia will lead out the teams while hosts India will be led out by Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra.
This will be the third time that India to hosts an opening ceremony after the 1951 Asian Games with former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in attendance. Thirty-one years later the Nehru stadium showcased one of the best opening ceremonies ever in the 1982 Asian Games.
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