The one about India

In just under a week, the Commonwealth’s best athletes and their uncertain entourage will arrive in India. Dirty, hectic, unapologetically raw India.

While one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful places to visit, many scoff at the thought of battling the heavily-populated streets, preferring destinations less complex. With unprecedented international scrutiny and the threat of terrorist activity looming, it seems we’re all just waiting for a fatal mistake.

The four weeks I spent in India, subsequently post the 2008 Mumbai attacks, rate as the most colourful and confronting. At the time I didn’t comprehend the danger to personal safety. Pacifying loved ones, and at times outright lying about where I was going, I hopped on a plane and hoped for the best.

When I arrived at the New Delhi airport, I had no concept of being in a capital city. While it’s difficult to summarise India without cliché or condescending undertone, the airport battleground and car park dirt road were a shock.

In a village called Shiv, 110 kilometres from the Pakistan border, electricity was sporadic, the internet unheard of and a bath came in the form of a giant bucket that doubled as the camp washing machine. At one point the roof of our hut caved in.

In a country of supposed great wealth, slums epitomise the developing nation, while bride burning and child abandonment remain common practice in rural communities, a direct parody to the glamour of Bollywood films.

Cue the Commonwealth Games and a colleague, whose daughter has made the Australian swim team, is in limbo. If she and her husband go to India, what could happen? If they don’t, what does that say to her daughter?

As a race, the Indian people are gentle; more interested in Ricky Ponting’s batting average than their own state of affairs. My curiosity over the tension Pakistan during my time there, was always returned with a cheery “Don’t worry Madam, all is safe”. Not really. I fell off a bloody camel and my tuk-tuk collided with another, twice.

Hygiene and infrastructure issues aside, there is no way on this earth that the police, or any other regulatory body, will be able to control the masses. The roads are congested beyond that of any South East Asian country. There will be none of the rigid efficiency of the Beijing Olympics.

While an attempted economic investment for a developing country, selecting India as host of the Commonwealth Games was not a wise decision. I’d like to say it was before time, I don’t actually know if there will be a time