With Goa’s date with the elusive National Games finally in sight after nearly a decade of false-starts and lack of preparedness, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has fully immersed himself in the efforts to make the games memorable.
Over the last few days, Sawant has been personally visiting the multiple venues where work to give the finishing touches including installing equipment in the playing arenas is on at break-neck speed.
A little bird at ‘Mahalaxmi’ which is the official abode of the Chief Minister tells us that almost everyone working there and those manning the CMO have just one thought on their mind – a successful National Games.
The challenge before the chief minister is to ensure a ‘grand show’ at the opening ceremony which will be graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 26.
Nervous that the turnout may not be encouraging, the organising committee has now been instructed to pull up its socks and begin popularising the Games among the student community. So, ‘Moga’ the Games’ mascot it is which is shouldering the responsibility and has begun doing the rounds on campuses in schools and colleges across Goa.
With the government having tweaked the Winter (Diwali) vacation dates to coincide with the schedule of the National Games, Sawant’s team is hoping that the youngsters will fill up the stands, lest the opening ceremony which will be graced by Modi himself, turns out to be the flop show the opener of the ongoing cricket World Cup was at the Narendra Modi stadium in Gujarat.
Sawant will be left red-faced if it happens and is perhaps the reason why he is putting almost all his time into the National Games affairs.
Nehru stadium it will be!
However much the current regime and its ‘bhakts’ seek to discredit his legacy or deflect blame for all of the country’s ills on him and his policies, the spectre and legacy of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru seems to be inevitable.
For, the opening ceremony of the 37th edition of the National Games which Goa is finally hosting will be held at the stadium in Fatorda on October 26 evening and to do the honours will be the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
For those who have forgotten, the stadium, somewhat miraculously ensured it was built in less than six months by former sports minister Francisco Monte Cruz, is named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
So, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium it will be in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare the 37th Edition of the National Games open a little more than a year after the latter did the honours for the 36th edition in his home State of Gujarat and in a stadium whose name was changed from Sardar Vallabai Patel to that of Modi’s himself.
Mapusa city-fathers & the bitter ‘shake’
Turns out that the “milk shake” turned out to be quite bitter in the end.
A few weeks ago this column had highlighted how the Mapusa councillors had graduated from the humble cup of chai to a glass of milk shake for refreshment during the council meeting.
The piece on “shake” created quite a ripple among the city-fathers of Mapusa. The councillors from the ruling side did not take it too kindly. Some mocked at it for trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But quite a few were furious and made it very obvious in their reaction.
According to the councillors, the milk shake was sponsored by Vice-Chairperson Viraj Phadke and no municipal funds were involved. We do not know what was the occasion for the celebration though. It was definitely not Phadke’s birthday. But then some people do not need special occasions to celebrate. To be frank, we did not expect such an acerbic reaction from the councillors. But it is also a fact that the councillors were shaken.
As for us, we remain steadfast in our approach to continue bringing the juiciest details to our readers.
Hang on until next week!
