Games volunteers say they’re having whale of a time

NEW DELHI - Clad in red and white tracksuits and flaunting snappy Commonwealth Games (CWG) identity cards slung around their necks, a chirpy group of students was the centre of all attraction in a crowded Delhi Metro coach Saturday morning.

The young men and women were on their way to Rajiv Chowk Metro station for the Commonwealth Games road events, enthusiastic as ever since they started on the volunteers’ “job” months before the Games opened.

We are from the Indian Railway School in Gujarat. Till now, our job has been full of fun and a learning experience, Priyanka Dholakia, a CWG volunteer, told IANS.

The volunteers, mostly college students, are involved with man-management tasks during the mega sporting event.

The Games have given us immense exposure, apart from making us proud, a smiling Swati Shah chipped in.

Nearly 30,000 volunteers went through a multi-tier process of interviews and training before being declared fit for the Games.

My job as a volunteer is proving to be of great help as I see myself working in media after my studies, said Sonam Chawla, a student of Amity University working as a press operations volunteer at the Games media centre.

I have to interact with the foreign press too. An internship also can’t give me such an experience, Chawla added.

Press operations volunteers are deployed in the press blocks of the stadia and venues to provide factual information to media persons.

With just five days left for the closing ceremony, the volunteers seem to be having the time of their lives.

I am too excited for the closing ceremony. I am sure it is going to be as spectacular as the opener. And our job is going to be tough too, said Sachin Manaktala, a volunteer deployed in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the closing ceremony.