Wah Taj, say foreign journalists (Games Sidelights)

NEW DELHI - Foreign journalists taken to Agra by Commonwealth Games organisers can’t stop raving about the majestic Taj Mahal.

“The trip was fantastic! I was floored by the beauty of the Taj Mahal,” said a Bangladeshi journalist about his Monday visit to the 17th century monument to love.

A dedicated train for athletes, journalists and others has been arranged by Indian Railways for a day trip to Agra from Delhi almost every day.

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Bored cops blow vuvuzelas

The piercing sound of vuvuzelas could be heard near the Main Press Centre in Pragati Maidan Tuesday. No high voltage game was on. It turned out that some bored looking cops were blowing the bugles at the merchandise shop to entertain themselves!

The vuvuzela is a high selling item at the shop. The policemen were not buying it but just wanted to have some fun to beat their gruelling duties.

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Cricket in time of Games

It seems Indians can’t get enough of cricket. Even as Australia and New Zealand sweated it out on the field to make it to the hockey finals, the stands at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium were reverberating with the sounds of “Go Ponting Go!”

And it wasn’t just the Australian cricket captain who was sorely missed. Hayden, Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds were some of the other names that could be heard.

One bad pass by an Oz player and someone from the stands would shout: “What’s wrong with you today Hayden? Do you want to change your bat?” Never mind if it was all about hockey!

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Inquilab Zindabad?

In the same hockey match, when Australian domination on the field had bored everyone out of their wits, it was time for some idle sloganeering. “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Angrezo Bharat Chhodo”, “Go Simon Go!”

What began as a spontaneous act of madness soon became a collective chant.

Finally, it took an amused security guard to point out the futility of it. “Save some for the English,” he said, referring to the India versus England semi-final Tuesday.

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It’s still time for Africa

As soon as the final whistle at the South Africa versus Malawi women’s netball match went off, players from the east African country broke out into a victorious gig.

The crowd obviously couldn’t have asked for more as the team swayed to the African beats with moves that would have surely given the original “Waka Waka” woman some anxious moments.

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Taming volunteers

The red and white track suit clad volunteers in the Games Village have been looking rather sad - they received a bashing from Games Organising Committee officials for creating a ruckus at the evening cultural programmes.

Most volunteers being college students, they have been asked to sit quietly and enjoy the cultural gigs rather than hoot, scream and dance during the performances. While they may be looking sad, not all are giving in to the diktat.

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Adieu India

The logistics team at the Village has pulled up its socks and is busy packing and boarding the luggage of contingents leaving India.

“It is going to get tough for us now as all of them will leave once the Games get over,” one of them told IANS.