Of Appu, Anita, Amitabh, and adventure: Recounting the 1982 Asian Games hosted in New Delhi

The 1982 Asian Games at New Delhi November 19December 4 established Indiarsquos capacity to host megascale international sporting events The Games also heralded the colour TV revolution in India This writer was a small cog in that revolution being a part of the Doordarshan commentary team for the swimming events at the newlyconstructed Talkatora Pool ComplexTalkatora was not the only new complex set up specially for the Games New Delhirsquos road and transport infrastructure too got a massive boost with flyovers all over and the Games Village a huge residential housing complex being the most visible advertisements of this lsquoprogressrsquo India also got its first Department of Sports and its first Sports Minister Buta SinghFredun DeVitreJust days before the opening of the Games moving around from what looked like one incomplete and unready stadium to another left one with the uneasy feeling that things would be a disaster That they werenrsquot was a tribute to the peculiarly Indian penchant for nearperfection only at the last minute The aphorism ldquoIf there was no eleventh hour nothing would ever get donerdquo applied squarelyAmitabh BachchanDelhi excitementThe whole of Delhi seemed abuzz excitement and anxiety were equal companions everywhere in the days preceding the Opening As it turned out the Opening Ceremony at the Nehru Stadium was a grand affair with the elephants specially brought in from Kerala stealing the show mdash Appu the elephant was the official mascot of the Games Sitting amidst a sea of humanity about 40000 strong one marvelled at Amitabh Bachchanrsquos melodious voice floating across the stadium reciting the Games Hymn set to music by Pandit Ravi Shankar no lessAnita SoodIndiarsquos swimming stars were the ladies Bula Chowdhary the 12year old prodigy who had created a sensation earlier that year winning at the Nationals in record time and Anita Sood then a 17year old expected to make a big splash Khazan Singh led the menrsquos challenge To no avail India did not win a medal The Japanese and the Chinese proved too strong Khazan won a silver at the next Asiad at Seoul in 1986 Indiarsquos first swimming medal Bula later became an MLA in West Bengal winning the Nandigram seat the constituency presently in the newsAppu the mascot features in a magazine advertisement Picsmidday archivesIn 1982 colour TV had not been launched yet The Mumbai TV Centre started on October 2 1972 transmitting only blackandwhite images I recall Crawford White travelling with Tony Lewisrsquos 197273 touring MCC team coming into our commentary box during the Bombay Test at the Brabourne Stadium in February 1973 mdash the first live telecast of a Test match in Mumbai mdash and wondering why India had opted for ldquoplanned obsolescencerdquo by refusing to start operations in colour60 per cent telecast in colourIt took a decade and the 1982 Asiad to change that lsquoobsolescentrsquo mindset The preparations for Doordarshanrsquos coverage of the Games had begun much earlier with training camps for commentators producers and other staff at Delhi and Pune Experts from Germany and the BBC were in attendance The result A universally acclaimed show by the Doordarshan team the telecast mdash 60 per cent being in colour mdash transmitted all over the country for the first time through 20 specially set up transmittersButa SinghThere was no accommodation provided to the Doordarshan teams coming from out of Delhi We stayed at the Parsee Guest House opposite the Ferozeshah Kotla cricket stadium and travelled by the local DTC buses to the venue of the swimming events and after the day was done at Talkatora brandishing our All Venues entry passes we invariably landed up at the Indraprastha Stadium now the Indira Gandhi Arena for the gymnastics and boxing competitions There was no Metro then and taxis were way too expensive One incident on a DTC bus which perhaps was a microcosm of the mentality of a small section of Delhirsquos youth then stays in memory Four of us two ladies along with a friend and I decided to hop into an empty DTC bus late one evening from Talkatora Each of us grabbed four separate window seats At the next stop two young boys barely in their 20s entered Choosing to ignore the host of empty seats they headed straight to and seated themselves right next to the two ladies Their intentions seemed clear Discretion being the better part of valour I persuaded my hotheaded friend to disembark at the next stop possibly avoiding an incident that would have tarnished Delhirsquos carefully builtup image as a safe city for the GamesThat lsquoon airrsquo goofupWhilst at the Asiad training camp in Pune in July that year this writer had one of the most embarrassing lsquoon airrsquo goofups unrelated to the Games Peremptorily instructed to leave the Asiad training at Pune for a day to present the live lsquointrorsquo to the 1982 football World Cup final in Spain this writer mdash a total ignoramus about all things football then and now mdash went on air immediately on arrival at the studio with no prior preparation and only a scribbled script in hand about the two finalists Italy and GermanyHe ended the intro grandiosely announcing to the accompaniment of martial music ldquoAnd now to witness what promises to be a thrilling final OVER TO BARCELONAhelliprdquo Only for a caption to pop up on screen a second later boldly asserting ldquoWELCOME TO MADRIDrdquo The ignoramus had misjudged the city hosting the final He never lived it down the constant ribbing from his lawyer mates in Chambers never let him forget it Luckily the Games had no such major goofups The 1982 Asiad experience proved invaluable when the cricket World Cup came to India five years later India and Indian TV did itself proud at both events And a few of us were privileged to be a part of both