Beijing 08: 08 - 08 - 08

Like the over 4billion other viewers, i watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing olympics... and boy!! What else could they have possibly added to make that thing more magnificent? Nothing... absolutely nothing... unless they could've come up with a way to magically part their misty and hazy skies. It was a phenomenal event. Simply eye-nourishing and breathtaking! My only regret is that i wasnt in the Bird's nest to feel the ambience and euphoria that must have been pulsating thru everyone lucky enough to be there.

The lighting, the electronic stage/platform/ground, the costumes, the colours, the choreography, the precision, the art... the fireworks!!! those fireworks could be seen by everyone in Beijing. imagine that! they used over 20,000 fireworks! it was one of those defining moments of history.

Right from the beginning, they set out to dazzle and confound everyone completely, and they succeeded with me in 30 minutes. it ocurred to me along the line as they kept rolling out new scenes and sequences and transitions that almost if not everything is/can be manufactured in China. So why was i expecting any less? it was like Cadbury, having a chocolate party. there was no lack of resources or ideas or raw material. they were playing in their domain... and it was a beautiful thing to behold.

The show had a cast of 15000 strong - a feat only the Chinese could've achieved - and yet it was as smoothly choreographed a show as i'd ever witnessed. In all the pomp and pageantry, beauty and awe, one clear message popped into my head - the message i think they were trying to put across to the world. and it was simply:

we're large and in charge so just chill with all that human rights crap and let us show you a bloody good time!

...and then they proceeded to knock us out with an overdose of sheer amazement and disbelief. And all u could think about was, what's next? what can possibly be next? Not once during those four hours did my mind even wander to the issue of human rights, or attendee boycotts... nope. i was entranced and blown away, swiftly and powerfully, and honestly... now i'm too weak from the sensory experience which was the opening ceremony to even think about any of the other political issues...


So did they succeed? err... do doves fly? they'll be talking about this for a while, and London's got a very big task ahead of them in 2012.

it seems that China's decision to start the ceremony at 8pm on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008 - a year of new beginning, and infinite achievement paid off... 8 fold. One world, One dream.