Olympics Opening : Take a bow China!

I have just finished watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony. My hair are still standing on the end. Spectacular, stunning, awesome, extravagant, exhilarating it was a grand celebration of the vision and sweep of the human mind. The extravaganza at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing was one of the greatest spectacles the world has seen in recorded history. It is the coming of age of one fifth of the inhabitants of this planet. It is the coming of age of China.

After years of shunning the outside world, the enigmatic China opened it's doors to the world.. and how! The rich art, culture, technology and grit of one of the world's oldest civilizations came on a dazzling display at the show. The dance of the dynasties, the precision and co-ordination of the tai chi displays, the sweeping vision, the breathtaking aesthetics and the precision of execution, all this has already become a become a bench mark that will be hard to move for a long long time. This event has breached all the barriers. London, my sympathies!

The million small torches that lit up the stadium in bobbing twinkling lights formed a mesmerising backdrop for the Olympic torch as it made its way to the cauldron. I had never thought anything could beat the archer who fired an arrow and lit the cauldron in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. But Li Ming's sky walk to the cauldron that majestically appeared from mid-air was spellbinding.

As I watched the events unfolding in front of my eyes, everything was forgotten. The political issues with China, the human rights violation, our own skirmishes on the border and my sympathy for the Tibetan struggle. I just watched awestruck and riveted by the power of 15 Cm of grey mass, the human brain. After watching the opening ceremony I felt proud to be an Asian, proud to be a neighbour of China and more than that proud to be a part of race that could create this cosmic dazzler.

One World, One Dream - this truly was an achievement for the entire mankind.

I am sure, that all other life forms, the Martians, the denizens of Venus, Jupiter, faraway galaxies, all those with their telescopes and antennas trained on our sapphire planet, those who send the UFOs, the low-life of the universe...they just had a show of a lifetime!