Games Pitch

Even as last minute fiascos mar the run-up to the CWG,hope floats in the malls and restaurants. Entrepreneurs say that using the CWG tag for a new design or menu could just spell greater profit in the period which will otherwise see a lull due to Shradh. “It is an intelligent marketing strategy because there will be a lot of tourists during the Games,and most of them will end up picking up something or the other from the country or go to restaurants,” says Ranjan,doing a quick math and pointing out how “Kasbah is five kilometres from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and eight kilometres from the Commonwealth Games Village,which means the number of foreign guests is expected to double”. Does his new set menu salute the CWG spirit by incorporating the tastes of the participating nations? “No,it is only Italian,” he says.

Anand of Maira,whose Commonwealth Games collection has 60 designs for Indians and only 20 for Europeans agrees about the increased footfall in malls and restaurants. “We have been supplying our designs to the European market via export houses for around four years and entered the retail arena six months ago. If the CWG wasn’t being held,we would not have introduced our European line,” he says. So far,things haven’t panned out exactly as he had foreseen,but Anand says he expects more than two lakh visitors to the city for the Games and is hopeful of striking gold then. The collection starts at Rs 1,200 for casual wear.

Designer Pradeep Goel,too,is wooing the Games visitors with his latest diamond collection. “My collection plays around with large-sized colourful precious and semi-precious stones mingled with diamonds to create a chunky look. The entire collection has a westernised look and feel with a few statement pieces in Indian motifs like peacocks and paisley. Also,we have used a lot of pearls to match foreign tastes,” says the designer who retails from Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers in Diamond Mall,Karol Bagh.

Entrepreneurs apart,even the art world seems to be cashing in on the Commonwealth Games. The National School of Drama’s (NSD) annual North-East theatre festival earlier this month was tagged as a countdown to the Commonwealth Games. AK Barua of NSD says,“The festival was a run-up to the events that the NSD will organise during the Games.” The said events — Jashnebachpan and Bal Sangam— which are otherwise held in November,have now been preponed so as to draw in foreign crowd. A slew of exhibitions are already on the anvil during the Games,pitched in to give tourists a glimpse of Indian culture. At the Lalit Kala Akademi in Mandi House,for instance,an ongoing exhibition showcasing works by 51 artists,from newcomers to established names like Ved Nair,Triloki Kaul and Prafulla Dhanuka,is called Welcome Commonwealth Games. Curator Shrikant Pandey says the five-day exhibition that ends on September 28,is an “effort to showcase the cultural diversity of India”. Some people,at least,cannot be faulted for not trying.