Running on empty8230;

If the aim was peace, there was plenty of that on offer, of a different kind, of course. Cleared of traffic, off-bounds...

If the aim was peace, there was plenty of that on offer, of a different kind, of course. Cleared of traffic, off-bounds, barricaded, cop-strewn, unnaturally quiet 8212; Delhi8217;s Olympic torch show had everything but the excitement an event like this claims to be about. At the beginning, for just a moment though, you felt lucky. The media pass had let you through, towards Raj Path, and Vijay Chowk was, after all, the perfect spot to watch the flag-off of the relay. But as the journo-jokes turned staler by the minute, the incoming streams of security persons seemed more and more unending, and the afternoon shadows turned longer, the utter boredom of it all was the only feeling available.

Two pm and an hour away from the start, the India Gate lawns certainly weren8217;t seeing any presence of the anticipated screaming school children. Not even a whiff of any volunteers, forget any remote sign of the world-famous flames or its bearers for the day. The media contingent at that supposed point of start was contained onto a patch of grass and the men in khakis, blues, greens, and any other colour Indian security forces dress themselves in, as bossy as ever and twitchier, were ready with keep-away warnings the moment you got even close to the wire barriers. 3:30 pm, as the live on-the-spot TV/radio transmissions droned on about nothing but the security cover, there was a little stir in the still as three buses trudged in, turned towards Rashtrapati Bhawan and disappeared from view.

Another 15 minutes, and suddenly there was music from the distance, three solitary sponsors8217; floats, trying to whip up passion with pop-pom-wielding cheerleaders and not much else. At precisely 4:45, the napping hacks and bored cops snapped out with a start, there was certainly more than a motion at the hill on the right. Lucky ones with tall frames and sharp eyes could spot buses and some people with things that were presumably torches, and the uneasy quiet was finally broken, the camera guys screaming at the police for a clear view.

By the time they made it to Vijay Chowk, the first leg had seemingly been wound up, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi handing the 8216;holy flame8217; over to the Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan, you heard, or was it vice versa?

Table tennis player Chetan Buboor lit it up at Vijay Chowk, the rest of the runners accompanying in buses, getting off just before their turn, and getting back on once it was done. Some claimed to have spotted Aamir Khan in one of the buses, but for many, it was mostly wild guesses on who might be next. The 200-odd school children, decked in the politically correct red and white, finally made an appearance at India Gate, on a 8220;picnic8221;, they had been told, and all the speeches came at that hub. Shooter Abhinav Bindra was proud of the opportunity of course, but added: 8220;It would8217;ve been nicer if there had been some people to cheer you on.8221; But aptly summing it up was a Chinese journalist: 8220;It finished safely.8221; And what about people? 8220;Umm..didn8217;t see too many of them.8221;