Something
about the Olympics reminds me of Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire. By saying this I hope I
am not trivializing one or the other. In the
Goblet of Fire, there are two much-awaited
events that take place around the darkest of
times, one is the Quidditch World Cup, which
incidentally takes place every four years and
the other is the Triwizard Tournament at
Hogwarts. Both events are centuries-old,
spectacular in presentation like can only be
imagined, and bring together people from all
over the world.Olympics is the only event I can
think of that is just as magical. As I was
watching the opening ceremony at the Birds Nest
on TV a few days ago, I was awestruck by the
coordinated movements of thousands of people,
all performing dazzlingly in harmony. The vivid
costumes and colors seemed straight out of a
martial arts film, very much like that of
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or the House of
Flying Daggers. Chinese culture seems so surreal
that it almost resembles a dream in the way
everything is so ethereal and mysterious. There
is so much beauty, harmony in all their art
forms that they take perfection beyond even the
highest attainable standard. In some ways, some
aspects of the chinese culture reminds me of the
Minbaris in Babylon 5. :-)The ceremony flaunted
tradition that’s over a thousand years old.
There were men playing rolls of old traditional
drums, women wearing flowing robes of the
Warring states period of ancient china, dancers
sweeping ink strokes over paper, performers
hiding under Chinese characters rising and
falling in unison to demonstrate printing,
dancers creating illustrations of ancient ships
while bringing in the compass, printing blocks
transforming into peach blossoms of the utopian
gardens of peace.There were times throughout the
ceremony when I was almost expecting to catch a
glimpse of a Chinese Harry Potter on Fawkes or a
Thestral fighting a dragon to steal its golden
egg.The opening ceremony reminded me of the
performance of the team mascots before the
Quidditch game started, where the beautiful
Veelas with their natural ability to bewitch men
danced on the pitch, making every man including
Potter feel “a floating sensation as every
thought and worry is wiped gently away leaving
nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness.”
Leprechauns flew in and showered the stands with
gold coins that represent peace and security
that the wizard world experienced ever since
Voldemort lost his powers and formed green Irish
symbols in the sky. In Quidditch Through the
Ages, the tiny booklet that comes along with
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, it is
told that the name Quidditch is derived from
Queerditch Marsh where the very first game was
recorded to have taken place, very much like
Olympic Games were first recorded in Olympia.
Coming to the dark side, there is a lot of
discussion on the collateral damage of Olympic
Games around the world. Korea displaced about a
million people in Seoul and thousands of women
were raped and arson was used to break
resistance.Montreal plunged into debt and
crippled Quebec's economy for three decades,
Athens killed 15,000 dogs that threatened to
ruin the Olympics Atlanta injured a 100 people
in a pipe bomb explosionMunich had Palestinian
terrorists taking Israeli athletes and coaches
hostageMexico City shot over 300 mexicans
fighting for democracy. Olympia destroyed greek
penises! Several countries boycotted the
Olympics over the years.The Netherlands, Spain,
and Switzerland refused to attend because of the
repression of the Hungarian Uprising by the
Soviet Union.Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon
boycotted the games due to the Suez CrisisSouth
Africa, Rhodesia were banned from the Olympic
village and when officials refused to ban New
Zealand, twenty-two countries boycotted the
Montreal Olympics. Cold War opponents boycotted
each other's games. Sixty-five nations refused
to compete during the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan It was natural therefore that China
too saw dark times in the last year, with calls
for boycotts in protest of China's poor human
rights record and response to the recent
disturbances in Tibet, Darfur, and Taiwan. There
were a variety of other concerns raised as well,
like severe air pollution in Beijing, warnings
of a possible terrorist attack, criticisms of
policies mandating the electronic surveillance
of internationally owned hotels, the banning of
ethnic Tibetans from working in Beijing for the
duration of the games, displacement of
residents, ticket adversities, and even
christian advocates voicing concerns regarding
the persecution of christians in China among
many others. While every other Olympics host
country had one critical issue disturbing the
event, China has had every kind of criticism to
fight against, and many groups of people
expressing strong disapproval over the event all
at once. Still, this may be the first time in
Olympics’ history that no nation withdrew before
the games began despite these crises.All this
reminds me of the kind of enthusiasm with which
the wizards’ awaited the Quidditch World Cup and
the Triwizard Tournament even as there were
rumors floating about the return of He Who Must
Not be Named and the possible exposure to grave
danger. Moreover the Triwizard Tournament had
been discontinued for years because it became
too dangerous, but was revived ironically at the
most inappropriate time when it involved
greatest risk and likelihood for disaster. It
may be that these events, both fictional and
real are not in themselves dangerous, but they
seem to mark the milestones for the darkest of
times and do that with a lot of splendor and
spectacle.Perhaps that is what we need - Not the
light at the end of the tunnel but a tunnel
illuminated by light.
Something
about the Olympics reminds me of Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire. By saying this I hope I
am not trivializing one or the other. In the
Goblet of Fire, there are two much-awaited
events that take place around the darkest of
times, one is the Quidditch World Cup, which
incidentally takes place every four years and
the other is the Triwizard Tournament at
Hogwarts. Both events are centuries-old,
spectacular in presentation like can only be
imagined, and bring together people from all
over the world.Olympics is the only event I can
think of that is just as magical. As I was
watching the opening ceremony at the Birds Nest
on TV a few days ago, I was awestruck by the
coordinated movements of thousands of people,
all performing dazzlingly in harmony. The vivid
costumes and colors seemed straight out of a
martial arts film, very much like that of
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or the House of
Flying Daggers. Chinese culture seems so surreal
that it almost resembles a dream in the way
everything is so ethereal and mysterious. There
is so much beauty, harmony in all their art
forms that they take perfection beyond even the
highest attainable standard. In some ways, some
aspects of the chinese culture reminds me of the
Minbaris in Babylon 5. :-)The ceremony flaunted
tradition that’s over a thousand years old.
There were men playing rolls of old traditional
drums, women wearing flowing robes of the
Warring states period of ancient china, dancers
sweeping ink strokes over paper, performers
hiding under Chinese characters rising and
falling in unison to demonstrate printing,
dancers creating illustrations of ancient ships
while bringing in the compass, printing blocks
transforming into peach blossoms of the utopian
gardens of peace.There were times throughout the
ceremony when I was almost expecting to catch a
glimpse of a Chinese Harry Potter on Fawkes or a
Thestral fighting a dragon to steal its golden
egg.The opening ceremony reminded me of the
performance of the team mascots before the
Quidditch game started, where the beautiful
Veelas with their natural ability to bewitch men
danced on the pitch, making every man including
Potter feel “a floating sensation as every
thought and worry is wiped gently away leaving
nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness.”
Leprechauns flew in and showered the stands with
gold coins that represent peace and security
that the wizard world experienced ever since
Voldemort lost his powers and formed green Irish
symbols in the sky. In Quidditch Through the
Ages, the tiny booklet that comes along with
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, it is
told that the name Quidditch is derived from
Queerditch Marsh where the very first game was
recorded to have taken place, very much like
Olympic Games were first recorded in Olympia.
Coming to the dark side, there is a lot of
discussion on the collateral damage of Olympic
Games around the world. Korea displaced about a
million people in Seoul and thousands of women
were raped and arson was used to break
resistance.Montreal plunged into debt and
crippled Quebec's economy for three decades,
Athens killed 15,000 dogs that threatened to
ruin the Olympics Atlanta injured a 100 people
in a pipe bomb explosionMunich had Palestinian
terrorists taking Israeli athletes and coaches
hostageMexico City shot over 300 mexicans
fighting for democracy. Olympia destroyed greek
penises! Several countries boycotted the
Olympics over the years.The Netherlands, Spain,
and Switzerland refused to attend because of the
repression of the Hungarian Uprising by the
Soviet Union.Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon
boycotted the games due to the Suez CrisisSouth
Africa, Rhodesia were banned from the Olympic
village and when officials refused to ban New
Zealand, twenty-two countries boycotted the
Montreal Olympics. Cold War opponents boycotted
each other's games. Sixty-five nations refused
to compete during the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan It was natural therefore that China
too saw dark times in the last year, with calls
for boycotts in protest of China's poor human
rights record and response to the recent
disturbances in Tibet, Darfur, and Taiwan. There
were a variety of other concerns raised as well,
like severe air pollution in Beijing, warnings
of a possible terrorist attack, criticisms of
policies mandating the electronic surveillance
of internationally owned hotels, the banning of
ethnic Tibetans from working in Beijing for the
duration of the games, displacement of
residents, ticket adversities, and even
christian advocates voicing concerns regarding
the persecution of christians in China among
many others. While every other Olympics host
country had one critical issue disturbing the
event, China has had every kind of criticism to
fight against, and many groups of people
expressing strong disapproval over the event all
at once. Still, this may be the first time in
Olympics’ history that no nation withdrew before
the games began despite these crises.All this
reminds me of the kind of enthusiasm with which
the wizards’ awaited the Quidditch World Cup and
the Triwizard Tournament even as there were
rumors floating about the return of He Who Must
Not be Named and the possible exposure to grave
danger. Moreover the Triwizard Tournament had
been discontinued for years because it became
too dangerous, but was revived ironically at the
most inappropriate time when it involved
greatest risk and likelihood for disaster. It
may be that these events, both fictional and
real are not in themselves dangerous, but they
seem to mark the milestones for the darkest of
times and do that with a lot of splendor and
spectacle.Perhaps that is what we need - Not the
light at the end of the tunnel but a tunnel
illuminated by light.
