"Nothing but Roses!" by Niru Bhatia

Did you see the opening ceremonies of London olympics? Despite all the political manoeuvring of a major sports event, despite enormous, unproportionate security bills, despite all the controversies and all the doubting; however imperfect the circumstances, Olympics is the only light and hope in todays increasingly complex and menacing world.

Every country attempts not only to put their best face forward but tries to conceptualize what they dare to dream, without the fear of criticism. Hence, I think the opening ceremonies are the best, not only Briton but the world has to offer at any given moment. After Beijing's techno razzle-dazzle, every one was wondering what Great Britain would come up with- they already had two world-stage events recently! But those, although a tribute to Queen, are closely monitored by the palace.

Danny Boyle, nay the whole British Olympic organization deserves the credit for this extravaganza. They managed to keep thousands of teenagers with cell-phones to restrain themselves from tweeting the secret programme away! That itself deserves a Gold Medal!! Britain is known for pagentry. But nobody appreciates, preserves and depicts the history better than British. Danny Boyle took celebrations away from the monarchy and put it in the hands of people. Right from the start, from showcasing all the British isles: Ireland, Scotland,  Wales and England in that perfect depiction of English country-side and taking us by hand, through the Agricultural, Industrial and culminating in Cultural revolution. While most of the world is blaring warnings about the next revolution, namely the social media and pitfalls and anarchy of it, London's opening ceremony gave us a glimpse into how it could be harvested into a gentler, kinder world. The celebrations were firmly, of the people, by the people and for the people.

The Olympic rings were forged in the Industrial revolutions, The cauldron for the flame was assembled, petal by petal carried by British volunteers as they ushered each nation in. Brief history of Britain (less than a thousand year, compared to other nations in the world) made their achievements shine all the more brighter. Two artistic highlights for me were the doves, riders on bicycle made it so poetic; and the assembly of cauldron. As a photographer, at every stage I wanted shout, "Stop! that is perfect!" but it kept on building till it lost its artistic appeal and became a static piece of equipment.

Everything went without a hitch. The terrorists behaved. The only thing lacking was: the organizers did not give audience any chance to participate! There were no waves, to torches burning, no coloured flags flapping to make statements or whatever, till Paul McCartney asked people to join in, "Hey, Jude". I don't know, how the audio equipment were set but one couldn't even perceive any difference of pitch in the applause. Nonetheless, nothing but the Roses for the British people.