By IANS,
New Delhi: As the curtain comes down on the 19th Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Games Village Thursday wore a deserted look with the athletes beginning to make a move.
“More than a thousand athletes have left the Village as of now and on an average 300 athletes are leaving every day. But the major chunk will start moving out only after tonight (Thursday),” Games Village’s Mayor Dalbir Singh told IANS.
The village’s media centre had just a bunch of scribes with the volunteers surfing on the computers. The international zone was running out of stock.
“There were regular cultural shows taking place till yesterday (Wednesday) so the mood remained upbeat throughout the day. But now as the Games conclude, the international zone has gone quiet,” said one of the officials at the Village.
However, the arrangements have left the athletes and the chef de missions completely mesmerised. Some were bowled over by the warm hospitality while others couldn’t resist raving about the spicy Indian delicacies.
“I tried butter chicken and vegetable biryani for lunch and it was awesome. I am just loving the hot and spicy Indian curries served at the Village. It’s divine,” said Canadian weightlifter Marilon Dozois Prevnt.
Becky Wing, member of the five-member British women gymnastic team, said: “I am really liking the spicy Indian food and warm hospitality. Here, people are very friendly and responsive. We are not feeling that we are away from home, in fact it seems that we are sitting in some part of London itself.”
Malawi’s Chef de Mission Haskon Chapasa said: “I am really impressed with the organising of the event here. Our every demand was taken care of smoothly.”
Singh added: “It was a great event for us and everybody else. We were all so emotionally attached to it and we will definitely miss the Games.