Queen launches 2010 Commonwealth Games baton relay

Sumir Kaul

London, Oct 29 (PTI) Hit by organisational delays and
controversies, the formal countdown to the 2010 Commonwealth
Games began Thursday with the launch of Queen's baton relay,
which saw India's President Pratibha Patil making history by
becoming the first Head of a state to attend such a ceremony.
The brief ceremony, held at the majestic Buckingham
Palace showcased India's rich tradition through a cultural
show before Queen Elizabeth II handed over the glittering
baton to Patil amidst thunderous applause.
The Queen placed her message into the baton after
receiving it from Commonwealth Games Federation Michael
Fennell as a host of dignitaries watched the proceedings
beamed live in India.
President Patil passed on the baton to Sports Minister of
India M S Gill, who handed it over to Organising Committee
Chairman Suresh Kalmadi.
From Kalmadi baton reached the hands of first baton-
bearer Abhinav Bindra, India's only Olympic Gold medallist.
With Indian music playing in the background air rifle
shooter Bindra began the relay-run and handed over the baton
to legendary middle-distance runner Lord Sebastian Coe,
waiting just outside gates of the Palace.
Coe is also Chairman of the Organising Committee of the
2012 London Olympics.
The baton passed through the hands of Legendary Indian
cricketer Kapil Dev, the most successful female tennis player
Sania Mirza, flying sikh Milkha Singh, Olympic bronze medal
winners -- boxer Vijender Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar --
and England's first Sikh cricketer Monty Panesar among other
Indian sports personalities.
The Queen's Baton for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is a
delicate mix of aesthetics and technology with an in-built
location tracking system and a camera capable of sending
images to the Games website.
Built with Aluminium and Gold, this piece of art has
Queen Elizabeth's message engraved on a miniature 18-carat
gold leaf that is symbolic of the ancient Indian palm leaf
'patras' using laser technology.
Designed by Michael Foley of Foley design along with
Titan Industries and Bharat Electronics, it will have an
embedded system to receive SMSes sent by enthusiasts from
across the world.
These SMSes can be viewed when baton is docked on its
special stands or on the website of the Commonwealth Games.
The torch, which will cover about two lakh kilometers
across the world in its 340-day journey through air, sea and
land, will remain connected with the headquarters through a
GPRS system.


The visuals around the runner will be captured using a
miniature camera which will keep updating on the Games website
on a real-time basis.
After travelling to different member countries of the
Commonwealth, the Baton will enter India through Wagah Border
along Pakistan, 100 days before the start of the Games.
It will then be taken to all state capitals of the
country before reaching the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi
for the opening ceremony of the Games on October 3, 2010.
Soil from different nation countries is set in channels
on the surface of baton.
Earlier, dance, dresses and drums from different parts of
India vitually turned the majestic Victoria Memorial into a
mini-India at the start of Relay.
A bunch of British students joined the celebrations
chanting the Sanskrit verses from ancient Rig Veda.
As the sanskrit prayers speaking of unity and humanity
of these students from St James school revereberated in the
forecourt of the Buckingham Palace, the crowd joined in with
encouraging cheers and claps for their effort.
The students provided perfect icing on the function by
performing Indian classical dance forms Bharatnatyam,
Kuchupudi and folk dances like Bhangra and Dandia in front of
Queen Elizabeth and President Pratibha Patil. PTI SKL