New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) As the Commonwealth Games mascot Shera went missing during the gala opening ceremony, the Organising Committee officials Monday explained a suitable place could not be found for the smiling tiger in any sequence of the three-hour event.
‘It was not possible to adjust Shera in the opening ceremony. But he was there in a song on Shera at the pre-opening ceremony,’ said an Organising Committee official.
People crowding the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Sunday waited eagerly for Shera, but the mascot of the 19th Commonwealth Games was nowhere to be seen during the inaugural.
The only place Shera can be seen was Shera topiary – grass hedge – outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and many people were seen clicking their pictures with it.
Spectators, especially children, were disappointed.
‘Shera came to my school and I was so excited that I’d see him again at the opening ceremony. But Shera was not there and that’s disappointing,’ said Sheetal Singh, a student of the Delhi Public School.
Equally disappointed were elders who said Shera would have added colour to the ceremony.
‘I don’t still understand why Shera was nowhere in the opening ceremony. Shera was the face of the Games and had done a lot in publicising the Games among children,’ said Ashutosh Gupta, a government employee.
The opening ceremony kickstarted the sporting extravaganza which will end Oct 14. More than 6,000 artistes took part in the opening ceremony.
