The 2010 Winter Olympics

Vancouver has been Party Central these past two weeks! The whole city and the entire Lower Mainland of British Columbia have been awash with excitement and adrenaline, energizing the rest of Canada and spreading this feeling of euphoria across the globe. 2000 plus athletes and their assorted officials descended on this city on February 12, and there has been non-stop excitement, astounding achievements, breathtaking feats and record-breaking performances galore since then. The Olympic Cauldron has been burning bright, bathing all of us in its divine, ethereal glow. The surging crowds have been mind-boggling, the lineups at every Olympic pavilion and venue to be seen to be believed! Both bouquets and brickbats have been heaped on our collective heads in the past 15 days, and we Canadians have handled them with aplomb, grace and diplomacy, I must say!

One thing for sure that the Olympics has brought us is this surge of incomparable patriotism and nationalism. The streets of Vancouver, not to mention the Olympic venues, have been a sea of red. People proudly sport their red Canada jerseys, drape Canadian flags across their shoulders, wear toques emblazoned with CANADA on the front, flaunt their red mittens with the Olympic rings on them, and even the less subdued ones at least wear an Olympic or Canadian pin on their lapels. Every car boasts a Canadian flag, and so does every home. Even wheelchairs have a flag stuck to their sides. Transit drivers are dressed in the country's jerseys and jackets, and cute little babies are shown on television holding a tiny flag in their pudgy hands, taking in the Olympic action with their parents. The feelings of patriotism and pride have been tremendous, and the hysterical chants of "Go Canada Go" and the spontaneous, impromptu renditions of the National Anthem "O Canada" on the streets of Vancouver by the hundreds of thousands thronging the streets stand testimony to this fact.
The picture above shows Vijaay with Canadian hero Catriona LeMay Doan, two time Olympic Speedskating Gold Medalist, and one of the privileged athletes who lit the Olympic Cauldron during the Opening Ceremony

Canada has always been more subdued than its swaggering neighbor down South, but the Olympic Games have brought out the latent sense of pride in our country. We have had a sense of our national identity reinforced all over again by this epic event we've been hosting, and this has truly been an occasion to rejoice and revel in, a moment in which we're all proud to be Canadian! Visitors and international athletes, particularly the American ones, have gone on record stating how surprised they have been by the patriotism shown by the Canadians. Canada has won a record number of gold medals as of this minute and superseded the American powerhouse, not bad for a fledgling nation with a population of just 33 million! Canadian athletes may not have Owned the Podium, but have certainly been On the Podium for quality medals. When (not 'if') Canada wins the hockey gold in the men's game, as the women have won theirs, then the Olympics will be complete for all Canadians because "Hockey is Canada's Game." The Olympics may come to a close tomorrow, but the euphoria will definitely remain for a long long time to come!!!