A perfect opening with promise of best Olympics ever

Jaws dropped and eyeballs popped out of the socket as Beijing defied umpteen doomsday predictions and shimmered in a breathtaking display of fireworks, colour and cultural soiree at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games at the Bird's Nest stadium here tonight.

A veritable architectural wonder of interwoven steel, the national stadium on the outskirt of the Chinese capital witnessed an ethereal ceremony studded with a heady concoction of tradition and technology and a dazzling display of a combination of man and machine.

The three-and-a-half-hour show, witnessed by a capacity crowd of 91,000 people here and over one billion viewers on watching it on television, kicked off right at 2000 hrs local time  the choice of date 08-08-2008 at 8 pm stems from the Chinese belief that number eight is auspicious for them.

China has invested $43 billion on the Games, including $100 million on the opening and closing ceremonies, twice the money expended at the 2004 Athens Games, promising to host the best ever Olympic Games over the next fortnight.

Talks of human rights violation, pollution or the veil of haze hanging over the city seemed mere bagatelle compared to the blockbuster that Beijing produced tonight.

The Indian contingent, led by flag bearer Athens silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, looked every bit proud. Men were dressed in off-white sherwanis while women mixed and matched, some draped in the traditional sarees and some others in western outfits.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in purple silk saree with golden border, waved at the Indian athletes with a broad smile.