The 19th Commonwealth Games finished with noisy fanfare on Thursday evening, as colourful ranks of Indian performers ceremonially handed off to a delegation from Scotland, which will host the next Games.
Exhausted teams are going home, and work crews have started removing metal barriers and X-ray scanners from the venues. Political observers are asking who, if anybody, should face punishment for the many gaffes and corruption scandals that marred New Delhi 2010.
More generally, however, it's also a moment for reflection about the lessons - big and small - of two crazy weeks in India.
1. India's Olympic ambitions survived the Games, despite the mess
In the weeks before the event, as a bridge collapsed and a gunman shot two foreign tourists, some doubted India's ability to go ahead with the Games - much less pursue its dream of hosting an Olympics. Organizers fell silent about that ambition as the fiascoes added up, but renewed their talk about a future bid this week, as the Games turned out to be surprisingly good.
Even the team from Canada, which initially seemed unsure about sanitary conditions at the athletes village, gave a qualified endorsement of the idea: "I don't see why countries that haven't hosted before can't take it on," said Scott Stevenson, director of sport for Commonwealth Games Canada.
2. Don't insult India - unless you're Indian
Some athletes cancelled their plans for Delhi as the local media relentlessly critiqued preparations for the so-called "Shame Games." Indian journalists uncovered examples of greed, nepotism and mismanagement which dominated the headlines for weeks. Their tone changed dramatically when guests arrived, however; the front pages abruptly became paeans to India's glory.
Grumbling about "anti-India" bias among the international media started slowly and reached a crescendo in the final week when an Indian journalist berated his foreign counterparts. "Foreign media criticizes everything, the water in the pool, the monkeys," he said. "But according to me, everything so far so good." India's lead organizer, Suresh Kalmadi, listened to the tantrum with a smile, and refused to say whether or not he agreed.
3. Size matters, when it comes to Games delegations
Canada's team says it's more than a coincidence that the gold-medal count roughly corresponds to the delegations' ranking by size. Australia sent almost 600 athletes to these Games, and goes home with 74 gold medals; India had 619 athletes and 38 gold; England 367 and 37. Canada finished fourth, with a smaller team (260) and fewer gold medals (26). Team officials say the size of their delegation is limited by their travel budget.
4. Sport brings countries together, until it doesn't
Thousands of Indians cheered wildly for the Pakistani team at the opening ceremonies, raising hopes that the Games might help the rival countries build a friendship. Indian journalists wrote sympathetic profiles of the only female member of the Pakistan team, and India invited Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to enjoy the spectacle.
But the mood quickly soured. Mr. Qureshi did not accept the offer, and India's crowds became viciously partisan as the competition got under way. Pakistani officials complained about the "pressure" of the hometown audience after a major loss to India's field hockey team.
5. Perhaps there is such a thing as "too much security"
After Canada announced its selection of two gold-medal athletes, wrestler Ohenewa Akuffo and weightlifter Christine Girard, to lead the procession during the closing ceremonies, Ms. Akuffo joked about why Canada would need so much muscle around the flag-bearer, Tara Whitten. "They picked a wrestler and weightlifter as extra security," she said. "Security's been great here, but if anybody's going to mess with her, good luck."
In fact, 7,500 security personnel were deployed to the stadium for the final ceremonies, as part of an exhaustive effort that succeeded in preventing major violence during the Games. Unfortunately, the precautions also shut down most of Delhi, crippling local businesses and evicting thousands of poor from the city. The safeguards also kept spectators far away from the events; after cyclists raced along empty streets during the final weekend, organizers modified their precautions to allow bigger crowds for the marathon.