Police arrest a Tibetan exile during a protest near the venue of the Olympic torch relay in New Delhi on Thursday. (Reuters)

New Delhi, April 17: For nearly two minutes, the most protected torch in the world refused all attempts to be lit by Indian officials as they kept bringing a flame near its mouth.

The Olympic torch — a concept started eight decades ago to popularise the Summer Games — did light up eventually, but its 2.3km journey down Rajpath was greeted by empty lawns.

Pampered with security few heads of state can boast of, the torch relay was seen only by security personnel and select mediapersons.

As sportsmen, actors and officials ran holding the torch, they were surrounded by a thick sheet of security. Closest to the torch carrier ran slim, gloved Chinese commandos in blue tracksuits. Around them ran Indian security officials. On either side of the road, young Delhi police jawans — also wearing blue tracksuits — were stationed at every metre, never mind the fact that there were only other security personnel behind them.

Popular film stars Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan, usually thronged by fans, enjoyed rare moments of relative privacy — with no one screaming out for them — as they ran with the torch.

Delhi schoolchildren, who were earlier expected to line the torch route, were today seated on makeshift stands in front of the National Stadium, where the relay ended. Their view of Rajpath was shielded by a huge podium meant to host Indian and Chinese officials, and a few of the torch carriers.

Actors Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan at the Olympic torch run on Rajpath. Pictures by Rajesh Kumar

The only stars they got to cheer were tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who together lit the giant Olympic Bowl on the podium, marking the official end of the Delhi leg of the torch relay.

“Honestly, it was a big pain. But we were asked to come, we didn’t have any choice,” smiled 12-year-old Shraddha from a Delhi government school in Vikaspuri.

The torch run started at 4.45pm — it was scheduled for 4pm — and the short journey was stretched to 40 minutes by runners jogging like a car crawling through a traffic jam.

Each runner had to jog around 34 metres before stopping to hand over the torch to the next in the queue to run. A Chinese commando would give the green signal before the next runner started.

A kilometre away from the venue, a bunch of cheering girls wearing Samsung logos on their tops and skirts, pompoms in hand, were stopped from moving towards Rajpath. Samsung is a sponsor for the Olympics.

In the morning, the torch and the flame were brought out from Le Meridian Hotel on Janpath, about a kilometre away from the starting point of the relay, and placed at a “secret” location.

As the torch ended its run, it was accompanied back to the airport on roads empty expect for security personnel.