Paris diary: Experiencing the Games in the City of Light

A lawyer at the Games

Shilpa Nautiyal, a Mumbai lawyer, was hopping from train to train, venue to venue, cheering on the Indian team. She and her husband, Richie, an entrepreneur, spent up to Rs 40,000 each for tickets at some of the venues. It’s been worth it, she says, because she and Richie Khandelwal “live for experiences”. “That’s what life is all about — different places, different experiences,” says the Uttarakhand-born Shlipa. “The Olympics were on my bucket list. I just wanted to experience Paris 2024! The experience has been just wonderful — easily worth the few lakh rupees we spent on the trip.” Richie, meanwhile, went off to Belgium for an experience he craved — Tomorrowland music festival. “Earlier this year, we went to Norway for the Northern Lights,” says Shilpa. “We try to make time for travel every year, India and abroad.”

Cost of watching

We met Antoine, Gaspard, Edgar and Maxime, French students 20-21 years old, on a train to the football event. They were excited about the Olympics coming to their city, but the prices of the tickets left them aghast. “The price of good seats at the football venue is over 60 euros,” says Maxime, studying international business. The others laugh at him because he’s managed to buy a ticket for a ‘lesser’ match — the game between Nigeria and Japan women. “It’s what I could afford... 30 euros!” Maxime shrugs.

Sivakoti at Roland Garros

Sivakoti, from Hyderabad, has some regrets, for he wanted to become an IAS officer but turned out to be a mere engineer, now working in Hanover in Germany. But he’s happy in Paris — he’s achieved a lifetime high at the Olympics by watching live tennis at Roland Garros, hockey at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, football at Stade de Marseille. The tickets have been expensive, he says, but not “really expensive”. “They were much more expensive for the French Open. I wanted to book them in May, but the Category A tickets cost over 1,000 euros each!” he says. “But at the Olympics, I got Category A tickets for only 160 euros!” That’s a steal, he says. His trip from Hanover to Paris cost him “about 700 euros”, including travel, hotel and tickets and meals. Money well spent, he says. Mumbai girl Mehak Shaikh, face painted in the Indian flag, spent 60 euros to watch a hockey game. “What an experience it turned out to be!” she said. “I’d try to get more tickets.”

Ease of working

Julia Maria Comes e Carvalho from Brazil loves the life in Paris. Working for tech major SAP, how does she find the time off from work to spend so many days as a volunteer at the badminton venue? “It’s no problem — we have 40 paid holidays a year here in France!” says Julia. Then there’s sick leave, and other holidays as well, she says, and adds: “Back in Brazil, we work too hard — six days a week, eight hours and even more a day! In India, too... This I found when I started interacting with my Indian colleagues.” French labour laws are extremely pro-worker. An Indian Embassy official relates how an employee has been on unpaid sick leave for three years — and yet is protected against dismissal!

Maria zooms in

On the bridge over the Seine close to the Notre Dame cathedral, Maria from Ukraine clicks photographs of tourists who have thronged the city for the Olympic Games. She has a polaroid camera camouflaged in an antique camera body, and hands out prints instantly. She has a sunny personality and laughs and laughs as she encourages tourists to “go crazy” with different poses as she clicks photographs. But she has a secret sorrow — her brother is in Ukraine, as are many other relatives and friends. “I worry about them, of course,” she says. “Russia invaded us more than two and a half years ago, and I’m worried sick.” She says she’s one of 15 young women from Ukraine working this job, and part of the money they make goes to Ukraine for relief effort. “I’m sure we’re going to win the war,” she says.

Cab business

The Paris Olympics, praised for their inscrutability, did require thousands of taxis, luxurious cars and buses to transport athletes, support staff, officials, and media from one venue to another. Nicolas Gowry, with roots in Mauritius and India, is one of the vendors who provided luxury cars for the Olympics. He strenuously denies the charge that he’s very, very rich. “Oh no, I’m not really rich,” he laughs, adding that he sub-contracts business further when the demand is very high. “I’m just very hardworking.” His associates, Manueer Nasrden and Manoj Ramsanri, speak passable Hindi but Gowry — whose first name is Vimal which he’s swapped with “Nicolas” — doesn’t have a word of the language of his forefathers. “I provided 150 cars for an Indian wedding last year,” says Gowri, but refuses to reveal just who it was from India who needed so many luxury cars. “Client privacy, you know... Can’t tell!” he says.

Drifter from Mauritius

Anand Prayag, third-generation Mauritian, doesn’t know where his grandfather — or perhaps great-grandfather — was born before being taken to Mauritius to work in the sugar and indigo fields. “It’s probably Bihar where he came from,” says Prayag, 60, volunteering for the Olympic Games. He says, growing up, there was no curiosity in his heart about his roots. “Life was tough. It was hard work in the fields that my grandfather and father did,” he says, explaining the absence of stories he inherited. “After work, they found solace and rest in drinking. I don’t recall any stories that elders told us about where they came from,” Prayag says. “My life became better because I worked hard on my studies and became a policeman.” He moved to France some 20 years ago, he says. “Life was tough here, too. I managed to get by with odd jobs.” Now his heart is tugged by memories of home — Mauritius and, oddly enough, India. “It’s cold here for five months, you can’t go out, and even children don’t meet their parents,” he says. “Mauritius is sunny all year. I now want to return home.” He yearns to visit India — he wears an Om on his ear and religion draws him to the country of his forefathers: “I’ve been to Tirupati, and now I want to go to the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya.” — Rohit Mahajan