Paris Diary: Is Paris burning?
A famous German seems to have asked this question of his commander during World War II in 1944. The question may have been slightly premature — 80 years, it can be said that Paris is burning, for it’s been oppressively hot. The Olympics are in town and sportspersons and fans from across the world have followed them to Paris, and all of them seem surprised by the heat in the capital. The buses and Metro coaches of Paris don’t seem ready for the heat — it gets quite hot in these, with only a small vent to let fresh air in. India’s hockey players talked about the conditions yesterday. “Such a hot day,” said Sukhjeet Singh, who’s from Punjab and knows a thing or two about the north Indian summer. PV Sindhu has noticed the heat, too. “The conditions keep changing, today was OK, yesterday was super hot,” she said. “We have fans in the rooms! For me, personally it’s fine… I’ve been playing for a long time, I’m fine.”
Man from Israel
Misha Zilberman, a 35-year-old badminton player from Israel, crushed Nepal’s Prince Dahal in their round-robin stage match. He was asked about Israel and military and conflict and the security situation — but he was determined not to bite the bait. “Let’s don’t talk about it! But security, I’m feeling safe, no problems here,” he said. Next question: Have your done your compulsory military service? “Only sport!” Is he walking freely in the Olympics village, without an escort? “Everything freely! In Paris, we can walk free. Everything good.” “But no politics, please… We’re Israelis,” he may well have added.
Watch your bag
Locals and visitors warn you of the danger lurking in the public, particularly in public transport — pickpockets! An Indian journalist recounts the tale he’s been telling to whoever is listening — how, travelling on the Paris Metro, his backpack was opened by a sly-fingered operator and a pullover removed. “The next thing to go would have been a bag containing my passport and money,” he says. The loss of a pullover has made him smarter — “I always wear the backpack on the front rather than the back… And it’s always locked when I’m using public transport.” Ruouxuan Zhang, a journalist with China’s Xinhua agency, is upset with the local police. “My friend was targetted by pickpockets, and he lost money and documents,” says Ruouxuan. “He went to the cops and was told they could do nothing! And why? Well they don’t have CCTV in too many areas because of concerns about people’s privacy! And what about public safety?” — Rohit Mahajan
