We were all waiting to board at gate C90 at Paris Charles de Gaulle when a team of five or six policemen came to us and asked if we were Indian athletes. Rohan, Sharmistha and Trisha were all wearing the official Indian jacket, and maybe that prompted the question. For a few seconds, we were all a bit taken aback. Why would the police start to ask questions all of a sudden? Only then did the real issue come to light.
“Do you have any more India pins left?” asked one. By then, we had distributed to everyone possible, and run out of stock. In fact, we had given the last one to the immigration official who stamped our passports and, may I say, it was an interesting conversation. “Are you from the Paralympics?” he first asked. That was when I handed him the media accreditation card. “How is it that you haven’t got a pin for me?” was the follow-up question. For me, immigration is all about just getting it done and moving on. A chat on the Paralympics was the last thing I was expecting, and that was when I gave him the last pin left in my hand bag. He was delighted, and wished me a happy journey while also asking me to come back to Paris whenever I wanted to!
After I cleared immigration and got to security, I was about to take my laptop out for scanning when the two people manning the belt walked up to me and asked the same question. “Are more Indian athletes coming today?” asked one. Seeing me curious, she added, “I just saw you give a pin to the immigration official, and hence asked if other Indian athletes are traveling back tonight. If they are, I’d check if they have some pins left!”
In fact, even when we were checking out of the hotel and clearing our bills, the lady at the reception asked for an Indian pin. She was willing to trade it for a French one and was thrilled when told that she could keep it.
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This obsession with Olympic and Paralympic pins has grown manifold since Tokyo. Pin traders, common to every Olympics, have grown in number and even athletes make it a point to visit them to see if they can add a new one to their collection.
Pins have also helped create Olympic and Paralympic friendships that have lasted decades. India’s athletics head coach at the Paralympics, Satyanarayana, is very good friends with a pin collector from Greece, who has one of the best Olympics collections. “We met in London and since then exchanged and traded many pins,” said the collector. “My friend has also given me an India T-shirt.”
One thing is for certain. When I travel to the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, I will take at least 200 pins for each. You want to give an Indian pin, for it’s a feel-good thing. You really don’t want to say you don’t have one. And the smile that you get when you do give one is enough to make your day. In fact, a few Indian friends had also requested for pins. One of them had asked for an Australian pin, and a Spanish one, and it is now time to courier them to him. Olympic and Paralympic pins are a whole new world, and Paris provided a real eye-opener.
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