Paris 2024: India Showcases Its Olympic Appetite

Paris 2024: India Showcases Its Olympic Appetite

By Nicolas Lepeltier

Published on August 6, 2024, at 5:37 pm (Paris)

As a candidate to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036,
India has been pursuing an intense lobbying campaign in Paris for months.

The smell of curry wafted through the air. Sitar tunes could be heard, not
far from a man bent over an antique loom. A few meters away, Veena Nagda, the
henna queen that Hollywood is snapping up, demonstrated this ancestral tradition
on a tourist’s hand, in the muggy Parisian summer. No, we’re not in New Delhi or
Calcutta, but in the Parc de La Villette, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris,
where India has taken up residence. It’s here, in the Parc des Nations, that
some 15 foreign delegations have set up their hospitality spaces, for the
duration of the Olympic Games.

It’s impossible to miss India House. The temporary pavilion, with its
candy-pink facades and two floral elephants at the entrance, stretches along the
Canal de l’Ourcq. The pavilion showcases Indian history, culture and
craftsmanship as well as national champions, whose performances are broadcast on
a giant screen. This is the first time in Olympic history that India has been
showcased in this way. And it’s not by chance.

Candidate for the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games, India is on a mission of
seduction in Paris. "Today, we gather here at the Paris Olympic Games 2024, to
open the doors to a dream. A dream that belongs to 1.4 billion Indians. A dream
to bring India to the Olympics, and our shared dream to bring the Olympics to
India," said Nita Ambani at the inauguration of India House on July 27.

For more details, read the full article on

Le Monde.