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Olympic Countdown has begun. It is Day 0.
Friday July 27, 2012 08:35:08 PM,
Sarat C. Das, IANS
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London: The blue
ticket counters surrounding Olympic Park opened at 8 a.m. local
time. There were long serpentine queues with many having came
before the break of the dawn. An Indian family with their infant
in a pram waited for their turn at the counter. "We are keeping
our eyes on 9 o'clock opening of the event," said Rajesh Singh
wearing an orange red shirt.
A few visitors, who had turned up late, rushed to London Olympics'
volunteers to know if they had a chance to obtain tickets.
The barricaded queues were at some 40 metres distance from the
entrance to the main Olympic Park. Under the grey sky, the Olympic
Park appeared like a painted canvass.
Abdul Qayyum, a Hyderabad-born Indian IT professional, despaired
over his delay in reaching the ticket counter. He looked fatigued
from the long Ramadan fasting and little sleep.
"No matter how tired you are you still need to be at the venue,"
said Qayyum, who was on a leave from his workplace at Swindon.
"This Olympics has had its Indian moment as we witnessed Bollywood
superstar Amitabh Bachchan carrying the torch in Southwark," said
Dhanjay Mishra from North Wembley who was among the teeming
crowds.
"I still could not believe the undiminished energy of Bachchan
carrying the flame over little less than half a kilometre without
sweating," Mishra said, adding: "This is what superheroes are made
of."
There was hysteric excitement building up to the opening day. As
the excitement reaches its crescendo, Britain is ready to savour
its big moment that is upon it. It took seven years in preparation
after Jacques Rogge of the IOC opened the envelope containing the
word "London".
It is a moment of profound satisfaction to say: "When the time
came we did it right."
(Sarat C. Das
can be contacted at sarat.das@gmail.com)
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