Olympics Diary

A Malayali gang rooting for Team India in Paris

As India took on Great Britain in the men's hockey quarterfinals, chants of "Come on, Sreejesh'' were ringing at the stadium. A group of Keralites living in France and other European countries was present to witness the high-voltage encounter, who shrieked and shouted whenever Sreejesh made a save.

Led by Sarva Malayalee Association (SAMA), France, former president Jithu Damodaran, they were ecstatic to have witnessed India's a nail-biting victory on penalties as well as fellow Keralite Sreejesh's brilliant performance in the goal.

Jithu, a native of Peringottukara in Thrissur, has been living in France for many years. Sangeeth Kurup, another member of SAMA, said watching India enter the Olympic semifinals was once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sangeeth, who hails from Thiruvalla, has been working as a chef at a Paris-based restaurant for the past 17 years.

Ajith Kumar, a native of Kottarakkara who is employed at the Indian Embassy in France, came to watch the match along with his wife Jini Sukumaran. The other members of the group were Thalassery native Vysakh Ullas and Thiruvalla native Deynu Raju, both engineers, and data architect Jodson Thomas, who hails from Kothamangalam.

As we were discussing the Indian team's performance, another Malayali approached us. He was Nithish Raghunandanan, who came all the way from Munich to watch the Games. Nithish, a native of Chottanikkara, is a software engineer by profession. He is eagerly waiting to see ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra winning his second Olympic gold medal on Thursday.