Eye on LONDON

As the countdown to the Games picks up pace, Weve got all that you wanted to know—and some with London-based Sarah GeorGe ThenGunGal

we round up our monthly Olympics features with this mega London package. things you couldnt even think of! Read on as we kick off the information telling us all thats new and shiny in her city

So you have been hearing about it for ages and are wondering what exactly is going on. Well, a lot—that is the short version of the story! i am a Londoner who has seen the buzz in the city go from a murmur to a shriek and now it is finally upon us—the big thing, the real thing, the 2012 London olympics. and, if you, like me, are without tickets for the Summer olympics, the wheels of your mind must be whirring as to how to get hold of those magical tickets. i live in London but had no luck of the draw with the strictly official application process, though i am on the waitlists of various friends who have been lucky in the draw—and a delicious gut feeling tells me that the Games fairy will find me before July 27, 2012!

Gearing up

there has always been a buzz about my city. if you are a visitor, and step off the train in London from any of the other cities or towns in england, the London buzz is quite palpable. With less than 100 days to go, you can imagine how London is abuzz with the excitement. the added excitement of it becoming the first city to host the Games for the third time, previously in 1908 and 1948. the grip of olympics fever was inescapable even as far back as February 2011 when there was more than a year to the Games. news of frenetic building activity in Stratford, around the olympic stadium increased every day and retailers flocked to the area to establish their presence and woo visitors. i remember the accessories shop, accessorise, was among the first to jump on the bandwagon by launching new lines of union Jack-themed hairclips, bands and ballet flats. and clothing chains h&M; and topshop with their range of blue-red-white t-shirts and shorts were already in hot pursuit early last year. that imminent feeling hit home when the tickets went on sale in spring 2011, and the whoops of those who won the lottery and the groans and sighs of those who didnt, could be heard everywhere.

When the tubes Jubilee line that terminates at Stratford, ran smoothly without any of its usual disruptive‘planned engineering works for the fifth weekend in a row without leaving us stranded or homebound, i was thrilled at how the Games had tangibly improved our lives. transport for London, in a rare show of initiative, has extended overground train lines to Stratford and is working frantically to upgrade the Docklands Light railway, repair escalators and spruce up station premises in anticipation of the summer. its no fun having to trudge up 120-odd steps because of a closed escalator but “all for a good cause”, is what i muttered to myself, panting and blue in the face this weekend. Whether it had to take a mega sporting event to complete much-needed transport repairs in this city is another question. For now, i will happily take a better, shinier city.

i never really thought this was possible but real estate in east London has shot up even more and if you visit now, you will find apartment owners rubbing their hands gleefully in anticipation of letting their apartments during the Games—and simultaneously planning exotic holidays with the windfall to escape the citys predicted chaos. equal is the enthusiasm among Londoners who are engaged in the Games and staying for the summer. the walls of the tube platforms are awash with ads inviting Londoners to be ‘Games Makers for a greater involvement with the olympics and the Paralympics. taking the spirit of community involvement even further is the step to open the various venues and stadia for practice sessions by schools for the athletic events. i hope these venues remain open for such public use even after the Games.

Games In The Air

Finally, unable to wait any longer, i visited the hive of activity at the arena—the venue thats the topic of every conversation—Stratford and the olympic stadium. London undergrounds newest Jubilee line takes you to the spanking new Stratford station with its elegant, curving roof on what looks like an air terminal. With the 2012 Games logos splashed on every visible surface as soon you come out of the station, truly Stratford is the olympic city within the city. the twin mascots with their giant Cyclopseyes—Wenlock, sporting white and orangehues for the olympics and Mandeville, in white and blue for the Paralympics—strolled hand-in-hand. (both are meant to represent two drops of steel from a factory inbolton and have puzzled many of us.)

en route the stadium, you will pass through the brand new glass towers of the Westfield shopping mall.the new mall is more than three times the size of the original Westfield at Shepherdsbush and, with 236 shops, it is every shopaholics cornucopia of spoils.istopped at one of thetteam Greatbritain souvenir shops to survey the gym gear designed by Stella McCartney foradidas… and let me just say that it didnt take me too much time to giv into temptation!

Much to my dismay,iwas not allowed entry into the olympics Stadium, as a guard said, “yyou look neither the Prime Minister nor his wife, soicannot let you in miss”.a the Stadium is open to the public only after theolympics iwent to the viewing gallery on the third floor of the mall that adjoins another huge souvenir shop.the gallery is framed with larger than life pictures oftteam Greatbritain athletes and provides splendid aerial views.the main Stadium rises like a giant, a white and silver circle with many arc lights looking inwards. Sprawled around it are theolympic and Paralympic village which will house the sportspersons.three smaller arenas look straight out of a Star Wars set—they are theaquatics Centre with its sleek wave-shaped roof, the Water Polo arena and the vvelodrome.amid these is the unmistakable crimsoncolouredarcelorMittalorbit installation.theorbit is a 115m-high steel creation of the celebrated artistanish kapoor that looks like a twistedeiffel tower and designed to be anolympic venue for corporates with the viewing gallery and restaurant at the top. Saving theolympic Park ffrroommbbeing a steel and concrete jungle are the carefully planted wildflower meadows of cornflowers, marigolds, Californian poppies and prairie flowers, designed to bloom fully by the time the Games start.isaw buds and shoots of these thrusting from the soil from my perch.icannot wait to see the Park overflowing with visitors and sportspersons and the venues erupting in roars of excitement!

Join The Excitement

as it happens, Logog (Londonolympic Committee of the olympic and Paralympic Games) leased two floors from my firms steel and glass monolith in Canary Wharf.as internal security procedures becomes more rigorous,ifind myself fantasising daily about charming important-looking olympics officials bustling in my office lobby… perhaps to secure the coveted tickets to theopening Ceremony.

but if you are in the city and havent managed to lay yyoouurr hands on those magical tickets, join the thronging masses watching the Games on the big screens at ttrafalgar Square,victoria Park orhyde Park. Find me there.iwill be the one cheering for bothtteam Great britain andtteamindia!