One more off the bucket list! Finally, I watched a match live in the stadium! Just one word – wow!! I went to the RCB v/s Pune IPL match on May 7th along with my friends. It’s been chaos right from the word go. One of our friends wasn’t sure whether she could make it or not. So we were going back and forth between the May 7th and May 14th matches. Once we had booked the A stand tickets for the one on May 7th, the ticket prices dropped. Just for 600 bucks more we could have got a D corporate seat. Dilemma again. Finally, we decided to go with what we have. By the way we also had an extra ticket which was sold off by my friend at the last minute. With policemen all around it must have been quite thrilling to have got rid of it I guess :P
The D-day arrived and we were all seated. We took pictures and showed off the free stuff we had got on the way :P We were very close to the camera too woohooo! There was a sober looking Punjabi uncle next to us. We were eagerly waiting for the match to begin. Just then the camera man turned and I waved to him. I did not expect him to react. I was taken by surprise when he turned the camera to us. And out of nowhere Punjabi uncle starts dancing, tummy and all :D We couldn’t stop laughing! The day looked promising. No sight of rain too. I was pumped up for the match.
As we were waiting for the game to start, someone tapped us from behind. What? Your seats? No way! We had double checked. The guy next to us says “This is F. G is the next row”. If I felt any disappointment then, it was nothing compared to what was coming next. We had booked four tickets in a shot. Imagine how unlucky we were to have got two seats each on either side of the entrance to our box. After failed attempts to convince the people next to us to switch seats, we split up. But our troubles were far from over. We were on the last seats on the bottom most row of the A stand. This meant having our view blocked by people entering and exiting the box. To add to our woes, vendors carrying all types of eatables kept walking in front of us. I have never fought off my desire for junk food as much as I did that day.
The match started and I could feel the energy in the packed stadium. The MC kept the crowd entertained. It was awe-inspiring to see thousands of people follow the instructions of a formless voice. The voice said left and the crowd waved the flags left. The voice said right and a sea of red went right. If you ever want to teach your kids the power of unity, take them to a match or concert :D As the match progressed, we got used to people walking in front of us all the time. The crowd went ballistic as Virat Kohli fielded close to the stands. I wonder how it feels when thousands of people shout out your name :) A lot of pressure for sure. Kohli was playing for RCB and Dhoni for Pune. Both crowd favorites. The sportsmanship of the Bangaloreans showed when they cheered equally hard for Dhoni too. Fours and sixes went off to the shouts of “R..C..B.. R..C..B..”. Annnnddddd RCB wonnnn!!! It was an exciting match with twists and turns. But I would rather leave cricket commentary to Harsha Bhogle :P
Irrespective of the seating problems (did I mention my seat was broken?), I am glad I went to the match. The excitement, enthusiasm and vibe is something that must be experienced. To be in synergy with so many people at once is amazing! No wonder prayer is considered so powerful. And with that, I have crossed one more item on my list. Looking forward to the rest :)
The D-day arrived and we were all seated. We took pictures and showed off the free stuff we had got on the way :P We were very close to the camera too woohooo! There was a sober looking Punjabi uncle next to us. We were eagerly waiting for the match to begin. Just then the camera man turned and I waved to him. I did not expect him to react. I was taken by surprise when he turned the camera to us. And out of nowhere Punjabi uncle starts dancing, tummy and all :D We couldn’t stop laughing! The day looked promising. No sight of rain too. I was pumped up for the match.
As we were waiting for the game to start, someone tapped us from behind. What? Your seats? No way! We had double checked. The guy next to us says “This is F. G is the next row”. If I felt any disappointment then, it was nothing compared to what was coming next. We had booked four tickets in a shot. Imagine how unlucky we were to have got two seats each on either side of the entrance to our box. After failed attempts to convince the people next to us to switch seats, we split up. But our troubles were far from over. We were on the last seats on the bottom most row of the A stand. This meant having our view blocked by people entering and exiting the box. To add to our woes, vendors carrying all types of eatables kept walking in front of us. I have never fought off my desire for junk food as much as I did that day.
The match started and I could feel the energy in the packed stadium. The MC kept the crowd entertained. It was awe-inspiring to see thousands of people follow the instructions of a formless voice. The voice said left and the crowd waved the flags left. The voice said right and a sea of red went right. If you ever want to teach your kids the power of unity, take them to a match or concert :D As the match progressed, we got used to people walking in front of us all the time. The crowd went ballistic as Virat Kohli fielded close to the stands. I wonder how it feels when thousands of people shout out your name :) A lot of pressure for sure. Kohli was playing for RCB and Dhoni for Pune. Both crowd favorites. The sportsmanship of the Bangaloreans showed when they cheered equally hard for Dhoni too. Fours and sixes went off to the shouts of “R..C..B.. R..C..B..”. Annnnddddd RCB wonnnn!!! It was an exciting match with twists and turns. But I would rather leave cricket commentary to Harsha Bhogle :P
Irrespective of the seating problems (did I mention my seat was broken?), I am glad I went to the match. The excitement, enthusiasm and vibe is something that must be experienced. To be in synergy with so many people at once is amazing! No wonder prayer is considered so powerful. And with that, I have crossed one more item on my list. Looking forward to the rest :)
No comments:
Post a Comment