One of the craziest weekends I’ve had in a while – here’s remembering a wonderful November weekend!
Friday evening : Rock Nights at Opus, did the place groove !!! I was completely bowled over by the guy who rendered ‘What’s Going On’ and the lovely guitar riffs by the Kunal Kapoor lookalike. Had a fantastic, rocking time after ages !!!
Friday Midnight – Saturday Night : Driving, Driving, Driving !!! A few watered-down drinks ( I had a Caipirinha-cousin and two Margarita’s, D some beer and gin/vodka tonic) + totally groovy rock music + another weekend stretching ahead + two nutty people who love driving = INSANITY. On an impulse, close to midnight on Friday, we decided to drive 400 km to Jog Falls. Why Jog Falls? I have no clue – but I do know I would have agreed to drive to Kandahar if you had asked me!
800 kilometres of driving across twenty hours, endless cups of sweet coffee, the hunt for clean loo’s, idli-vada for breakfast, dhaaba made dal-roti-egg bhurji (my favorite road meal!), Kurkere, Bingo, the same tape playing repeatedly for hours, random conversations (how else would you describe talk about cuff-links!), the stupendous stretch between Sagar & Shimoga, the non-existent roads in many stretches (will the Karnataka government pleeeease wake up – I don’t mind paying more than 23 rupees for real roads!). A looong drive, that too unplanned, with someone with whom there is no memory of the past and no possibility of a future – this was just what I needed to beat the blues !
Sunday – Surprisingly, I am up at 9 despite not having slept the night before! Rush to Giri’s house warming ceremony – the drive to Bannerghetta National Park (well, almost) should only be undertaken on a Sunday morning! Rush back to Chinnaswamy for the India-England ODI. We lead the series 3-0, so I am secretly hoping for an English win to keep the series alive.
We reach the stadium around noon. Get our faces painted, buy the tiranga jhanda and troop along to our stand, FURIOUS to discover that the one-hour queuing up and the considerable ticket price has got us a seat behind the camera crew, cutting off the view of the pitch completely ! Luckily, this is Bangalore, the organizers are helpful and we are two abla naari’s – so there is some adjust maadi and we get some vintage seats at the corner of the stands.
Chinnaswamy is a wonderful stadium to watch a cricket match in. The grass is a freshly painted green, and since the grounds are not very large, you get a fantastic view of all the action. Of course, the buzz at a cricket match in the subcontinent is a must-have experience – even Ravi Shastri draws big applause (certainly much more than his ignominious World Cup days!)
The weather looks dubious – there are a few raindrops occasionally, followed by a hint of sunlight playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. Fingers crossed.
We are delighted when KP puts India in to bat, and Sehwag sets the pace with a cracking boundary on the first ball! He has to be seen to be believed – standing nonchalantly with his bat slung over his shoulder (almost like he is at a dhobi-ghaat) and then plundering the ball in all directions. Annihilation at its finest. Sachin joins in the fun at the expense of Broad, but looks tentative thereafter.
The first showers arrive unexpectedly, but in full force. I don’t mind it too much – after all, this is part of the fun! We take cover in the hall behind the stand (I’m sure the coffee man is sick of me by now – if the organizers discontinue with the practice of free ‘High Tea’, I am partly to blame). The downpour gets heavier, and we are suddenly faced with the depressing prospect that there may not be any further play!
Luckily, the Bangalore showers are true to form, and depart as unexpectedly as they made their first appearance. We rush back to our seats to catch 30 minutes of the supersoakers in action – I must say I am mighty impressed with their performance in soaking up the water! Broad runs in to resume the proceedings, and there is a stunned silence when Sachin is dismissed in the fourth ball of the over. However, Gambhir continues the party by flicking the first ball he faces for a four.
The run making feast continues, much to our delight, but the clouds want to join in the fun. A light drizzle soon turns into a torrent. It appears highly unlikely that the match will resume. Just 11 goddamn overs – this is worse than a T20! We decide to drown our sorrows by indulging in a sumptuous dinner at the Only Place. Our painted faces attract the attention of the oh-so-good looking owner – there is some compensation for having missed the cricketing fireworks after all! Hot soup, some delicious fish and lots of creamy pasta – with deep sighs for you-know-who - do their bit to revive our spirits. As we get into the car, D sms-es saying match is likely to resume. We decide to ‘chake a tance’ and head to Barista to kill some time – we’ve just ordered when D calls to say match will resume in 10 mins – hurray! Coffee in hands, we rush back to Chinnaswamy – complimenting ourselves on our brilliant foresight of dining close by : -) Our seats have been occupied by the stadium guards and there are more officials than spectators in the stands, but who cares! The English batsmen do not disappoint – they display admirable efficiency and commitment in making a complete hash of a simple job. When KP walks in, P & I just can’t resist cheering for him – what a hunk of a man! Both of us are secretly hoping for a long innings from him – but our man disappoints and is out before we can say hello. Bluhdy. The old saga continues, England continues to lose wickets regularly and do a great job of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It is midnight, I wave goodbye to the camera crew. My fantastic weekend has come to an end - look forward to many more!
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