Jai Mallya

I still remember the first cricket match I saw live in a stadium. I was in my first year of engineering at Anna University, when our hostel decided to watch the India vs England match at Chepauk. We went for a stupid Arnold movie ( don't remember the name) at 10 PM. Carried blankets and mosquito coils along with us to sleep outside the ticket counter. We thought we were smart, only to find there were about 500 people before us. We managed to get a 200 rupee ticket ( that was 20% of the monthly allowance sent by my father) and each of us were allowed only two tickets. We managed to sell the other ticket for 500 rupees and used the money to buy the exorbitantly priced items in the stands ( lemon rice for Rs.70). We were in the queue at 8.30 AM for a day-night match and people who came late at 12 didnt get a seat inside!!!!!! India managed to win that game but all of us were dehydrated in that heat, managed to catch a 21G and returned to our hostel in Guindy. I promised myself that I would never watch a match live again.

Fast forward to 2008, I choose to watch the IPL match between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy stadium. I go to ticketpro.in, enter my CC details, get the tickets delivered to my house. Me and my father reach the stadium at 6.30 PM for a 8PM match, no frisking whatsoever, was allowed to carry everything except waterbottles. Get a super seat in the second tier of the stadium with 2 electronic screens staring at us. And cell phones having blue tooth had regular updates of the players coming in, state of the pitch, weather etc... wow!!!! Although RC lost the match, we had an enjoyable time. India is surely growing and you bet, IPL is set to change the face of sporting events in the country

P.S : - For people who are wondering why my post is titled, 'Jai Mallya', our team owner is Vijay Mallya. I guess he didnt hear the cries of politicians asking for the cheerleaders to dress decently. Washington Redskins danced merrily and god promise, I have never seen so much skin show live !!!! Thankfully, they were dancing in the tier below and I was standing on the top tier while my father was sitting. This avoided the embarassment....