IPL 1 INAUGURATION : 18 April 2008
The first inaugural IPL was about to commence inside the circular walls of Chinnaswami stadium in Bangalore. Cricket Crazy fanatics and enthusiasts buzzed around the stadium entrance waiting to get in and witness one of the biggest cricket spectacles in India, having all the great icons of cricket from different countries at one place.
Crowd kept pouring in Gaurav, Zoheb and me went slithering through the wall of people towards our gate. Many cars with cricketers went inside the gates, while people watched eagerly trying to figure out the identity of the inmates.
A white car came towards the gate, people started moving towards it in a frenzy, It was like some piranha food fest, the car was completely swarmed be people. We thrust ourselves towards the car, but couldn't see much through the window.
"Who is in the car ?", asked Gaurav to one of the frenzied soul around.
"SACHIN !!", replied the nut excited. We had this sudden rush of excitement. We could feel the presence of "The GOD !! of Indian cricket".
Lot of pushing and shoving ensued. We were few feet from the car, we could see only a shadowy figure inside . The car was surrounded by crazy Homo Sapiens trying to get a glimpse of their favorite star.
Gaurav stepped up his game, hustled through and with great difficulty managed to get close to the car. He was just 2 feet from the car now, he held his binocular looking at the car window.
Heights of craziness, "A binocular for a 2 feet distance !!". Interesting what god can make people do I wondered looking at Gaurav. The car slowly inched forward into the stadium away from us, while people kept screaming "Sachinnnn Sachinnnn".
The frenzy abated and Gaurav came back from the hustle bustle of god witnessing ritual. We started walking towards our gate again. Gaurav put his hand in his back pocket, his wallet had gone missing. With a worried look running through his face Gaurav started searching all his pockets, "Holy shit!!", his priced artifact was no-where to be found. Credit cards, debit card, driving license, some cash, some treasured photos all lost in the melee. Incantation of "Shit yaar!! Shit yaar!!" from Gaurav followed. A terrible price to pay to see God. Frantically calling customer care service to block credit and debit cards ensued.
Did we see God in reality here ??? ... or was it just another figment of our imagination ??? ... or another rumor spreading like a meme hoodwinking us ?? ... I am just another Agnost wondering ... "God or no God ??".....
God will punish all those who have sinned .... Well !!! SACHIN when will Gaurav get his share of justice ...... or will you just stay mum like the other GODS we worship ???
Pick-pocketing right in front of GOD is what we actually witnessed .......... When we met GOD !!!
