Challenged and Charged

There are days I simply love my company and yesterday was one of them. No, I didn't get a raise.. I got tickets to our corporate box for an IPL Twenty20 match. Granted it was between the Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers - 2 teams who seem to be competing solely for the Fair Play award and granted than I almost sold my soul for the second ticket - it was still worth it. Chinnaswamy stadium was choc-a-block with people eager for some fun on a balmy Saturday afternoon. But we parted ways with the public when we swooshed up an elevator to the 4th floor where the corporate lounge was (oh la la!). It was a bit of a red light area with Kingfisher colors everywhere but it also looked very classy with PYTs dressed in red escorting us to our box. When we entered the box, the view was phenomenal! We were directly in front of the pitch facing the Force 1 model car and the Royal Challenge stage. The stadium was simply huge and branding was everywhere - I was hard-pressed to find a patch free of commercial branding. The stands were disappointingly empty but by the second innings when a Bangalore victory seemed probable, it filled up.

For me one of the funny (and silly) things that struck me was the time lag between the TV view and the actual play! It was kind of like when Harry Potter went for the Quidditch World Cup in GOF. Ok, ok - I'm a bit of a geek as well. Oh yes, I also sounded really smart (in front of the office gang) when I was clearly astounded when the bowler went to the other side to bowl every other over. Hey, it doesn't happen when you watch it on TV, you know. And it might be sour grapes, but I thought the hot cheerleaders were terribly unco-ordinated and disappointing. I wonder what they've been told - when the ball goes out of the field, its like a touchdown so dance like you mean it??!! <meow>

The free food and liquor was really cool though I hated the Zinzi champagne and I refused to drink the Romanov based cocktail - hey, I have standards you know!! But the choice of single malts, scotches and whiskey was truly luxurious..Then there was the fact that all the commentators went up and down the stairs bringing me that close to greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Ajay Jadeja and Rameez Raja (of course someone pointed him out to me - duh!)One of my favourite moments was when the crowd got really into the mood of the game and did the Mexican Wave - it sounds cheesy but it reflects the energy to a tee. To be totally honest, I didn't really care who won but the last over was rollicking and the fireworks that went off when the home team won was the perfect cap to a wonderful experience.