The "Live" experience

It was amazing Saturday I had this weekend. Went to Mumbai (Brabourne Stadium) to watch encounter of MI v/s RCB. Mind blowing experience I must say. Had seen live match in the UK. But watching cricket in India.... Must say that's awesome. The atmosphere, the people, the energy. It is such an amazing place to be.


We had planned this event almost 3 weeks back. Booked the tickets in advance to ensure we get right seats (jaliwala tickets and all). Then comes the logistics. My bros did a fabulous job to close that thing as well. So on Wednesday this week, we had all confirmations for this and we were all set for this.


A day before I get an SMS from my bro asking I am planning to wear MI jercey? He was planning to come wearing RCB jercey. A die hard Jammy fan. An amazing experience was all set. I could not deny this. Come Saturday morning and I went shopping. With couple of shops, finally I managed to get one of my size :-).... At one in the afternoon we all, even Bhargav my little one, were ready to move. He kept on asking as when is taxi arriving. At @ 2 we set off for Mumbai from my place. Till Vashi it was probably the familiar route. But after that it was a challenge. I never drove into Mumbai. Here is where my Gautam, my bro did a fabulous job. Had managed to get the route using maps on internet with major landmarks en route. Everyone was so charged up.... We were slowly near our destination. We were just confirming with cab drivers on road that we are on right track. We were asking in Marathi and getting answers in Hindi.... :-(


Finally we saw the stadium and were off our seats in car. With a round to the stadium and asking  couple of cops for parking places, finally we managed to secure a parking spot. With the big event the parking man charged us "premium" for parking. Of course seeing Pune vehicle he knew we have no choice. The only advantage was it was right out of the gate we were to get in the staium from. So good for us. Not lot of walking to be done. On that round trip, we noticed the Queen's neckless and plan was setup to be there after the match.


After doing pet pooja, we got inside the stadium for match. We had our faces painted with the Indian Flag took some snaps and walked inside with the placards prepared by Pranav. There was one for the little master and one for Jammy. Got seated on our seats and what an atmosphere we had there. (Of course partly because we were right behind RCB cheerleaders) Everyone was shouting for the little master. With the announcement that MI won the toss and elected to bat, the stadium charged up as we were close to see Sachin batting in no time now. It's a fantastic experience to see Sachin batting live though from a distance. Leaving aside result of match it was a grand experience. We got disappointed with MI loosing the match. But think that's part of tournament and its just 3rd game out of 14 in total. So nothing to panic. We can still make it.


The match is over and we were just about to leave and Madan noticed that the entry to ground was open and guess what in next 5 minutes we were standing next to MI dugout. We walked over the grass on which Sachin played.... It was an amazing walk. Unfortunately got to know from security that the players will not come out. But still Dhaval Kulkarni was around and managed to get some snaps there. The came pinnacle of the experience. Saw Jonty Rhodes came out and was signing autographs for us. Few of us shaked hands with him and were amazed. Stunning experience of life. All the money and efforts were worth this moment. Also saw Neeta Ambani going out.


Finally we were out of the stadium. Now towards the next destination, Marine Drive. We spent some time there and it is stunning to see that at 1 am in the night there was so many people there. It was refreshing to be there and after about 45 mins we set off back for home.

Then it was a journey back home with most of the members sleeping and we had to keep ourself awake for the sake of driver (even though I took a nap for a while)..... It was @ 4:30 in the morning when we returned.

What an awesome experience we had. It just confirmed that we will plan for the final. Moreover when the news came today that Pune Franchisee will be there for IPL4, we will continue this even next year supporting my Pune team.

Its IPL again...

IPL Season 3 started with an amazing match last night. We missed this fever last year due to me and IPL both out of India -:) Not this year though. Both back to India and we enjoyed yesterday's match. A last over finish, team finishing last in season 2 beating the one on top. Surely there is lots in store for us in next 45 days of IPL dhamaka. For us this season would be awesome as we are all set to watch match of our god (should I say MI) live on the ground. Looking forward to that next weekend. An encounter between little master's MI and Wall's RCB. सबसे बड़ा तिकीट  already grabbed. Looking forward to have the delivered and most important utilise it next weekend. I am sure it will be amazing experience with 8 of us including my little one watching the match together. Hope his innocent question turns in reality. Every time he sees Sachin on tele he asks "Is he hitting 200?" Keep the fingers crossed.
If this is not enough, F1 season starting this month. I think that's the only way we will be a bit cool. With mercury hitting 35 deg celcius, it has become really difficult to sustain. Not sure though whom should I back in this season. Faiths are divided. Schumi gone to Mercedes and Alonso and Massa with the Reds. Not sure whom will I cheer. But surely the sport.....
So let's enjoy this season of sports.....