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My Dear Blog,
Today I woke up late around noon. Took a shower, had my lunch and then went to Eden Gardens for the third one-day match between India and England. My ticket was in Block J. My seat number was 2532.
I really love Eden Gardens a lot. I have been going there since 1996. The first time I had gone to Eden Gardens was on 27th November 1996 for the India-South Africa test match. This was the very first time that I had entered Eden Gardens. What a majestic feeling it was. The very first sight of the lush green-ground had made me ecstatic. The roar of the spectators and the mexican-waves were fascinating. The panoramic view of the Stadium was mind-blowing. It felt nice to spread a newspaper on those ancient cement benches and sit under the winter Sun. No need to sit on the exact seat-number. People sitting around me had become my instant new best friends. I was only 14 years old then. The grown-ups sitting around me treated me like their younger brother as I was alone in the Stadium. They offered me biscuits and cakes. They asked me if I needed water. The first day was spent watching the batting skills of Andrew Hudson and Gary Kirsten and also was spent zooming in on the players through my binocular. Gary Kirsten had scored centuries in both the innings in that match.
In those days there used to be those cemented bench-type seats where people used to spread newspapers and sit on them. People used to come with their families and bring their lunches in tiffin-carriers and it used to feel like a picnic. Nowadays those cemented seats are no longer there and we only have plastic chairs throughout the Stadium. I really miss the old Eden Gardens.
Anyways today's match was good. India bowled well to restrict England to just 321 runs. It was a get-able and chase-able score. But unfortunately India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I clicked a lot of selfies there in the stadium. Three beautiful non-bengali girls were sitting beside me. Most probably they were Marwaris. All three of them were quite pretty but the one who was sitting in the middle, her beauty was simply out of this world. She had an innocent and angelic look in her face. I felt like talking to her but somehow could not gather the necessary courage to make the first move. Our eyes met a few times but somehow I suddenly felt shy for some unknown reasons and just could not break the ice. I really hate and curse myself when I fail to break the ice and make the first move.
Anyways I really love the mexican-waves at Eden Gardens. Salute to the guy who initiates these mexican-waves. Only after a few failed attempts, these mexican-waves actually materialise and travel throughout the stadium. It is a lovely sight during a full-house at Eden. Generally the mexican-waves go on for seven rounds. And generally these mexican-waves travel in a clockwise direction but sometimes on rare occasions they also travel in an anti-clockwise direction too. After the completion of the wave the whole stadium starts clapping on the success of the wave. A decade back I used to initiate these mexican-waves from my Block regularly at Eden Gardens. It used to be a herculean task to initiate the mexican-waves and to get all the lazy Bongs to stand up at the same time and put their hands up in the air. After a few failed attempts, my mexican-waves used to succeed and travel throughout the Stadium and it felt really nice to see everybody participating in it. But nowadays I am too old and I do not have that kind of energy and enthusiasm any more to initiate mexican-waves at Eden Gardens.
During the interval, MSD was felicitated by CAB. Also four stands were named after Pankaj Roy, Biswanath Dutt, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly. When MSD came into bat, there was another round of mexican-wave. This time every one in the Stadium switched on their mobile phone lights and held it up. It was an amazing sight. It looked as if fifty thousand fireflies were glowing throughout the Stadium. It was indeed an awesome sight.
In the afternoon I ate a pizza in the Stadium. Around late evening I ate chicken biriyani. The biriyani was cold though, but still it was biriyani! I put on a bandana on my head. But it was getting wet because of the falling dew. I was also feeling a bit cold. Once Hardik Pandya got out, I left Eden Gardens. I had a hunch that India would lose this match. From the Stadium I walked till Esplanade. Did not get a single taxi which was willing to come to Lake Gardens inspite of offering them extra money. Bloody Bastards! Since I clicked so many pictures today, therefore my phone lost all battery-power and I could not also book an Ola or Uber. I took the Metro from Esplanade and came back home...
Good Night,
With Love, Kisses, Moonbeams and Rainbows,
Raj Gaurav Debnath
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My Dear Blog,
Today I woke up late around noon. Took a shower, had my lunch and then went to Eden Gardens for the third one-day match between India and England. My ticket was in Block J. My seat number was 2532.
I really love Eden Gardens a lot. I have been going there since 1996. The first time I had gone to Eden Gardens was on 27th November 1996 for the India-South Africa test match. This was the very first time that I had entered Eden Gardens. What a majestic feeling it was. The very first sight of the lush green-ground had made me ecstatic. The roar of the spectators and the mexican-waves were fascinating. The panoramic view of the Stadium was mind-blowing. It felt nice to spread a newspaper on those ancient cement benches and sit under the winter Sun. No need to sit on the exact seat-number. People sitting around me had become my instant new best friends. I was only 14 years old then. The grown-ups sitting around me treated me like their younger brother as I was alone in the Stadium. They offered me biscuits and cakes. They asked me if I needed water. The first day was spent watching the batting skills of Andrew Hudson and Gary Kirsten and also was spent zooming in on the players through my binocular. Gary Kirsten had scored centuries in both the innings in that match.
In those days there used to be those cemented bench-type seats where people used to spread newspapers and sit on them. People used to come with their families and bring their lunches in tiffin-carriers and it used to feel like a picnic. Nowadays those cemented seats are no longer there and we only have plastic chairs throughout the Stadium. I really miss the old Eden Gardens.
Anyways today's match was good. India bowled well to restrict England to just 321 runs. It was a get-able and chase-able score. But unfortunately India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I clicked a lot of selfies there in the stadium. Three beautiful non-bengali girls were sitting beside me. Most probably they were Marwaris. All three of them were quite pretty but the one who was sitting in the middle, her beauty was simply out of this world. She had an innocent and angelic look in her face. I felt like talking to her but somehow could not gather the necessary courage to make the first move. Our eyes met a few times but somehow I suddenly felt shy for some unknown reasons and just could not break the ice. I really hate and curse myself when I fail to break the ice and make the first move.
Anyways I really love the mexican-waves at Eden Gardens. Salute to the guy who initiates these mexican-waves. Only after a few failed attempts, these mexican-waves actually materialise and travel throughout the stadium. It is a lovely sight during a full-house at Eden. Generally the mexican-waves go on for seven rounds. And generally these mexican-waves travel in a clockwise direction but sometimes on rare occasions they also travel in an anti-clockwise direction too. After the completion of the wave the whole stadium starts clapping on the success of the wave. A decade back I used to initiate these mexican-waves from my Block regularly at Eden Gardens. It used to be a herculean task to initiate the mexican-waves and to get all the lazy Bongs to stand up at the same time and put their hands up in the air. After a few failed attempts, my mexican-waves used to succeed and travel throughout the Stadium and it felt really nice to see everybody participating in it. But nowadays I am too old and I do not have that kind of energy and enthusiasm any more to initiate mexican-waves at Eden Gardens.
During the interval, MSD was felicitated by CAB. Also four stands were named after Pankaj Roy, Biswanath Dutt, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly. When MSD came into bat, there was another round of mexican-wave. This time every one in the Stadium switched on their mobile phone lights and held it up. It was an amazing sight. It looked as if fifty thousand fireflies were glowing throughout the Stadium. It was indeed an awesome sight.
In the afternoon I ate a pizza in the Stadium. Around late evening I ate chicken biriyani. The biriyani was cold though, but still it was biriyani! I put on a bandana on my head. But it was getting wet because of the falling dew. I was also feeling a bit cold. Once Hardik Pandya got out, I left Eden Gardens. I had a hunch that India would lose this match. From the Stadium I walked till Esplanade. Did not get a single taxi which was willing to come to Lake Gardens inspite of offering them extra money. Bloody Bastards! Since I clicked so many pictures today, therefore my phone lost all battery-power and I could not also book an Ola or Uber. I took the Metro from Esplanade and came back home...
Good Night,
With Love, Kisses, Moonbeams and Rainbows,
Raj Gaurav Debnath
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