The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Carnival for the elderly on 'Day Five'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Carnival for the elderly on 'Day Five'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MARCH 28. It was grandpa and grandma's day out at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday. There were more senior citizens than on previous days to watch India coming to a tame end; "the Bangalore jinx" appeared to have worked.

Unlike youngsters who were rather disappointed, the elders with children and grandchildren in tow were unperturbed. Rather stoic, they seemed to be more interested in savouring the colourful atmosphere. Compared to the more sedate matches of yesteryear, there were enough painted faces, drum beats and hooters to turn it into a carnival of sorts.

Manjula (69) of Mahalakshmi Layout, who had come with grandson Bharat, said, "These players are young and a few are experienced... I've been watching them on TV for the last four days; they have yet to mature." She remembered seeing Pataudi in his heydays and the élan with which he played. "It is crowded and noisy but also fun, though it was difficult finding good seats," she said.

Veerendra Agarwal, who had come all the way from Delhi with 11 of his family, said they were there more for the entertainment than anything else. "Since the game was going too slow we have decided to leave the stadium and do some shopping before returning to Delhi tomorrow,'' he said.

Mohit, who plays for the Karnataka Ranji team, and Krishna, who plays for the State's Under 25 team, had also come out during the lunch break.

Hawkers of flags were the most cheerful to be seen around the stadium. As it was the last day of the Test match, they were ready to pack up and leave for the One-Day International match at Kochi and wanted to leave with as little unsold stock as possible. This meant cutting prices, and they did not mind it. Sangaratna, who was there from the first day of the match, said, "I sold about 60 Pakistan flags during this Test match and more than 100 India flags. Business was good though not as good as at Mohali. Still I have nothing to complain, I managed to make some profit.''

Some of the Pakistani fans said they would be going on to Kochi too. Abdul Qayum (35) of Lahore, who works at the Cricket Academy there, said his two cousins would join him there. Many other Pakistani cricket fans were planning to drive down to Kerala, sightseeing along the way. They were rather happy at Pakistan's victory here and hoped for a repeat in the One-Day cricket match series. Bangalore may not exactly be celebrating but it is a city whose hospitality they will remember for long.

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