Where’d Everyone Go?

Date:  May 22, 2011

Event:  Indian Premier League Twenty20 Cricket Match

Home Team:  Kolkata Knight Riders

Away Team:  Mumbai Indians

Location:  Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Stadium:  Eden Garden Stadium

Company:  Carley Matyas, Jen Bean, David Billings, Larry Gleeson, Larry Pommier, Thomas Simmons, Devon Fernandez

Result:  Mumbai beats Kolkata 178/5 to 175/7

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110523/jsp/frontpage/story_14017662.jsp

What an evening.  Carley invited everyone over to our flat to celebrate my birthday.  She catered in food and made some unbelievable sweets that everyone was craving after being away from home for an extended period.  After the food and cake, I was anxious to watch my first live cricket match at the much talked about Eden Garden Stadium.

I had purchased tickets a few weeks prior through the internet.  This adventure led to two of my credit cards having holds placed on them and tracking numbers that weren’t really tracking numbers.  I eventually received the tickets a couple days before the event.  The seats were the in the second highest priced section in the stadium, 1800 INR (40 USD), so I assumed the seats would be nice.

The journey to the stadium involved an inevitable Kolkata traffic jam.  Leave it to Larry to purchase a purple and gold Kolkata Knight Riders jersey two (maybe three) sizes too small for 100 INR and try to squeeze into it.  Somehow he managed, just in time to help me argue my way into the stadium with my camera.  It turns out that you’re not allowed to bring cameras into the stadium and I was trying to lug our digital SLR and extra lens through security.  I ended up having half our group, half the gate’s security, and some high ranking officials crowded around me to decide whether to let the tourist through with the camera.  I was waiting for a decision when suddenly, everyone had dispersed.  There hadn’t been a ruling, but I looked at David, and we decided to make our own ruling.  We just walked in like we owned the place and no one asked any questions.

We got to our section and low and behold, we had quite possibly the WORST seats in the entire stadium (we had to kick people out to sit in them).  They were tucked high up beneath the press box blocking our view of any ball hit above head level and creating a nice stagnant area where the 100 degree plus temperature and high humidity made everyone look like drown rats in our own sweat.  It was disappointing to say the least, especially since over half the group said F-this and left 10 minutes after finding our seats.  I figured this is the best way to watch a cricket match in Kolkata, so I stayed.  Devon and Thomas stayed also.

The actual match was outstanding.  During my previous months of watching the only sport on Indian television, I actually picked up the rules and I knew what was going on.  The end of the match was crazy.  Mumbai needed 21 runs in the last over to win.  The match had major playoff implications and the Kolkata fans were tasting victory.  Mumbai then made a huge comeback and shocked both Kolkata and Mumbai fans.  The scene of the batsman running around the stadium with a trail of teammates chasing him was priceless.

After the match, Shah Rukh Khan, a prominent Bollywood actor and owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders took a lap around the stadium thanking the fans for the season.  It was fun to watch the crowd flow down to the front railing to get a close-up view.

Living in Kolkata during the 2011 Cricket World Cup victory by India definitely raised my awareness of the sport and how much it means to the country of India.  Even though the goal of attending the England vs. India World Cup match was taken away as Kolkata’s renovations to Eden Gardens were not completed and the match was shifted to another city (I’m still bitter about this), it was great to watch a cricket match in Kolkata, India at Eden Garden Stadium.  Add to that the chance to watch Sachin Tendulkar, the Michael Jordan of Indian cricket, and Lasith Malinga, a flame throwing bowler from the Sri Lankan National Team, it definitely made it a birthday to remember.

A Day at the Races

Date:  December 18, 2010

Event:  Horse Racing

Home Team:  N/A

Away Team:  N/A

Location:  Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Stadium:  Royal Calcutta Turf Club (www.rctconline.com)

Company:  Rob Koleno, Larry Pommier

Result:  Lost Money

It was Rob’s idea to catch a horse race while in Kolkata.  He had lived near the Arlington Park, so he was “back home” 8000 miles away at the race track.  We placed some bets but did not win anything substantial as our largest bet was only 500 INR (around 10 USD).

The old and run-down general admission grandstand was surprisingly full.  I tried to picture the grandstands as it would have been in the late 1800’s when the British still called Calcutta their capital, I’m sure it was the place to be on race days.  It was hazy as most Kolkata days are, but you could still see the Kolkata Memorial and the Second Hooghly Bridge.  In the center of the track, a polo match or practice was taking place.

We watched a couple races from a grandstand bench, and then moved down to the fence to get an up-close view.  Between races, the attention turned from the horses to the three foreigners.  Along with the countless number of stares, there were multiple conversations where the only question asked was, “What country are you from?”

It amazed me to see that in-between races, a group of 10 or so woman would walk down the home stretch dropping handfuls of dirt to fill the divots left by that race’s horses.  The last race of the day resulted in a jockey falling from a horse.  He was down for a good five minutes, but ended up walking off the track.  The event ended with us leaving in a yellow ambassador taxi stuck in a massive traffic jam.  All-in-all, it was a great experience.

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