Nightmare at the Wankhede Stadium

            We went to watch a test match at VCA's Jamtha stadium in Nagpur. It was the fourth and final day of the match between India and New Zealand. The stimulus being, India was going to win by an innings and my son wanted to see his idols i.e. Sachin Tendulkar and Team India in action. In addition, we also wanted to have a look at the newly built world class stadium. When we settled down to watch the match, the result was already a foregone conclusion. This was when my brother-in-law related an incident he was involved in, a long time ago, at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai.

          “I was young, alone and recently in Mumbai for my first job” he said. So when there was going to be a One-day cricket match between India and West Indies at the Wankhede stadium the novelty of the event beckoned. I bought a ticket and went to watch the match. It so happened that during the first half Sunil Gavaskar and company batted slowly and put up a non-challenging target. Post lunch, the formidable West Indies led by Viv Richards began to overhaul the target quiet easily. By evening the public became restless and started throwing projectiles on the ground. In this milieu, one cold drink bottle landed in the stands right in front of me, from somewhere behind. On impulse, I picked it up and heaved it right back in to the audience from where it had come. At this point, as I turned around my eyes caught the stare of a police inspector poised with his posse of 7-8 policemen! They must have been at a distance of about 20 meters. He pointed his baton towards me and shouted “Charge Him”! Panic stricken, I bolted. Now the situation resembled a chase sequence from some Hindi movie. I was running ahead as fast as possible through the stands with the posse of policemen hot on my heels. Being unacquainted to the topography of the stadium, I proved to be no match to the professionals. Soon  enough, they over ran me and what proved to be the worst 2 minutes of my life, I bore the brunt of their wrath by way of lathis raining over my back, with my head cradled within the knees. When the nightmare subsided, one of the policemen took pity on me. Perhaps because he could identify with the vernacular twang overriding my painful sighs! He then directed me towards an ice-vendor at the Girgaon chowpaty not very far away. Grateful for the input, I limped away towards the described person to seek relief for my sore back! The ice did bring about temporary relief but my by now black and blue back remained sore for quiet a few days to come!
          “This brutally honest account of yours has definitely enlivened an otherwise dull afternoon” I said. The account poignantly highlights an inherent bias embedded within the system against those who are perceived to be weak. As is aptly said, there is no right or wrong in this world, the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.