By Syed Zarir Hussian, IANS
Guwahati : The Indian cricket team probably had a sleepless night with thousands of fans queuing up to enter the Nehru Stadium here since 2 a.m. Monday. Team India is lodged at Hotel Landmark that is just beside the stadium.
By dawn, roads leading to the galleries were teeming with people – faces painted with the Indian tri-colour and some sporting fancy dresses.
“We started from home around 1.30 a.m. and by 2 a.m. we were here queuing up,” said Arindam Nath, a college student.
The sound of bugles and drums broke the early morning stillness around the stadium.
Sreesanth probably woke up quite early – maybe unable to sleep well with the noise reaching a crescendo. He peeped through the hotel veranda and waved at the crowd triggering catcalls and cheers.
-*-
Made in India-Pakistan biscuits and tea
Heard of Indian and Pakistani biscuits and tea? Well if you are here for the first of the five match one-day international (ODI) series between the two countries, you can easily sip a cup of tea of your choice or munch a biscuit ‘made in India or Pakistan’.
This is what some ingenious vendors were doing to attract bleary-eyed fans lining up to enter the stadium. “Chai Chai (tea), biscuits, made in India, made in Pakistan,” shouted a vendor as fans jostled to buy.
-*-
Painting patriotism
A group of local artistes did brisk business in the students’ gallery by painting the faces and bodies of fans with the India tri-colour. For Rs.10 you can paint your face with the Indian flag and for Rs.25 your chest. Vendors selling big and small Indian flags also made some profits.
-*-
Chak de India
Chak De India seems to be the catchword. A majority of the fans were carrying posters and banners with Chak De India imprinted on them. Even Chak De India catcalls were heard echoing the stadium. A cricket crazy tonsured fan had his entire body painted with Sachin and Sourav interspersed with the Indian flag.
-*-
Well-behaved crowd
Despite hours of queuing, the crowd remained patient waiting for their turn to enter the stadium. Policemen on mounted horsebacks were on alert, but their services were not required with the crowd well behaved although boisterous.
“It was really unexpected. We thought we would be having a tough time seeing the crowd milling around the stadium before dawn,” quipped a senior police official.