Last weekend was a pretty long one. With long weekends usually there are plans of some kind. This time it was an ISL match at Kochi. Kerala Blasters FC was playing Delhi Dynamos FC and we thought we'd go see the game. The tickets were booked in advance. There were 7 of us in total. Vivek, Nithin, Amjad, Nithin's Friend and myself were the ones from Kollam. Deepak and Renjith would join us at Kochin.
Kerala Blasters FC are known more for their tremendous crowd support than for their game. Knowing this we decided it would be best if we made it to Kochi well in advance so as to avoid the last minute rush and traffic blocks leading to the stadium. Thus we found ourselves on the 11:10 MEMU train to Erankulam. Oddly enough, the train scheduled was a MEMU, but it turned out to be a normal Passenger. The total distance was 156 kms and we reached there by 3:45. So that almost 4.5 hrs, with an average speed of 36 kms/hr. Somehow we survived.
The general consensus was that lunch shouldn't be skipped. Because, we might not have the luxury of time to grab some dinner, and so better to eat now. We decided to get an auto from the station and eat something from the stadium. But the 'auto-guy' advised us it's better to have something from here and then go to the stadium, as there aren't many great places to eat there. So we headed to the nearest restaurant. After going through the simple menu multiple times and we ordered the new-found staple food of Keralites - Porotta. Given the possibility that we might skip dinner, this seemed the obvious choice.( If you know what I mean). And we topped it off with a tea! While chewing on those rubberized strips of flour we thought why not book an UBER taxi? Hmm.. Okay! And it was done. Within minutes our ride came and off we went.
The diver was a very pleasant guy and he was also very polite. He was also curious about the game and said that for the last home match time he got stuck in traffic with a customer. All along the way leading to the stadium we saw people wearing the yellow jerseys and carrying flags, and match time was still 2.5 hrs away.
The taxi fare amounted to Rs 50 or so!! Awesome right? Anyway, our gate of entry was 31. As we were about to enter, the team bus for KBFC arrived.
And all hell broke lose. People who were eager to enter the stadium, were thronging the fences trying to get a glimpse of the players. The players were all cheered on equally and they acknowledged the fans as well. Renjith, who was to join us was waiting for us. The only problem was Deepak, who was on the way and would take another 1.5hrs to get here. We unanimously decided to ditch Deepak for the time being (If you're reading this sorry Deepak!! ) and enter the stadium. The plan being that we'll try and set aside a seat for him, till he arrives. After checking our tickets and bags(yeah, they do check bags, and if you're carrying water or eatables, depending on the mood of the security, you might/might not be able to take it inside) we were permitted inside. According to our tickets we were allocated seats in E-block, which was near to one of the goal posts in the lowermost gallery. The first thing that caught my eye as soon as I entered was the vastness of the stadium, and the color yellow on the sections opposite to ours. Yes, let me rephrase - 'the color Yellow'. It started to rain and the soon a rainbow was painted across the sky, part of it visible from our seats.
The time was now close to 5 pm, but already there were chants going around most of which was for the 'God of Cricket'. There were drums here and there, and the general buzz of excitement in the air. People were displaying flags, flux boards and what not!! And the funny part is that there's another 2 hrs to go until the game gets underway. Sadly Tendulkar decided not to show up. But that was not gonna affect the crowd in any way.
Slowly, but surely the our Block as well as the whole stadium was being filled. All this time we were occupying an extra seat for Mr.Deepak. Then the whole stadium decided it would be fun to hold up their phone's flashlights. Yeah, similar to how metal-heads would hold up cigarette lighters for rock ballads. The pic isn't that clear, but that's all I have. Soon enough the ground staff came on for their pre-match inspections. And the players also took the field for a slight warm up session. All this while there was a relentless buzz of 50,000 souls. A torrent of shouts, screams and chants in unison. Along with that the waves had also started.
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| Waiting for the match to begin |
By 6:30 Deepak finally graced us with his presence. He took a seat next to me. From then on, the amount of sound falling on my left ear increased exponentially. It reached alarmingly high levels once he got hold of a whistle (I guess it cost Rs 20 or so). The game began at 7:00 and every time the ball came into possession of a Kerala player, the crowd would erupt in a satisfactory cheer. And as the ball advanced further and further into the opposition half, the cheers grew into a crescendo. The game itself was below-average and both teams were defensive. The better of the two defense was Kerala's. We were quite surprised when the half-time whistle was blown. Forty-Five minutes, gone, just like that!! The second half saw the Kerala team becoming more aggressive and attacking. Which resulted in some yellow cards and corners. But sadly, none of those could be converted into a goal. During on of these intrusions into the Delhi Half, Micheal Chopra (aka Rocky), netted the ball, and the whole stadium went mad. But it was an offside and thus no goal! Somehow the crowds behavior (mine included) reminded me of the gladiator death matches. I can now see why those were so popular back then.
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| The view from our seats. Pic courtesy : Deepak |
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| Deepak enjoying on the bus |
As the final whistle blew, the match concluded in a goalless draw, both teams taking 1 point each. We decided to catch a bus back home. The only problem was that the roads were all blocked because everyone was trying to get home. We stopped an auto jumped into it and reached Erankulam Bus Stand.There was a low-floor bus about to start it's trip. That was to be our ride back home. After a lot of confusion regarding reservation/booking of tickets we departed from the bus-stand at 10:00 pm. And I reached home by 1:30
Slowly, but surely the our Block as well as the whole stadium was being filled. All this time we were occupying an extra seat for Mr.Deepak. Then the whole stadium decided it would be fun to hold up their phone's flashlights. Yeah, similar to how metal-heads would hold up cigarette lighters for rock ballads. The pic isn't that clear, but that's all I have. Soon enough the ground staff came on for their pre-match inspections. And the players also took the field for a slight warm up session. All this while there was a relentless buzz of 50,000 souls. A torrent of shouts, screams and chants in unison. Along with that the waves had also started. 
