How I got a ticket to Wimbledon

It’s a well known fact in quizzing circles and even outside that the Centre Court at Wimbledon is going to have a retractable roof by 2009. The immediate outcome of this construction is that there are more seats available in the stands this year. Obviously, these seats were not sold before the event began as no one was certain that they would be available. So, they sold these tickets online via ticketmaster everyday at 8.30 pm local time for the matches to be held on the next day. A novel scheme.

Taking advantage of this facility, I bought one of these tickets. The seat was somewhere high up in the stands but the chance of seeing live tennis on Centre Court was a rare one. Since I do not have a ticketmaster account and I am probably not going to need one in the near future, I bought the ticket using my aunt’s account.

Next morning I took the train to Southfields station and reached the grounds at 10.30. Then things started to mess up. At the entrance, the security bloke asked me for a proof of identity. Now the ticket bore my aunt’s name and there was no way I could have matched my face with hers. So I explained the situation to them and offered to submit a proof of my own identity as Kaustubh Bhat and a proof of my relation with her. Sounds fair enough. Then a lady in charge of all grievances and disputes told me that no proof would be of help and that only my aunt could enter on that ticket.

Then I offered to call my aunt there for them to verify my claim. But the lady didn’t budge. I stood there feeling hopeless and pretty pissed off. But at the same time probably my face looked very pitiable too because immediately she said,”Well, we are releasing about five to six Centre Court tickets right now. I you want one, I will keep one for you. But you will have to pay cash.” Joy! I practically ran to the ATM, got cash and immediately bought the ticket.

Now fate has weird ways of working. The seat I got now was right behind the referee 12 rows behind. So all the crap I suffered was quite worth it with me ending up with a better seat. Just like the great Birbal said – “Jo hota hai so achche ke liye hota hai”

Tales from Britannia – The Final Chapter

My 47 day stay in England has finally ended and indeed it has been an awesome experience. Fortunately enough, my last week there turned out to be the high point of the whole thing and I got to see Rafael Nadal play on Centre Court at Wimbledon. My seat was right behind and to the right of the referee 12 rows behind. On the downside, all the three matches were straightforward sfaairs with the victors not dropping a set. But then again you can’t get everything.

It was also to my tremendous bad luck that I did not get a chance to go to Old Trafford. I made up for it by say 80% when I went to the Enirates Stadium in North London. Why Emirates? Well, skillwise I would say that Arsenal are unmatched in the EPL (even better  than United) and hence they are quite an admirable side. Anyway, the stadium is quite well built. There is a beautiful museum chronicling the history of the Gunners.

The last two days were spent in trying to pack (and re-pack) the horrendous amount of stuff I had to take back with me. The flight back on Friday was very very uncomfortable leaving me stiff for the best part of Saturday. On landing, it felt amazing to finally smell the wet, sweaty and salty air of Mumbai, a moment which was surely the cherry on the icing …

Tales from Britannia – V

Daily life here is a bit of an oddity. For one, what you do has nothing to do with what you want to do. I mean it is quite normal on weekdays when people have schools, colleges, jobs and the like. But on weekends when you have free time, you need blessings from the Almighty to achieve your goal. Why? The bloody English rain!

Normally a family guy here would come home after work Friday evening and check the BBC website for the weather forecast. If BBC predicts more rain than ‘light showers’, then he seriously considers spending time at home with his kids playing Cluedo. If any other prediction pops up, then he declares to his family,”Its gonna be a bright and sunny day tomorrow so better start preparing for a picnic.” Now there are so many parks in this country that land developers in India would go crazy deciding where to start building first. So, picnics are all too frequent.

But then again, the ‘weather’man is no ‘rain’man and is even more unreliable than the Indian cricket team. So ever so often you end up with a wet, soggy picnic or you end up spending a perfectly beautiful day inside your house watching stupid stuff on TV. Then you spend atleast 2 hours cursing the weather guy for ruining a hard earned weekend. 

Surprisingly, at night the same guy finds himself staring at his computer screen again reading what the skies have in store for him tomorrow. Now I know what its like to be under the weather … 

Tales from Britannia – IV

Over the last three weeks, I have had a chance to visit many attractions in and around London. Some highlights …

• The Museum of Natural History: A majestic chronicle of life on Earth. Right from huge lifesize skeletons of the early dinosaurs to modern day species that wander on this planet. A rich collection of rocks and mineral specimens. They actually have a Pune connection – two specimens, one from Wagholi and one from Khadakwasla.
• The Tower of London: I am not the kind of person who would enjoy a display of jewellery, but the Crown Jewels mesmerised me. I mean, I have never seen a bigger collection of diamonds and gold in my life. The crux was definitely the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Exquisitely crafted, it literally filled the room with its glory. The Crown Jewels stands testimony to the brilliant craftsmanship and metalwork in medieval Europe.
• St. Paul’s Cathedral : One of the many works of Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s is a magnanimous showcase of the wealth of the British Royalty. The architecture and fine sculpture are eye catching. There are some 600 odd steps to reach the topmost gallery of the cathedral from where you get a breathtaking view of London.
• Lord’s : By far, the best moment of my stay here was the view of Lord’s Cricket Ground from the pavilion. I got a chance to be in that famous gallery in the away dressing room where Sourav Ganguly did a Salman Khan. I saw the brilliant view from inside the Media Centre. Definitely, Lord’s is a must visit for anyone who comes here.

Equus

Of the many things I have been doing here, this has to be the weirdest. I saw Peter Shaffer’s play Equus at the Richmond Theatre here in London. The play has been a topic of many funny (and pun-ny) jokes among friends and it was nice to experience Alan Strang’s obsession with horses first hand.

“Did you get to see Daniel Radcliffe’s weeny?” was the first question Abhishek asked me when I told him I saw the play. I know many people will have the same query so let me clarify. No, I didn’t see his weeny. Instead I saw Alfie Allen’s weeny because it is he who now plays Alan Strang. Of course, it didn’t matter whose weeny it was because both prospects are equally repulsive from my point of view.

Coming to the actual play, it was in fact a very well made piece of art. The performances were brilliant and the script was both powerful and subtle at the same time. The use of lights and minimal props was a highlight. I felt the nudity could have been avoided, although it was done very artistically. All in all, I did not regret spending twenty four pounds to see it.

Link to plot details : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_%28play%29

Tales from Britannia – III

It is now almost a week since I came here and I have been to a few places here and there. Yesterday I went to Trafalgar Square where the great admiral Nelson was standing on top of a tall pillar. I ignored him and went straight into the National Art Gallery beside it. Few things I learnt there …

1. European artists had few subjects to paint. So about 75% of the paintings they made were about Jesus Christ (Jesus!).
2. Even Jesus Christ did not manage to do a variety of stuff in his life so 90% of his paintings are about his birth, death and him leaving his mom.
3. Rembrandt, Monet etc. were just weird sounding names for me, but now I know that they were truly great artists who managed to grow out of painting the Gods.
4. Modern art is bullshit. The National Gallery does not have modern art, but from what I have seen of it, it is just a sad way of painting something you can’t manage.

Planning to go to Greenwich some time soon. Also have to see Lord’s. Another quote to sign off

   ”Cleavage cleavage everywhere not a single one to be had”   

                                                                                 - Kaustubh Bhat

Tales from Britannia – II

People from the censor board should try to get a ban on international travel in place. The amount of cleavage I’ve seen in a day on the streets here is more than perhaps 90% of all the stuff the board has deleted in its entire lifetime !

Tales from Britannia – I

People here follow traffic rules, are corteous to fellow motorists and actually give a crap about road ethics. Now for a guy who has spent his entire life in Pune that’s news !