Hemantha Kalam
Kalam-7
Torino 2010
July, 2010! We were attending the Micro Finance
classes on “Housing for the Poor” project at the International Training Centre
of the International Labour Organisation, in Turin, Italy.
It all started after the class for the day was over
in the evening of the 28th July, 2008, when Franck Daphnis announced
that there is a Football game in Torino (Turin) the next day and anybody
interested to watch it “LIVE” may enlist. Needless to emphasise, yours
faithfully was the first to raise the hand for the head count.
So, next day the 29th July, a bus was
arranged to ferry 30 such football buffs, lovers, peripheral lovers and plain
adventure lovers like me to the stadium. Time was ticking and there was a
cocktail party going on in the cafeteria lounge of the hostel from 6-30 pm. At
7-25 pm there were only me and Franck to go, but the bus has to carry 30 for
scale of economy.
Both of us went into the cocktail lounge and dragged
in a couple of more “enthusiasts” and then the entourage began. It looked like
as if a mini tornado hit the party and half of them left the place and followed
Franck and myself as if influenced by the Pied Piper. The bus was filled and
after a short journey we reached the “Stadio Olimpico” to watch the finals of
“Trofeo TIM” to be settled between the legendary AC Milan, Juventus Football
Club and Inter. Everywhere there were milling crowds of people and lots of
shops on wheels selling sports paraphernalia-mostly the team T shirts or food
items.
Only after reaching the Stadium did Franck reveal
that Tickets have to be bought. By the time we reached the Stadium all the
tickets were sold out. So a couple of us started hunting for “tickets” and
found them. Only that a ticket of Euros 10 was offered for Euros 25 each. Well,
that we were in frenzy, we lapped them up. I gave Euros 30 and for lack of
proper change got only Euros 4 in return. Suddenly I found myself being tugged
by somebody, who to me was speaking gibberish (He was speaking Italian though)
and after quite a bit of scanning my scant knowledge of Latin and Spanish in my
mind and a lot of gesticulations from the guy who owned the hand that tugged at
me, I could make out that he wanted me to contribute to the cause of Drugs.
Whether it was for buying Drugs or for making the youth shun the drugs I am not
wiser. All I can say is that the Euros 4 changed hands.
Meanwhile there were more revelations. As we could
not choose to buy tickets, we could not get the tickets all in one place
excepting four or five. Now all for one and one for all does not work and we
had to be on our own. Franck told us to go on our own but at any cost to return
to the bus by 11-00 pm.
And when I checked my “billet” (ticket) I found that
it was in the name of ”Samantha” the name that I use normally to tell
foreigners to rhyme my name (Hemantha) with. Then I found something like Nord
(North) and stile and Porto mentioned on the ticket. I could make out that Porto
means entrance and that my entrance would be in the North. Another interesting
fact I found (to my horror) was that only I had drawn the ticket with the
northern entrance. Now in that maddening crowd finding a gate became difficult
and finding out the northern gate was becoming more difficult.
In the European countries, I observed, that normally
the Sun sets around 9-30 pm or so and at least in summer it seems to be so.
Since we were at the stadium by about 8-15 pm there was enough SUN for us to
find our directions. But exactly masking the Sun was this mischievous cloud. So
I thought I am the best boy scout and calculated and walked towards an entrance
with a great sense of triumphing. Only when I neared could I make out that the
entrance was not north but east. So keeping that in mind I almost
circumambulated the stadium, when I found a cop relaxing near his van. I
approached him and asked him directions. He showed me directions that I may
have to walk another furlong or so. Meanwhile apparently the game started on the
dot and there was a roar to be heard from within the stadium.
Walking a few steps away from the cop I found that I
was actually standing in front of the Northern entrance and very near to the Porto
and stile I had to get into. But the entrance was allowing only one person and
there were no lesser than at least a hundred people all absolutely enthusiastic
and raring to go. And then I found that I needed to produce an identity along
with the ticket. I thought that tonight I am in trouble for the ticket was in a
woman’s name and I left my Passport and other travel documents in my hostel
room as I was advised that taking out any heavy money or wallet or passports
can be pick-pocketed. Now I had only the photocopy of my Indian driving licence
in my pocket.
I was
wondering whether I should turn tail and walk back. But I found that that
itself could be difficult, as behind me there were another two hundred or so
people. So I thought let me see. I found that at the entrance there was a young
man with a bored look and he simply waved me inside. Then after enquiring with
a couple of guys I found a man who could speak some broken English and asked
him where my Porto and stile would be. He said that I may not make it to the
match searching for my row and seat and said that if I am wise I shall park
myself in the first available seat wherever it is. True to his words, I found
the stadium jam packed, uproarious and many fans were standing, yelling and
jumping.
After searching a bit by moving my head in all
directions I found myself a seat and sat in. By the time this happened,
Juventus scored two goals and AC Milan one. From then onwards both the teams
simply chased the ground. Somewhere around the 36th minute or so AC
Milan matched Juventus by scoring another goal. By the time, the play time was
nearing the end, there was a tie and penalties were awarded. Then the comedy of
the day started. Both the teams started scoring goals and at one stage
everybody got restless.
Finally that game ended with AC Milan scoring 6 and
Juventus 4 goals.
Next to me sat a boy and his middle aged mother. While
the boy was engrossed in the game the mother started being friendlier with me than
being motherly to her son. A couple of old Dodos (older than me-so Dodos) kept
on smoking their cigarettes and were letting out the smoke like pressure
cookers. The boy apparently was allergic to cigarettes and starting spitting
and sneezing making the whole pathway wet and slippery with his spittle.
Somehow the first game was over and the second
started. One should physically and in person be present at the football games
in Europe or in Brazil to really savour in the frenzy. Each team will have an
anthem and just before a game starts, the fans of the particular team start singing
the anthem or the hymn in such unison that one wonders whether even the
national anthem is sung with such devotion. Well, coming back, this game was
between Juventus and Inter. The din and the roar in the stadium was a challenge
to the strongest ears. The spectators were berserk and every time an
opportunity to score a goal was lost, there were roars, shouts (I am sure that
most of them would have been the choicest epithets that Italy is famous for).
Children and elders were jumping alike. There was a rhythm in the cheering too.
The second game was livelier and a lot of action
with some slick dribbling of the ball, the headers and other action could be
seen. The advantage of watching this type of games from the comfort of one’s
home is that you do not need to support any team and enjoy whichever team
scores. But in the stadium I realised that I had lost that luxury. I did not
know which team my neighbours were cheering for. If I cheer when one team is
scoring I might be virtually trodding on a claymore. So though I thoroughly
enjoyed this second game, I could not openly cheer for the fear of my dear
life. The second game ended with Juventus scoring one goal and Inter scoring
none.
By the time the crucial and the decisive third game
started, it was nearing 10-45 and the prospect of the bus leaving without me,
leaving me to the mercy of the so called pickpocket predators in the middle of
the night and the prospect of having to walk a long distance in an unfamiliar
city and direction prodded me and I started leaving the stadium much to the
disappointment of the mother of the boy.
Once out of the stadium there was an old man who had
a glint of happiness in his eyes on seeing me and who rushed to me asking me
whether I can spare him the billet so that he can see the unfinished third
match. Maybe he did not know that the ticket had already been validated by the
computer at the entrance or maybe he could have managed jut by showing the
ticket. However, I wished to retain the ticket as a souvenir and so I pretended
as if I did not understand him and kept on walking. There were many restaurants
on wheels but I could not get a caffe’ (Coffee) or a latte (Milk) or even a cappuccino. Finally
I could see an empty vehicle where by showing the items in the display could
get a Vegetable sandwich which was my dinner for the night.
As I neared the bus I saw that there were many other
afraid souls as most of the fans had already boarded the bus except for Franck
and a couple of others. We got a message that Franck would make his own
arrangements to arrive at the hostel and that we could proceed in the bus. At
last we reached the hostel, albeit safely at about 11-45 pm.
Next day morning when Franck came in to take our
class, we found that he and his other companions could not even enter the
stadium till almost the first game ended, as their names did not match those on
the tickets. So at the end of the first game the gate authorities apparently
relented and allowed them inside. So Franck made it a point to sit through the
whole game.
Despite all the anxiety and adrenalin, and quite a bill at Rs.2010 (Euros 30 x Rs.67), is a life time experience.
Isn't it? You tell me! :-)
Till then,
Krutagjnatalu, Nanri, Dhanyavaadagalu, Nanni,
Dhanyavaad, Thanks, Dhonyabaad, Gracias, Grazie, Danke Schon, Merci, Obrigado,
Shukraan, Shukriya, Aw-koon, Kawp Jai Lhai Lhai.
Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy
Chennai, India
