IPL Season 4

Day 16 – 19th April – 42 Sleeps to go

Another early flight. Up at 5am after getting to bed at about 3am. The rain delay at the game last night caused chaos with timings. We got back to the hotel at about 2.15am in the end. I can’t just switch off. Whenever I do a late game or a soccer match I need time to relax and stop thinking about images and the website. It means that often I am up until very late. On this occasion, not a good idea as the early flight is a killer at the best of times. So front desk told to call me, two cell phone alarms set five minutes apart. Taxi/ Auto booked. What could go wrong? Well luckily enough I was up in time and ready for the off. A bit Zombie like but, there in body if not mind. Vino struggled a little more on this occasion and so we eventually left about half an hour after our scheduled departure. Luckily the Auto driver was a friend of Vino’s and so he pushed it all the way. Jacques is booked on a later flight as he joined the team some way into the tournament. This of course meant that he could have a lie in. Some bad planning there I think.

The flight was fine and we landed on time. Got the usual taxi service to the centre of Bangalore and dropped Vino off on the way.

Time to have breakfast, a shower and a snooze before tonight’s match. There is actually quite a lot of admin to do for the tournament as well as running the other side of the business. There are other clients to keep happy and other photographers to manage and keep track of. So the afternoon was spent doing what I do every day in SA whilst waiting for the match this evening.

I had arranged with Vino that we would leave for the stadium at 18:15 however it has been pouring with rain all afternoon so I was not really sure if there would even be a match.

Then suddenly at about 17.10 I get an sms. The next hour would be crazy. It was the kind of message that could mean nothing and yet could mean so much. On this occasion it set a whole chain of events in motion and meant that for the next couple of hours life would be a little unsettled.

Let me explain.

The text message read:

“I am yet to track our friend Jacques. Don’t know where he has gone”

Now the night/ morning before the team had chatted about the fact that Jacques was to catch a later flight and so we agreed that he would catch the shuttle bus into Bangalore on arrival and Vino would pick him up from the bus terminal. Great. Easy plan, nothing could go wrong.

Unless that is you change a plan and don’t tell everyone. On the way to the airport it was suggested that as Jacques had not been to Bangalore before Vino would collect him from the airport instead of the bus terminal. The Auto driver that took us to the airport was the same guy who would transport Jacques so he was asked to make sure Jacques knew of the change of plan.

So at 17.10 the text message comes in. Vino had been to the airport. No Jacques. Vino went to the bus terminal. No Jacques. Where was Jacques? Jacques has no cell phone, no internet and has never been to Bangalore so doesn’t know the city.

Any way to cut a long story short Jacques was not told of the change of plan so he did as agreed and got to the bus terminal. By the time Vino had left the airport to get to the bus terminal Jacques had given up waiting and got an Auto to the cricket stadium. Of course in the mean time there are calls to the airline, calls to SA, text messages and emails sent. Questions to be answered: Did Jacques board, was the flight on time, was it diverted. The airline insisted all was OK. So the only thing we all have in common is the cricket so with no way of communication all we could do is head to the stadium and hope Jacques was there. Of course he was. A little unhappy regarding the mix up but never the less in one piece and still smiling.

Call off the sniffer dogs. Photographer found!!

In the end the match was an anit climax. Rain prevented play and the match was abandoned. Points shared.

Collectively we left the stadium and I was dropped off at the hotel. Not such a late night but again a 4am start tomorrow for the flight to Chennai.

I guess all is well that ends well as they say.

Cities Visited: Kochi – Bangalore

Tried anything new? Lost a photographer in Bangalore for a couple of hours

Total flights so far: 11