But it rained

I'm not sure, whats so impressive about this phrase. But somehow I've always wanted to write a post with this title. Maybe, it just sounds so much cooler with Parikrama's music in the background. Interestingly, while trying to provide a link for the song, I found an interesting bit of trivia about the song here.

Some days are not planned. They just happen... Yesterday was one such. I stepped into office, expecting minimal work, but my teammates in the US suddenly seemed to remember there was work to be done. And then, when I resigned myself to a sedate start to the weekend at home, a colleague of mine offers me his ticket to a tennis match happening at Nungambakkan (Chennnai Open). So, I decide to wind up my work quickly and leave asap. For my luck, the office busses had left by then. Just as I walk towards the town bus stop for a long journey home, another colleague stops his car and offers me a ride. (surprising considering this had never happened before). So here I am thinking the stars are conspiring to help me watch my first live tennis match. I then manage a quick ride to the stadium on my bike. I enter the stadium, hoping to watch some live action. But it rained.... Ok, so its a 10 minute rain. How bad can it be, I think? Bad enough to delay start of play by more than 2.5 hours I realize.

It was funny watching the organizers drying the court though. There was one machine, which was used to dry the courts, and there were about 15 boys and girls with towels in their hands, literally scrubbing the court dry. But the girls seemed to tire out pretty soon (it did looked like a pretty tiring thing to do, and so maybe the organizers shoul've got some strong people to do this), and the boys probably decided it made more sense giving the girls company rather than bother themselves with the drying bit. With things not happening as fast as expected, the tournament officials decided to get into the act. So, soon we had the tournament director and a host of other officials, trying now to fan the court dry with towels. I'm sure these folks would've had a mouthful to say had the rain Gods decided to re-appear for another 5 mins after all the drying had happened.

Finally, at 2300 hrs the match between Rafael Nadal and Lopez (don't remember the first name) was restarted with the scores at 2-1 in favour of Nadal in the first set. With a sparse crowd at the stadium, I chose what seemed to be a vantage seat. Little did I know, what was in store for me. To my left, sat a teenager who seemed bent upon trying to impress his younger brother, who in turn seemed fixated upon the fact that he got Nadal's autograph during lunch. Just behind, was a middle aged man with his wife in tow. He seemed to have an unwarranted opinion on everything, from the organizers to the state of tennis in India. He also had very smelly feet, which he decided to rest upon the seat beasides me.

As for the match itself, it was a nice experience watching a sport from such close quarters, and Nadal, the powerhouse that he is, showed why he is the No. 2 player in the world. Although I do wish he buys himself a more comfortable pair of shorts and stops pulling the shorts from his backside after every shot. If that wasn't very descriptive, dont try too hard. It isn't a visually pleasing image. Finally, at 00:30 hrs, I head back home with hopefully no more surprises in store.