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Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Shoot
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Sourav Ganguly give a joint press conference to the media the afternoon before the game, in a media hall large enough for all the assembling journalists to gather. It is a horseshoe-shaped gathering, with the journalists along the side of the horseshoe, at long tables, and the TV cameras connecting those two sides at the back of the room. The open end of the horseshoe is where Ganguly, Inzamam and assorted dignitaries are supposed to sit.
Inzamam enters, and walks to the front of the room in a slow, measured manner. He’s joined by Ganguly, who comes from much behind and catches up with him in a late spurt. Is this how the toss will be?
The trophy that India and Pakistan are playing for is then inaugurated. The two captains pose with the trophy. All the press photographers rush into the horseshoe, like maggots attacking a dead horse, and crouch in front of the two captains, looking for the best frame. The TV cameramen now can’t see Inzamam and Ganguly.
“Oye, oye,” they shout at first, in a friendly manner if not quite in a sing-song voice. The press photographers stay where they are. The TV guys need the pictures too. Now they start talking louder, and then shouting. “O chalo yaar,” shouts someone. (“Move buddy.”) “O hut, bhainc**d,” goes someone else. (“Move, sisterf***er”.) Their shouting is about to rise to a crescendo, when the still photographers move, and the TV cameramen are still, concentrating on the frame. The two captains hold the pose for a few seconds, then move apart. The trophy, neglected by the luminaries, ignored after its brief moment of fame, is put away by an official.
Inzamam enters, and walks to the front of the room in a slow, measured manner. He’s joined by Ganguly, who comes from much behind and catches up with him in a late spurt. Is this how the toss will be?
The trophy that India and Pakistan are playing for is then inaugurated. The two captains pose with the trophy. All the press photographers rush into the horseshoe, like maggots attacking a dead horse, and crouch in front of the two captains, looking for the best frame. The TV cameramen now can’t see Inzamam and Ganguly.
“Oye, oye,” they shout at first, in a friendly manner if not quite in a sing-song voice. The press photographers stay where they are. The TV guys need the pictures too. Now they start talking louder, and then shouting. “O chalo yaar,” shouts someone. (“Move buddy.”) “O hut, bhainc**d,” goes someone else. (“Move, sisterf***er”.) Their shouting is about to rise to a crescendo, when the still photographers move, and the TV cameramen are still, concentrating on the frame. The two captains hold the pose for a few seconds, then move apart. The trophy, neglected by the luminaries, ignored after its brief moment of fame, is put away by an official.
