Culture called Wimbledon

They said England’s 23 degrees is like 45 degrees of India. They said that was so because there was no pollution, dust or other spms to slosh the sun rays.

But landing at Delhi showed me how wrong the perception was. England at 23 can burn your skin but it definitely does not burn your senses or singes your spirit, like Delhi is doing!

No wonder then, a Norwegian lady on the plane to India kept asking how hot it would be in Delhi. She could not fathom what 45 degrees actually meant. Coming as she did from Norway, one couldn’t really fault her, but yes pity her, knowing that Delhi was reeling as never before, not just to heat but to a no-water-no-power scenario as well.

To top it all, she had her 10-year-old son who had never ever stepped out from the cold confines of Norway and was coming “for an India experience.”

As the two landed and walked out to the car park — which is just a few yards from the air-conditioned airport — the son doubled up and the mother too was in a state of heat shock.

Both, in a matter of minutes, were ready to be rushed to hospital and if one were to see through the situation, would be on their way back to Norway in a jiffy, if not already.

Back in England though, 23 degrees is a heat wave though temperatures this year touched even 30. With most houses not having a/cs and just central heating, cars being in the same category, the Englishmen were sweating it out, even though the T20 organisers felt relieved that the tournament got safe passage not just from rain but also from swine flu.

The same goes for the Wimbledon Open which is being played out under the sweltering sun, like never before.

Take the previous year. Wimbledon’s longest match ever had nothing to do with two unyielding rivals but everything to do with rain. Nadal was the victim and played the now famous tie with Soderling and it went on for full three days! Thankfully now, at least the Centre Court has a convertible roof though it is not rain but sun the players are battling.

Talking of Wimbledon, let me tell you how big it is for England despite the fact that the last Brit to win the final was way back in 1932. For starters, the Centre Court for semifinals and finals is fully booked till 2012!

Other than that, getting a ticket to any of the Wimbledon matches is like finding a needle in a haystack. An online site sells 500 tickets every night preceding the matches but it takes all of 30 seconds for the sale to be over. People are known to have sat through the evening to log into the site and wait for 8.30 pm when the sale opens.

And that is just the tip of the tennis frenzy. There is an entire culture and lifestyle movement associated with this queen of grand slams. Consider this: The organisers sell 6,000 tickets everyday at the ground counter. The queue for this defies numbers. People, old and young and from all strata converge on Wimbledon overnight to join the queue the next morning.

There are proper tents and waiting colonies that surround the grounds. Official stewards and bouncers are on 24x7 duty to deal with this queue crowd. They have bars, eateries, luggage minders and even creches to take care of the waiting hundreds. Come 6 am and the steward wakes you up to get ready for the queue.

If you are registered and lucky, you get an upfront place in this line. If you are luckier, you even get a ticket though that may not be of Centre Court or even Courts 1,2,3 or 4 which are prime courts.

Then there is one more thing: Charity ticket boxes. Now these are meant for people who have bought their ticket for the day but are leaving early. They can drop their ticket into the charity box and organisers then bring out a lottery of these leftovers.

And then there are those who are satisfied with just a ground pass which gives you entry into the premises but not on courts. T20? What’s that?

June 28, 2009, Sunday Pioneer, http://www.dailypioneer.com/185549/Culture-called-Wimbledon.html