My time with the Times

Rahman in tunes in Chennai-The Times of India-the moment I read the ad in papers, I made my mind not to miss the show this time. A R has been my all time favourite and listening to his mesmerising melodies in an open ground will be a lifetime experience for sure.

Determined to capture the musical night, my hunt for getting the passes for the show began. Getting hold of friends in TOI was my first attempt. Managing to get three tickets (literally begging them), I started dreaming about the D-day.

Fate entered in the form of my friend who called me over the phone to say that he had got a VVIP ticket for me. My happiness knew no bounds. Am I am going to get a chance to see the musical genius close-by!? Trusting him, I distributed the tickets to my brother and his friends completely unaware of the consequences I should face in the future.

THE D-DAY: It was five in the evening when we reached the venue. The show starts at 6.30, but we knew parking would be a problem as around a lakh people were expected to be on the show. Even at five, traffic at the Chetpet road leading to the St George's Ground where the show would be conducted, was unmanageable. Hundreds of police deployed to control the crowd looked bemused. As time passed, considerable number of people started flocking the ground causing more chaos and confusion.

It looked as if the entire youth in Chennai have assembled to witness the show. The cops, who were already in an irritated mood, were shouting at the people to clear the path for the vehicles to pass by. The newspaper has arranged parking facilities for nearly 1,500 two-wheelers and 2,000 cars, which was absolutely inadequate.

Got a message from my friend (who has the VVIP passes) saying he is on his way and will be there in 15 minutes. It was already 6.30 and I was in a hurry not to miss even a song of the day. Cursing him in my mind, I waited impatiently along with a friend, who was ready with a camera to capture the moments of the show. Rahman began the evening with "endrendrum punnagai".

Then it happened. The cops closed the gates preventing the crowd to get inside. Hundreds of people, who were disappointed, tried to push themselves in, but in vain. There was utter confusion and the police resorted to a mild lathicharge. It was a complete mayhem. My friend got stranded outside. My dreams to watch the show began to shatter slowly. Shankar Mahadevan was singing "varaha nathikaraiyoram" in his high-pitched vocal. Filled with delirium and ecstasy the crowd cheered to Rahman’s enchanting voice when he sung “khwaja mere khwaja”.

It was already 7.30 and I could hear Shreya Goshal's "munbe va" now. My friend messaged telling he is unable to get in. Tears welled up my eyes out of disappointment. Life doesn't give you what you wanted sometimes.

It was 7.45 when something unexpected happened. The cops opened the gates all of a sudden and nearly 100 people rushed in. Before I could realize what had happened I was caught amidst the mad crowd. Suddenly, I felt a hand pulling me outside. It was a guy. "Watch out buddy. If you wanna go inside, please don't. It's a mess there," he warned.

It was 8.00 when I received another message from my friend. "Hey, I don't think we could meet up. Go home safely."

Not again! Filled with disappointment we decided to go home. It took nearly 20 minutes for us to get out of the ground. The crowd outside didn’t make a move hoping they will be let in sometimes later. Somewhere at a distance Rahman’s “newyork nagaram” floated in the air.