Bangalore:
There was a different kind of person on the green, green grass of Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium over the weekend. And while cynics might say that everything is for sale during a cricket match - this time it was a legitimate flea market - and all the transactions were open and above board! If there was any fixing, it was done with playing cards...
The two-day flea market was part of the Karnataka State Cricket Association's Platinum jubilee celebrations. We met Geetha and Gayathri Murthy absorbed in one of the many stalls dotted along the boundary.
Ms Geetha said, "We are also entering for the first inside a stadium. It's a different experience."
Ms Gayathri added, "Not the players, at least the audience can come and see so many items here. It is the favourite of ladies - we love to buy everything but our purse has to permit."
The market had basically food and stalls for shopping - and at least one young visitor was disappointed at the absence of games. Young Manas wished he could have been doing what is usually done in the stadium - throwing the ball around a lot more.
And while the flea market stall holders would have hoped for even more footfalls and sales, they did appreciate the unusual environment.
We caught up with some of the stall-holders when rain saw a break in the shopping. Mr Veeru said, "When you have not seen a stadium from inside, you wonder how far is the boundary. Now we are at the boundary. We have been waiting at the boundary for customers."
Ms Dharani at the next stall said she had never been inside the stadium before.
"It's awesome, I am waiting for customers but enjoying the rain as well," she said.
Ms Arghya was selling T-shirts at the Make a Difference stall to raise funds for underprivileged children.
She said, "It's really great. People come here to watch the matches and it's a totally different atmosphere, when we come here when there is no match. You can see the kids are having a lot of fun."
The Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore has been the venue of some nail-biting finishes. But the atmosphere is much more relaxed at the flea market which is part of the platinum jubiliee celebrations of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
It has been a chance for ordinary people, non-cricketers, to get inside the very special stadium.
The two-day flea market was part of the Karnataka State Cricket Association's Platinum jubilee celebrations. We met Geetha and Gayathri Murthy absorbed in one of the many stalls dotted along the boundary.
Ms Geetha said, "We are also entering for the first inside a stadium. It's a different experience."
Ms Gayathri added, "Not the players, at least the audience can come and see so many items here. It is the favourite of ladies - we love to buy everything but our purse has to permit."
The market had basically food and stalls for shopping - and at least one young visitor was disappointed at the absence of games. Young Manas wished he could have been doing what is usually done in the stadium - throwing the ball around a lot more.
And while the flea market stall holders would have hoped for even more footfalls and sales, they did appreciate the unusual environment.
We caught up with some of the stall-holders when rain saw a break in the shopping. Mr Veeru said, "When you have not seen a stadium from inside, you wonder how far is the boundary. Now we are at the boundary. We have been waiting at the boundary for customers."
Ms Dharani at the next stall said she had never been inside the stadium before.
"It's awesome, I am waiting for customers but enjoying the rain as well," she said.
Ms Arghya was selling T-shirts at the Make a Difference stall to raise funds for underprivileged children.
She said, "It's really great. People come here to watch the matches and it's a totally different atmosphere, when we come here when there is no match. You can see the kids are having a lot of fun."
The Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore has been the venue of some nail-biting finishes. But the atmosphere is much more relaxed at the flea market which is part of the platinum jubiliee celebrations of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
It has been a chance for ordinary people, non-cricketers, to get inside the very special stadium.
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