So we landed this morning, safe and sound... still in doldrums that we're finally here... or are finally on our trip for final year studies. It seemed inevitable but we pulled through within 5 days! And here we are. I'm posting this especially to let everyone out there celebrating Cricket Craze know that Bangladesh is doing a beautiful job creating that hype and decorating it's city of Dhakka with amazing lights, amazing installations, and amazing larger than bus size cricket bats!
It is mesmerizing! But that's not all. While planning our escapades for today, we had a little stopover at Sheraton. which, for us was a complete surprise. We were on our way to a Fort and then a mall, and in between we saw a detour and the 'S' at Sheraton. We thought it was going to be the coolest thing ever meeting the Cricket Team and just by chance telling them we are crazy and we hope they win tomorrow.
So, in the Sheraton lobby, amidst Bengali locals, reporters, foreigners and other people... are 18 of us university students. Half of whom have rushed to the ladies' room to touch up their make up. We are lounging and giggling. Getting weird looks from security and having a ball taking photographs. And then our excitement mounts when we get to know the cricket team is half an hour away from their practice run at the stadium. We gather in front of the lobby, there are scanners and detectors by the dozen... and getting through them has been worth it for what we are about to encounter next. A bus pulls up, and we start screaming, hooting and taking photographs. I am recording a video that captures the few seconds of surprised and shocked faces of our national cricket team.
We are told they'll make a back entry. We think it's a trick. We speculate... and it so happens, the team proceeds to their rooms through corridors at the back. And we start getting hyper again... and security personnel gets just as hyper warning us not to hoot.. and we do it.. some players come out to the reception in their practice suits. Then, one from our lot calls out and says we've come all the way from Pakistan, the least you can do is come so we can have a photograph.. and in seconds we have Umer Akmal... walking forward and very readily giving out his autograph. And there we have it.. excitement that we may get Shahid Afridi, too.. but plans get spoiled as we're warned, another sound and we'll be asked to leave. So to spare that, we stay quiet and sit like good school children waiting for a chance at free tickets to watch the World Cup match tomorrow.
And you know what... we are SO ON!
Tomorrow, 4th Year Textile Design Students at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture are going to cheer on our team! Woooooooohoooooooooot! It's super exciting as each of us has something green, green eyeliner and eye shadow count by the way!
It's so funny, our luck is unmatched. We're blessed Alhamdulillah! Happy match watching everyone. May our Pakistani Pride rock the cricket field! InshaAllah!
Oh yes, we saw Sher-e-Bangla by night today as well. It's beautiful. The building over the water is breathtaking. And man, it's a marvel. No wonder Louis Kahn is the king of shadows and play of light. The silhouettes of platonic forms are mind bending. Even at night! Hoping to see more and snap some sweet shots to share with everybody. :)
Bangladesh is beautiful, it's green. But it's like Karachi in a way, too. Minus the truck art. I feel the cricket sensation here covers up for it. :)
I hope everyone managed to get their Firefly orders.
Keep reading, shall have some awesome updates from the stadium tomorrow night inshaAllah! Praying hard that we win... Safar ki Dua qubool hoti hai. ;)
PS: for all the boys back home, I hope you're smiling and laughing thinking of the odds of me ending up at a cricket match, the World Cup, when y'all never let me play in the front lawn. :D
hehehe!
It is mesmerizing! But that's not all. While planning our escapades for today, we had a little stopover at Sheraton. which, for us was a complete surprise. We were on our way to a Fort and then a mall, and in between we saw a detour and the 'S' at Sheraton. We thought it was going to be the coolest thing ever meeting the Cricket Team and just by chance telling them we are crazy and we hope they win tomorrow.
So, in the Sheraton lobby, amidst Bengali locals, reporters, foreigners and other people... are 18 of us university students. Half of whom have rushed to the ladies' room to touch up their make up. We are lounging and giggling. Getting weird looks from security and having a ball taking photographs. And then our excitement mounts when we get to know the cricket team is half an hour away from their practice run at the stadium. We gather in front of the lobby, there are scanners and detectors by the dozen... and getting through them has been worth it for what we are about to encounter next. A bus pulls up, and we start screaming, hooting and taking photographs. I am recording a video that captures the few seconds of surprised and shocked faces of our national cricket team.
We are told they'll make a back entry. We think it's a trick. We speculate... and it so happens, the team proceeds to their rooms through corridors at the back. And we start getting hyper again... and security personnel gets just as hyper warning us not to hoot.. and we do it.. some players come out to the reception in their practice suits. Then, one from our lot calls out and says we've come all the way from Pakistan, the least you can do is come so we can have a photograph.. and in seconds we have Umer Akmal... walking forward and very readily giving out his autograph. And there we have it.. excitement that we may get Shahid Afridi, too.. but plans get spoiled as we're warned, another sound and we'll be asked to leave. So to spare that, we stay quiet and sit like good school children waiting for a chance at free tickets to watch the World Cup match tomorrow.
And you know what... we are SO ON!
Tomorrow, 4th Year Textile Design Students at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture are going to cheer on our team! Woooooooohoooooooooot! It's super exciting as each of us has something green, green eyeliner and eye shadow count by the way!
It's so funny, our luck is unmatched. We're blessed Alhamdulillah! Happy match watching everyone. May our Pakistani Pride rock the cricket field! InshaAllah!
Oh yes, we saw Sher-e-Bangla by night today as well. It's beautiful. The building over the water is breathtaking. And man, it's a marvel. No wonder Louis Kahn is the king of shadows and play of light. The silhouettes of platonic forms are mind bending. Even at night! Hoping to see more and snap some sweet shots to share with everybody. :)
Bangladesh is beautiful, it's green. But it's like Karachi in a way, too. Minus the truck art. I feel the cricket sensation here covers up for it. :)
I hope everyone managed to get their Firefly orders.
Keep reading, shall have some awesome updates from the stadium tomorrow night inshaAllah! Praying hard that we win... Safar ki Dua qubool hoti hai. ;)
PS: for all the boys back home, I hope you're smiling and laughing thinking of the odds of me ending up at a cricket match, the World Cup, when y'all never let me play in the front lawn. :D
hehehe!
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