AHMEDABAD: It’s about 11 AM here on Friday. Golu Singh is getting ready for what’s to come at the Ahmedabad Junction. He is an attendant with Umiya Enterprise, the contractor who runs the cloakroom in the city’s biggest railway station. With the much-anticipated India-Pakistan match a day away, Singh is expecting brisk business.
Ever since the fixtures were announced in June, the contest between the arch-rivals has been the biggest talking point. Hotel prices in the city surged multifold and so did the airfare. To put it in perspective, hotels rooms that used to cost about Rs 2,000 were charging at least Rs 25,000 and it got dearer as the dates came closer. There were reports that fans even resorted to booking hospital beds.
That’s not all. Several auto rickshaws have turned their vehicles into luggage-holding facilities during the game. Per the agreement, they will drop fans to the stadium before safeguarding the luggage for the rest of the evening. Nish Navalkar, who runs a social media marketing company in Mumbai, did something else. As part of a large travelling group, he decided to book the air-conditioned dormitory/retiring room at the railway station.
“This is the system across India. When you book a dorm, they give you a locker. If we don’t get a locker, we use the cloakroom or secure the luggage to our beds with chains. Since the dorm was for men, I had to book the IRCTC AC lounge for my wife. It cost Rs 1,400 for 24 hours per bed. For the lounge, it is Rs 50 per hour,” says Navalkar.
Brisk business
The security forces, fans, and vendors were all over Motera as both teams sweated it out at nets. “Through the day, 15-20 fans have used the cloakroom. The match is only at 2 PM. More people will come through the night and the morning as well,” Golu Singh said.