The yellow army is marching towards the stadium, discussing the strategies to win, reminiscing about Dhoni’s shots from the previous matches, and why the team is tagged ‘Gen Gold’ — these are steps towards their sixth trophy this IPL season. The sea of cricket enthusiasts chant in chorus ‘Chennai Super Kings ku periya whistle adinga (Whistle loudly for Chennai Super Kings)’, ‘Enga thala Dhoni ku periya whistle adinga (Whistle loudly for our leader Dhoni)’ and ‘Enga ooru Chennai ku periya whistle adinga (Whistle loudly for our Chennai city)’, while navigating the traffic snarls.
The crowd’s roar is not the only sound echoing around Chepauk on match days. There is the sound of vehicles vrooming in parking lots. As you move along the lanes, you hear the flutter of yellow jerseys emblazoned with the lion emblem and the lucky number ‘7’ hanging on branches. This is mixed with the announcement from vendors: “CSK jersey akka. Anna, Dhoni shirt na, vangikonga anna (buy this Dhoni jersey). You will look beautiful wearing this.”
The match may be inside the stadium, but a different game is in full swing outside the premises — vendors cashing in on Chennai’s cricket craze. From whistles to caps and pani puri to ice cream, our shopkeepers hit their biggest sixes. “I usually take my ice cream cart around the stadium. After the first innings, I tend to increase the price by `5. I have two months to save for my son’s school fees. In the scorching heat, people do not mind paying the extra. However, some do not want to pay above the MRP,” shares Venkateshwaran, an ice cream vendor.
Business bonanza
While the heat favours Venkateshwaran and his business, people also gravitate towards hot soups and spicy, tangy pani puri. Rajesh Kumar has five pani puri stalls in the vicinity. He says, “Customers like to have pani puri as a snack before entering the stadium. I do not charge extra on match days. It is always `20 for six puris. Match does not have an impact on the business.” He came to the city 20 years ago to eke out a living. He worked in IT but found his calling as a businessman. He likes to be his own boss. Since this city has given him his means to livelihood, he supports team Chennai.
“The flour, potatoes, water, coriander, and oil cost me `1,000 every day for pani puri. This snack is such that people might not want to consume it regularly. I make `1,200 to `1,500, a day. It goes up to `1,700 to `1,800 when Chennai plays in the stadium,” he notes. The risk in this business is that the raw materials are perishable and can spoil quickly, especially in the heat.
Heat is a major concern for hawkers. They start their business by noon. “We come early to find a spot under the shade, and if we are lucky enough, we will get a spot. The police have allotted us a few spaces where we can sell our products. The spaces are allowed, keeping in mind that we do not hinder the parking,” points out Jeya J, a whistle vendor.
The Avadi resident usually sells books and pens near hotels and signals around Anna Nagar, but on match days, she takes a bus to Chepauk. “I have been coming here for three years. I want to help my family with daily expenses. I live in a hut, and it is difficult for my three-year-old to sleep and play in the limited space. My husband and I are saving so that we can shift to a brick house,” she adds.
Her husband, Jegadeesh, is a full-time auto driver and part-time face painter. To provide for his family, he visits the lanes surrounding the stadium on match days to paint cricket lovers’ faces. People are conscious of the safety aspect of paints. He says, “I use harmless watercolour paint, which will dissolve once you wash your face.” It is a craze among fans to paint their favourite team’s logo on their cheeks.
More than kids, adults are keen on face painting. “Sometimes, they ask to paint 7 or Dhoni’s name or the lion. This one time, a couple requested to paint ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ on the kid’s cheek and I did that. We come here to earn money and live happily; we provide what makes the customer happy,” shares Jegadeesh, who has also painted his face with ‘CSK’. He says, “Porandha mannunga idhu. Jechailum thothalum namba eppavum CSK dhan nga support. (I was born on this city’s soil. Whether the team wins or loses, I will always support CSK).”
Match day, not payday
The only worry, he says, is that people continuously ask him for match tickets; when met with rejection, he is judged. “I am here, standing under the sun so that I can enjoy tonight’s meal. How could I afford a match ticket? There have been times when customers have gotten angry and wiped off 10 minutes of my efforts and left without paying, or they have been hesitant to pay the quoted amount,” he sighs.
Customers not paying enough or not paying at all is a major concern. Latha* says, “Customers are not willing to pay but want to mingle in the yellow crowd. I do not source t-shirts directly from the manufacturer. Only after channelling through various hands, I get them at `170 and sell at `200, but people are not even ready to pay that margin of `30.”
CA Reshma Jain argues, “I am going to buy this t-shirt and hardly wear it twice in the whole year. I would definitely want to bargain so I get it at a lesser price.” Another customer, Kanaga says, “I cannot wear this jersey again next year because the official jersey might change, and I don’t want to wear anything outdated.”
These seller-buyer conversations often go silent in the noise of the CSK fandom. The rush to look at the players in action from afar kicks in, and individuals get their hands on anything yellow to cheer for their team to enter the stadium. They sit at the edge of their seats for every wicket, jump at every four, and dance at every six. Meanwhile, the vendors wait outside, anticipating if they could get a glimpse of their favourite player in their favourite team’s jersey.
*Name changed