In February 2018, our team organized The
Football Movement conference in coordination with the Premier League and UK
Department of International Trade. And while
all of us involved with putting the conference together were looking forward to
a few days of knowledge sharing, networking and partnership discussions, our family
and friends were mainly excited about the fact that Bollywood Superstar and
Premier League Ambassador, Ranveer Singh, was planning to attend a part of the event. My wife was definitely one of those excited individuals and she nearly re-scheduled an important function so that she could drive to
Mumbai just to catch a glimpse or possibly even take a cheap selfie with one of India’s
most talented and irreverent actors. In the end, she chose professional responsibilities
over celebrity stalking and was extremely jealous when I sent her this picture
just seconds after it was clicked:
Football Movement conference in coordination with the Premier League and UK
Department of International Trade. And while
all of us involved with putting the conference together were looking forward to
a few days of knowledge sharing, networking and partnership discussions, our family
and friends were mainly excited about the fact that Bollywood Superstar and
Premier League Ambassador, Ranveer Singh, was planning to attend a part of the event. My wife was definitely one of those excited individuals and she nearly re-scheduled an important function so that she could drive to
Mumbai just to catch a glimpse or possibly even take a cheap selfie with one of India’s
most talented and irreverent actors. In the end, she chose professional responsibilities
over celebrity stalking and was extremely jealous when I sent her this picture
just seconds after it was clicked:
Now fast forward almost 1 year. It’s February 2019 and Avantika and I
are driving across the Sealink bridge taking in the beautiful view of Mahim Bay
and singing along to the Gully Boy soundtrack. We had watched the Bollywood film
a few days earlier and were in love with everything about the movie, especially
Ranveer Singh’s performance. We are on our way to Phoenix High Street to attend
a Star Sports screening of the Manchester United vs Liverpool FC match – one that
my colleagues were organizing. I’m already frustrated as we are running behind schedule when all of a sudden a whatsapp
video pops up on my phone. I open it and see Ranveer Singh at the screening on
stage rapping to the hordes of football supporters in attendance. I can’t believe it, first that I didn’t even
realize that he was going to be at the screening and, second, that we were
going to miss seeing him. With deep hesitation, I showed the video to Avantika and
she was a mixture of shocked, confused and sad.
are driving across the Sealink bridge taking in the beautiful view of Mahim Bay
and singing along to the Gully Boy soundtrack. We had watched the Bollywood film
a few days earlier and were in love with everything about the movie, especially
Ranveer Singh’s performance. We are on our way to Phoenix High Street to attend
a Star Sports screening of the Manchester United vs Liverpool FC match – one that
my colleagues were organizing. I’m already frustrated as we are running behind schedule when all of a sudden a whatsapp
video pops up on my phone. I open it and see Ranveer Singh at the screening on
stage rapping to the hordes of football supporters in attendance. I can’t believe it, first that I didn’t even
realize that he was going to be at the screening and, second, that we were
going to miss seeing him. With deep hesitation, I showed the video to Avantika and
she was a mixture of shocked, confused and sad.
We spend the next 20 minutes driving through
South Bombay in silence, angry with ourselves for not sticking to our schedule
and getting to the screening on time. Not that we even knew that Ranveer would be
there, but just the thought of missing out on seeing him on stage due to our
own procrastination was quite frustrating.
We eventually made it to the entrance of the screening and fortunately
ran into one of my colleagues at the gate who gave us Lounge Pass wristbands so
that we could watch the match in a more comfortable space. We walked through the
swarms of red-clad football supporters and finally made it to the Star Sports
Executive Lounge.
South Bombay in silence, angry with ourselves for not sticking to our schedule
and getting to the screening on time. Not that we even knew that Ranveer would be
there, but just the thought of missing out on seeing him on stage due to our
own procrastination was quite frustrating.
We eventually made it to the entrance of the screening and fortunately
ran into one of my colleagues at the gate who gave us Lounge Pass wristbands so
that we could watch the match in a more comfortable space. We walked through the
swarms of red-clad football supporters and finally made it to the Star Sports
Executive Lounge.
As we walk through the Lounge, I wave to various industry friends secretly annoyed that
they were able to watch Ranveer rap live while we were listening to a recorded
version in the car. We make our way
through the Lounge and on the far side I see a small area which is roped
off. I look in and see my colleague Saurabh, my colleague Arnold and two of my
closest friends in the industry, Kate and Hemant, just chilling with Ranveer
Singh. They see Avantika and I, request
the security to take down the rope to let us in and immediately introduce both
of us to Ranveer. Then Kate takes Avantika
and sets her up on the couch so that her and Ranveer can talk while watching
the match. Avantika, like a pro,
immediately jumps into a conversation with him about his wife Deepika’s
Foundation and Mental Health.
I was sitting nearby with Hemant and Saurabh watching the whole scene in total
awe. I just couldn’t believe that within
the matter of 30 minutes we went from shock, self-loathing & anger thinking
that we missed Ranveer’s performance to Avantika sitting with him discussing a
topic which is dear to her heart while curious onlookers and paparazzi click photo after photo. To top
it all off, Ranveer went back on stage at half-time, rapped again and played
FIFA on the massive screen. Total
legend.
There was this beautiful moment that evening,
right after someone handed me a chilled locally brewed beer. I took a sip of
the tasty beverage, looked up and saw Manchester United playing against Liverpool
FC on the big screen, hundreds of football lovers chanting below me, my wife in
deep conversation with her favourite Bollywood actor and my colleagues enjoying
a quick beer to celebrate the execution of another successful event. At that
moment all felt right in my world and I understood that I didn’t choose to work
in sports because of these moments however these moments are possible because I
chose to work in sports.
right after someone handed me a chilled locally brewed beer. I took a sip of
the tasty beverage, looked up and saw Manchester United playing against Liverpool
FC on the big screen, hundreds of football lovers chanting below me, my wife in
deep conversation with her favourite Bollywood actor and my colleagues enjoying
a quick beer to celebrate the execution of another successful event. At that
moment all felt right in my world and I understood that I didn’t choose to work
in sports because of these moments however these moments are possible because I
chose to work in sports.
