Fence-sitters.
There are no ropes on the boundary line for Mumbai’s playgrounds stopping anyone. Any fence that exists, if any, is porous. Across the city, cricket and other boundaries merge like venn diagrams. At intersections, inside and outside these circles, squares and paratha shaped fields, life goes on. More than a handful of people make or try to make a living at these intersections.
The Bombay street sports economy is not as large as the one that feeds on IPL but there are several that I have encountered around our playgrounds. I will keep an eye open for more such people.
Encountered: The man who repairs bats.
Uday works under a tree in the western corner of Azad Maidan. He is one of the people who make a living repairing bats for the players. Cricketers come to Azad Maidan from all over Mumbai to play for the many clubs that are allowed to use the playground and for the different teams and enthusiasts who come to play there. From replacing the grips on the handlebars to giving a second life to old bats, he does them all.
I had gone to him for a different reason. My boss at the advertising agency I work for also makes furniture from discarded things, including cricket bats. He has designed an arm chair that looks like a Parsi Fornicator that is made for armchair cricketers and he has difficulty getting hold of old bats. I was hoping that Uday would tell me where I could get some old bats. Unfortunately, old bats are thrown away by individuals and there is no one person who collects or recycles old ones. If you have an old bat lying around, the place to go is Azad Maidan, I guess. There should be others, in other playgrounds and I shall keep an eye open for them.
The other bat repairer.
Pom Pom Idli Wallahs.
Idlis and vadas smothered in sambhar and chutney have captured the street breakfast market in Mumbai. Every morning (and other times of the day), they radiate from the chawls and slums where they are made to the streets all over Mumbai. Playgrounds will have the most hungry customers and that is where you will find quite a few of the idliwallahs with their signature pomp om call sign.
Drink break.
The air is Mumbai is a heavy with moisture the whole year round and it is not satisfied unless it has sucked out the little water that we have in our bodies. If you plan to spend the day on the playground, you are a walking, running water oozing machine and if you want to live, you have to make sure that you are 'hydrated' and we have people who will do that for you, for a price.
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Simple super food for champions.
Fashion and food tastes come and go. The idli could be replaced by pasta or the vada pav may stage a come back but the humble egg or a banana is just as popular on the maidan.
Ground Staff.
The people who maintain the cricket pitches at Azad Maidan before the day's play.
Hawking zones.
In the even
