The stage is set for a celebration Sunday. From fancy pubs to para clubs and condominiums, Calcutta is prepping for a party and praying it does not go to waste.
The Men in Blue take on the Black Caps in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai.
The match begins at 2.30pm.
Giant screens, large tables, beer buckets... the checklist is long but common.
The timing could not have been better for restaurateurs, with the festival of colours slated for the next weekend. Usually, the run-up to Holi is not a great time for the food and beverage sector, several owners said.
After Holi, the footfall picks up with the IPL, they said. This year, the Champions Trophy has changed the mood.
“Last Tuesday (when India beat Australia in the semi-final) was no less than a bumper weekend. A usual weekday order of four pints of beer (330ml each) at a table turned to two pitchers (3 litres each) that day. Especially when India were chasing, there was no place to sit,” said Amit Bajoria, whose company owns the city franchise of Lord of the Drinks and Warehouse Cafe at South City Mall.
Pubs across the city ran to their capacity till Tuesday’s match ended. The India-Pakistan clash on February 23 was also a blockbuster.
Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis on Park Street, said beer sales have jumped “40 per cent” because of cricket.
Three tables at the restaurant are already booked for Sunday’s final. Two of them by people who watched India’s previous victories in the tournament. “They want the same table as a good luck charm,” Daryanani told The Telegraph.
The sentiment is infectious.
Abhranil Dasgupta, 42, watched the second half of the India-Australia semi-final on Tuesday at The Irish House in Quest Mall.
“I will watch the final at the same place, with the same friends, preferably at the same table,” said the Dhakuria resident, who works for an asset management company.
Sudesh Poddar, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, said February and March were not the best months for the food and beverage sector. “The crowds are usually back with the IPL. But this year, it is different,” he said.
Gated communities have lined up live screenings for Sunday’s final match.
In South City, a banquet hall is being decked out. “We could not organise a screening on Tuesday as it was a working day. For Sunday, we are ready to root for the Men in Blue in style,” said Manoj Gupta of the residents’ welfare association there.
A group of friends at Ashoknagar Park in Tollygunge will watch the final in two phases, the first half at their respective homes and the second in the lawn of the local club.
“We don’t have a giant screen. Only a 54-inch TV. But there is a lot of fun in watching the match together,” said Diptarka Mondal, 21, an MBA student.
The pleasant weather has helped clubs and residents’ groups to organise outdoor screenings.
The afternoon sun is hot but the evenings are still pleasant.
The minimum temperature in Calcutta was just over 18 degrees Celsius on Friday, almost four degrees cooler than usual.
“We have arranged for a screening for the residents on Sunday evening. There will be food, drinks and, if India wins, desserts,” said Soumen Pal, who lives in the third-floor flat of a standalone residential building in Lake Town.