(This is the second and final part of the post - " Vineet goes to JUSTIN BEIBER's CONCERT in Mumbai, India". For the previous post, click HERE )
And so as the story goes, we reached Mumbai on 9th May. It was hot and humid as hell though 😣😖 and I wondered how on earth did a young man like JB who hails from cold Canada, was so sweet and humble to agree to come down to India for his fans for the very first time! So on 10th morning we saw on the TV that there were some fans who had started camping since early in the morning at 5! We had a problem - To be able to see JB from the very front row of the Silver stands (of which we had tickets), Vineet would have to be there very early on. But to be early on was going to be a big problem for Vinsy due to his toilet habits and of course his fooding and they were not going to allow outside food as well. Big problem. So we thought and thought and finally decided that 2 members would go early on and keep place for the rest of us. Only when they reached the venue they called us saying that if you didn't stand in the queue now (that was 10 o'clock in the morning btw! and the concert was to begin at 3:30 in the afternoon and JB was to come at 8 in the evening!)😵 you couldn't reach them at all! So off went the second lot except Vin and papa and we all got decent places at the front of the queue. Now we waited, and waited and waited....until 3:30 p.m. With just packets of chips and water being sold at exorbitant prices. 👿The queue was long and I told Vin to proceed from the hotel only after we had gone inside the stadium.
So as the story goes, we managed to get the first row of the silver stands and were happy that it was quite near to the stage. Then I realised that there was No Way Vin would be able to reach us through the massive crowd which was already crushing us all who were in front, to the barricade! I realised there had been a mistake. This was a mistake coz Vin wouldn't be able to see the concert except on the LED screens that had been placed right and left of the stage. I felt let down, unhappy, weak and a bit angry at myself for planning this entire thing while Vin would be unable to see the Concert with us, and JB would be out of sight as he would be sitting in his wheelchair right at the back. I thought of the outlay of the stadium at Bern, Switzerland ,when I was going to book the tickets to JB's Concert there earlier, and how there was a special elevated place in the stands for people on wheelchairs. I was depressed and waited for Vin to come to the stadium. Unfortunately network jammers had been placed and I could not contact him or his dad at all. And to go on a search would mean getting the kids crushed by hyper-over-adrenalined-teenagers!! So I endured it all along with the heat, humidity, sweat et all till at last when JB came on the stage, and I thought the front row kids would be trampled upon!! When I saw Vin's sis about to faint (!!) I pulled her out of the crowd and made our way towards the exit. As we made our way away from the crowd into free space (and fresh evening air!), who do we see but Vin!! Enjoying the show with dad watching it on the huge screen in front. I smiled for the first time in the evening. When Vin's fav songs came up, papa dear would scoop up Vineet to show him JB on the stage - as a tiny blob from so far.
And at this part of the stadium, there was a beautiful crowd who were singing and sometimes dancing with each other and we too held hands and danced together. Papa bought us pizzas and life was good👍 once again!! Vinsy told us how some reporters took his fotos and one even interviewed him! Then the show came to an end around 10: 30 p. m. and as we made our was out of the stadium along with the enormous crowd of around 30000 people (which we came to know later), Vin had another interviewer.
Nevertheless, it was a memorable day for all of us, though Vin was a little bit disappointed at not having been able to meet #justinbeiber.
Click Here to watch one of JB's performance that I uploaded
Click HERE to see some of our pics of the Concert
A small afternote about Mumbai Airport regarding our wheelchair number 9 (Same as wheelchair number 7 which got spoilt as we forgot to take it out from the car boot after our Puri Trip 😬😒-
Previously in our air travels we had opted for the airport wheelchairs and submitted Vin's wheelchair with the baggage. This time Papa said we'll take the wheelchair along with us to the aircraft. Bad decision. The X-ray machine for wheelchair was not working at Mumbai airport - can you believe this! Then finally they got hold of the person who was supposed to operate it and it worked 😑 Then they looked around for a Security personnel to put the " Checked' tag on it. He couldn't be found as well. We were taken from one end of the place to another and finally back to find THE Man who had to be convinced to put the tag on Vin's wheelchair as if there was a missile hidden in it. I really don't understand the paranoia in airports regarding the specially challenged and their external aids (which are like the missing parts of their bodies) Then we proceeded to our own security counters wherein Vin was scanned again with his wheelchair, which is okay.
And so as the story goes, we reached Mumbai on 9th May. It was hot and humid as hell though 😣😖 and I wondered how on earth did a young man like JB who hails from cold Canada, was so sweet and humble to agree to come down to India for his fans for the very first time! So on 10th morning we saw on the TV that there were some fans who had started camping since early in the morning at 5! We had a problem - To be able to see JB from the very front row of the Silver stands (of which we had tickets), Vineet would have to be there very early on. But to be early on was going to be a big problem for Vinsy due to his toilet habits and of course his fooding and they were not going to allow outside food as well. Big problem. So we thought and thought and finally decided that 2 members would go early on and keep place for the rest of us. Only when they reached the venue they called us saying that if you didn't stand in the queue now (that was 10 o'clock in the morning btw! and the concert was to begin at 3:30 in the afternoon and JB was to come at 8 in the evening!)😵 you couldn't reach them at all! So off went the second lot except Vin and papa and we all got decent places at the front of the queue. Now we waited, and waited and waited....until 3:30 p.m. With just packets of chips and water being sold at exorbitant prices. 👿The queue was long and I told Vin to proceed from the hotel only after we had gone inside the stadium.
So as the story goes, we managed to get the first row of the silver stands and were happy that it was quite near to the stage. Then I realised that there was No Way Vin would be able to reach us through the massive crowd which was already crushing us all who were in front, to the barricade! I realised there had been a mistake. This was a mistake coz Vin wouldn't be able to see the concert except on the LED screens that had been placed right and left of the stage. I felt let down, unhappy, weak and a bit angry at myself for planning this entire thing while Vin would be unable to see the Concert with us, and JB would be out of sight as he would be sitting in his wheelchair right at the back. I thought of the outlay of the stadium at Bern, Switzerland ,when I was going to book the tickets to JB's Concert there earlier, and how there was a special elevated place in the stands for people on wheelchairs. I was depressed and waited for Vin to come to the stadium. Unfortunately network jammers had been placed and I could not contact him or his dad at all. And to go on a search would mean getting the kids crushed by hyper-over-adrenalined-teenagers!! So I endured it all along with the heat, humidity, sweat et all till at last when JB came on the stage, and I thought the front row kids would be trampled upon!! When I saw Vin's sis about to faint (!!) I pulled her out of the crowd and made our way towards the exit. As we made our way away from the crowd into free space (and fresh evening air!), who do we see but Vin!! Enjoying the show with dad watching it on the huge screen in front. I smiled for the first time in the evening. When Vin's fav songs came up, papa dear would scoop up Vineet to show him JB on the stage - as a tiny blob from so far.
And at this part of the stadium, there was a beautiful crowd who were singing and sometimes dancing with each other and we too held hands and danced together. Papa bought us pizzas and life was good👍 once again!! Vinsy told us how some reporters took his fotos and one even interviewed him! Then the show came to an end around 10: 30 p. m. and as we made our was out of the stadium along with the enormous crowd of around 30000 people (which we came to know later), Vin had another interviewer.
Nevertheless, it was a memorable day for all of us, though Vin was a little bit disappointed at not having been able to meet #justinbeiber.
Click Here to watch one of JB's performance that I uploaded
Click HERE to see some of our pics of the Concert
A small afternote about Mumbai Airport regarding our wheelchair number 9 (Same as wheelchair number 7 which got spoilt as we forgot to take it out from the car boot after our Puri Trip 😬😒-
Previously in our air travels we had opted for the airport wheelchairs and submitted Vin's wheelchair with the baggage. This time Papa said we'll take the wheelchair along with us to the aircraft. Bad decision. The X-ray machine for wheelchair was not working at Mumbai airport - can you believe this! Then finally they got hold of the person who was supposed to operate it and it worked 😑 Then they looked around for a Security personnel to put the " Checked' tag on it. He couldn't be found as well. We were taken from one end of the place to another and finally back to find THE Man who had to be convinced to put the tag on Vin's wheelchair as if there was a missile hidden in it. I really don't understand the paranoia in airports regarding the specially challenged and their external aids (which are like the missing parts of their bodies) Then we proceeded to our own security counters wherein Vin was scanned again with his wheelchair, which is okay.
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