Sharmistha Gooptu in Leeds
In sport some win and some lose, and every Indian left Headingley lamenting the slip between the cup and the lip. Some of them might have headed to a little cafe in the walking radius, for nothing soothes disappointment like some good food. Maybe, some masala medu vadas they had ordered and found palatable. And while Indian fans left the stadium in disappointment, these businesses had a good few days, ancillary to a gripping Test match.
The area around Headingley is a quiet one with small cafés and shops mostly, and except for when there are matches, one would assume the modest businesses bank mostly on the neighborhood clientele.
On the side of the stadium that’s closest to the media entrance and opposite the main reception of the venue, the Ugly Mugs Cafe is the place English and Indian journalists land in for a cuppa or a good old-fashioned ham or bacon sandwich. “We’ve sold more in two hours on the last Saturday and Sunday (during the Test) than we would in a week,” says one of the people working at Ugly Mugs.
On the other side of the stadium and if one crosses the over, there are others also that have done brisk business on account of cricket. Of them, Sandhya Prasad is herself a cricketer, and her husband Ram calls her a bit of a female Shahid Afridi in her batting style! Sandhya plays cricket for Crossgate, a local club, and runs the Munch Cafe in Headingley with her husband.
“We do an English in the morning and authentic South Indian in the evening, and I want you to come and try the dosas – I’m the chef,” declares Sandhya. “We make ven pongal, with rice and moong dal, and I can gaurantee, you won’t get this in any restaurant in Leeds.” Her husband chips in. “It’s exactly how we make it in Chennai,” contends Ram.
Their Chennai connection – read, MS Dhoni – is what first my attention was, as I walked past their window this morning. A cut-out in their window read: “Thank you England for cricket, thank you cricket for MS Dhoni”.
“We are Dhoni fans, and Dhoni and I share the same birthday,” reveals Sandhya. They have done better business than usual during the days of the Test, with people coming in early before the game and then even in the evening, after the day’s play, for the South Indian fare.
Even the shop that sells cricket jerseys at Headingley tells us that they sold more over the Test match weekend than they do over the whole domestic cricket season.