I remember the first time I went to a watch a cricket match at the Chinnaswamy stadium. It was during my engineering days – it must have been the second season of the IPL. That’s the first time I saw the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) play live. It was also my very first time watching a cricket match at a cricket stadium – no surprise back then – RCB lost that match (first of many such RCB disappointments that was to follow). However, having grown up here, supporting the Bengaluru team was an obvious choice – the loyalty continued despite the many failures. In fact when the match-fixing scandal hit IPL, I thought it best to give IPL a miss (however, silently tracked the RCB games). I, like a million others stayed committed through lost finals, retired legends, and endless memes like #ESCN.
However, the year 2025 seemed different. The RCB team was well balanced, had good leadership(everyone was leading and wanting to really win!) it felt like a champion side throughout the tournament. And finally, on 3-June-2025, RCB lifted the IPL trophy! They didn’t just win. They gave millions of fans a long-awaited sigh of relief after 18 years of heartbreak and frustration.
I watched the RCB vs PBKS IPL final with my wife, Amritha. I’ve bled RCB red and gold from the start. Though Amritha once supported CSK in the early IPL years, RCB’s fire, fandom, and passionate fanbase slowly won her over. Just as it has for so many others.
That night, we both cheered for the same team: RCB!
RCB posted a target of 191. Punjab Kings tried to chase it down, but our bowlers shut them down. By the final over, we already knew RCB had sealed the win. We started celebrating in our minds even before the last ball.
Silent tears of joy, laughter echoed, and we snapped many selfies. In one unforgettable evening, 18 years of waiting turned into pure joy.
Ee Sala Cup Namdu! (#ESCN)
But joy.. turned bittersweet
Everything in life is so fleeting – including the joy we experienced the day before. The next evening on June 4, during the celebration parade near Chinnaswamy Stadium, an unregulated surge of fans led to a stampede – lives were lost, and dozens injured (we saw the news on our mobile phones in shock). Among them were passionate fans who had waited years to see RCB win. But they didn’t make it back home that night. The joy of the night before quickly turned to mourning and tragedy.
We will remember these events for a long time to come. Somethings to reflect upon:
- No trophy is worth a human life.
- Fandom must never override safety.
- Crowd control and responsible planning are essential.
- Victory celebrations must be grounded in care and compassion.
~Gokul
