Everybody has some things they have vivid
teenage memories of- some silly memories that stay strangely fresh to this day.
For me- one of these memories is that of an Enrique concert I attended back in
2004 as a 14 year old *puppy* love struck teenager.
All it took was one phone call from my
friend to convince me to come for the one direction concert which was due to
happen that weekend. Had it not been for Zayn Malik for leaving the band, there’s
no way we could have got the tickets which were sold out 1 year before the
actual date of the concert. But there are days when luck goes your way and we
managed to score some tickets which were being sold by underwhelmed fans- Their
loss, our gain- The circle of life
After
4 days of well.. counting days..listening to one direction music on repeat..counting
days again- The day finally arrived! I had my fingers crossed and was hoping
that it would be just as memorable as my first one!
In the blaring heat of the Dubai sun, my friends and I made our way to the concert ground and saw a bunch of people already at the gate.
I saw no lines which made the MBA in me cringe at the lack of process and poor
event management. At 2.45- the gates opened
and what I saw horrified me even further- I saw people run in herds towards the
stadium so much so that some people fell straight on the floor and what was so
surprising to see was that people jumped over them to make their way ahead- so
much for humanity and progression.
After hours of waiting- finally the stadium
opened and we were let in to the actual concert space where we could sit down
and relax which I must say was a sigh of relief.
A couple of slices of pizza, some coke and
a dozen photos later- something happened. As we continued to sit down, a lot of
people suddenly stood up in anticipation. What happened after this- came as a
complete surprise to me.
A couple of girls in the crowd started to
poke fun, pass nasty comments and tried to bully us to give up our seats and
stand up. They pulled the final string when they tried to click our pictures
and passed a bunch of racist comments which forced us to call the security- who
was gracious enough to take our side. To show support towards us, we saw a lot
more people sit down beside us which totally made it feel like a movement of
some sorts.
They say that Dubai is forward looking- a
melting pot of cultures. This experience further engrained that in my head.
Yes- some people did what they were not supposed to do- but on the other end,
there were locals who supported like we were their own people. They stood up
for what was right- is that not what being forward looking is all about?
Once the band actually came on stage- the
worry and stress was forgotten and the good times began as we crooned to beats
of the peppy music. To our luck, we were even upgraded to the gold stand and we
got to see the band up close.
One of the sweetest sights- something I found incredibly touching was to see fathers
hoisting their little girls on their shoulders to help them see past the crowd-
they were gleaming with happiness and it seemed like they were on the “top of
the world”
Finally when the night ended to "The best song ever" and we were driving back- I knew i was going back with a memory- a day filled with laughter, fun and above all some very
good music- with a pinch of salt that just made it better and more real.
