passion

Our story begins in Thane, where a 67 year old manchose to postpone bypass heart surgery, defying doctor's directives.

"Doctor sahib, maaf karna. Permission liye bina bahar aya hoon," said Swami, adding that he would not be able to make it for the surgery as he was out of station.

"My father left for Mohali on Tuesday morning. Even I was surprised by my dad's decision to watch the match instead of going for the angioplasty." Rajesh, Swami's son.

What Swami doesn't know is that if he was visitor to Mumbai, he wouldn't have a place to stay. The 12,000 hotel rooms in Mumbai are booked to full capacity.

500 kilometers away in Gujarat, about 90,000 students of Gujarat University have had their exams postponed.

"The World Cup final was never a consideration earlier. Now that India has reached the final and that too after defeating Pakistan, the event has taken a different meaning," said GU officials.

Even as far as Shimla, hotels are hooking up LCD TVs in hotel restaurants, lobbies, and special cricket-viewing cuisines for the final.

Pawan Mittal, owner of Ritz on Mall Road said, "It is a historical moment for us and we wanted that our guests should not miss the match, so we arranged for the screening."

"Being a hotel close to the stadium, we are already full for the final. Most of the rooms have been booked in advance," said George Mathew, general manager of the Shalimar.

"Even as the reservations were made over a period of last two weeks, several reservations were made after India won the semifinal against Pakistan in Mohali," said Samit Ganguly, director of sales and marketing of HIMIA.

"We are sitting on a high occupancy, primarily because of the support of fans and the cricket fanatics," he added.

News reports from media-shy Orissa tell of yajnas praying for Team India's success and a betting racket - both in the Kharavel Nagar area.

While only the overpriced sold-in-black 4000 of the 35,000 seats during the matches are meant for the average man, the lucky won't be happy in another few hours; they' ve paid 12,500 Rupees for uncomfortable bucket seats.

"The bucket seats are small. They are uncomfortable, and would probably be more so for someone with a big behind," Marine Drive resident requesting anonymity.

"The bucket seats you are mentioning are not optimal. The back is not contoured, and so you are forced to hunch forward in your seat, while the seat, which should be inclined a bit backwards like a car seat, is actually inclined forward and downward. Lastly, having a hinge that connects the two portions, like a seat in a movie theatre or even most stadia abroad, gives you a little more leeway to be able to accommodate and position yourself comfortably. But the seats at Wankhede don't seem to offer that," says Dr Arun Mullaji, leading orthopaedic surgeon and consultant with Breach Candy Hospital and Cumballa Hill Hospital.

That is however, for people who got tickets.

Affiliates of the Mumbai Cricket Association received 14,000 tickets, the ICC received 8,500 tickets, the BCCI received 2000. The Maharashtra government was unhappy and vocal about their 250 passes.

"We have rejected their offer. At least for the cabinet members and high-ranking officials, the MCA should have offered us front-row seats. All the tickets are for insignificant slots. This is no way to treat us," a senior bureaucrat told the Times of India

Even the coterie of chief minister, cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats have received the worst seats in the house via the Mumbai Cricket Association.

"We have rejected their offer. At least for the cabinet members and high-ranking officials, the MCA should have offered us front-row seats. All the tickets are for insignificant slots. This is no way to treat us," a senior bureaucrat told the Times of India

Another option that's not for me and you are 57 such corporate boxes, each seating group of 16 with 24 inch deep plush couches, air-conditioning, LCD TVs, video-matrix score cards, personal attendants, food and drinks and a fantastic view of the game. Boxes have already been booked for Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj. Further, 3000 VIP's will hit Mumbai tomorrow to watch the match; spotted at the India-Pakistan match, Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi are also attending.

"I congratulate the Indian team for winning the semifinal at Mohali and wish them the best for the final,"

"We hope they win and bring the World Cup for us. I wish them all the best," Sonia Gandhi.

So is President Pratibha Patil and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa - which obviously means an Ambassador-driven cavalcade of more netas in attendance.

Sushma Swaraj has already pointed out attempts to use cricket as a diplomatic platform.

“Cricket diplomacy? We won the match!…The game should remain a game. Let us not convert it to war or dialogue diplomacy.”

Accusing India of cricket diplomacy is also Syed Ali Shah Geelani

“We caution Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan against ignoring Kashmir during their cricket diplomacy as only resolution of this issue will lead to trust among the two nations and peace in the South Asian region,”

However, for candidates in local constituencies, cricket is diplomatic turf.

''Keeping popular sentiments in mind, our party workers are watching matches with locals to share in the excitement and at the same time seek their support for our candidates,'' senior Trinamool Congress leader Sultan Ahmed told PTI. ''We are talking about promoting sports - how we are going to open more stadia in the state and encourage local talent in sports. We want to bond with the populace in a better way and cricket is another opportunity for that,'' said Trinamool MP Sisir Adhikari.

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Bollywood is also attending.

The last match saw Aamir Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Shakti Kapoor. Tomorrow will witness Aamir Khan, SRK, Lara Dutta, Minnisha Lamba, Tusshar Kapoor, Suniel Shetty, and Dino Morea.

Aamir Khan said, “I am heaving a sigh of relief as the big game (India-Pakistan) is over. We won and that will surely boost the team's morale."“We should not underestimate the other team. We are a strong side and we will win the tournament."

Ditto and hashtag that: @theshilpaShetty tweeted: 'Yesssssssssssssssss We did it,good job team india..fabulous work Yuvi:)In the Semis..Bring it on,yipeeeeeeeeee!'

@srbachchan: 'INDIA beats PAKISTAN!!! Moves into the final with SriLanka. India breathes normally now .. well played India, congratulations!! The streets outside jammed with revelers, screaming shouting waving the tri color... had not seen this in ages!! Now for the Final Each fall of wicket was greeted with firecrackers and screams throughout the city .. not a vehicle on the road - empty silent!' he tweeted.

It's not limited to India(and Sri Lanka); Indian and Sri Lankan cabbies in Australia are all taking the night off to watch the final. Melbourne taxi driver Vinny Singh confirmed a leave of absence for 100 drivers for the match final.

"I think it will be next to impossible, because I think that a lot of Indian students who are driving cabs in the night, as part of their part-time job, will be having a day off," he told the ABC.