Alice and I tried to go to the Delhi Daredevils vs. Rajasthan Royals IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket game tonight, and I was super psyched about it. I say "tried" because they wouldn't let us in. Why? Because we had cameras.
The policemen said we could leave our cameras with them. Alice asked if they had any lockers, and they said no. Well, leaving our camera without any real security system (no lockers, no left luggage-type place with cubbies and a guy giving out numbered tags, nothing of the sort) would just have been asking for our cameras to be stolen. And it had taken an hour in an auto to get to the stadium, so it's not like we could have gone home to drop off our cameras and then come back.
What's most ridiculous is that cameras aren't actually prohibited. Both the back of the ticket and the IPL ticket website say the following:
"Fire crackers, cigarettes, helmets, alcohol, food, drinks, bottles of any kind, lighters, matchboxes, tins, cans, metal containers, mirrors and other banned substances [I assume this means drugs] are strictly prohibited inside the stadium."
There is no mention of cameras on that list.
However, a policeman insisted that the back of the ticket does say no cameras allowed. Well, I'm not convinced he's fluent in English (and the ticket is only in English), considering that he was talking to two white girls in Hindi. We turned over the ticket and saw that the writing is tiny. I have never seen such small writing--I swear we would have needed a magnifying glass to read it properly. Anyway, it had the above clause printed on it, and a separate clause that says "the use of cameras and mobile phones is prohibited." But it does not say that such items are prohibited inside the stadium! We tried to promise not to use the cameras, but the policeman didn't seem to understand the subtle differences between the two clauses.
Or at least he didn't understand the subtle difference for cameras. He understood the difference perfectly well for mobile phones--the policemen were allowing mobile phones inside, despite the fact that they were mentioned in the same clause as cameras! In fact, a policewoman told us that even a cameraphone is permissible. Um, if that's the case, then why not allow regular cameras?! They do the same damn thing! Sometimes there is just zero logic in this country.
I tried to nonchalantly sneak in when the particularly mean policewoman was occupied (it was fairly obvious that the male police officers didn't care that much and probably would have let us sneak in after all our bitching), but she must have eyes on the back of her head or something, because she ran after me, grabbed me hard by the wrist, and dragged me back to the entrance. (Apparently, policewomen in India like to do this.) At that point Alice and I gave up, walked out, and decided to go to India Gate for some ice cream.
So now I have a theory about Indian policewomen. They just want to exert power over people, because they rarely get to. In Bikaner, the policemen sat back and didn't appear to give a damn about the situation (and tonight in Delhi, they certainly cared a lot less than the policewomen)--male officers don't deal with female "criminals." But for the policewomen, this was their time to shine. They only deal with females, and there are probably fewer cases involving females than involving males; they probably rarely get to do what they joined the police force to do. Plus it's not like these women can exert power when they're at home; India is largely a male-dominated society, so they are likely subject to their husbands at home. So their hunger for power is building up with no release, except in the rare case of a female "criminal." There aren't enough real criminals to exert their power over, so they have to make up situations to bully people--and the easiest targets are unsuspecting foreigners (they probably understand that foreigners are more likely to comply and give in to their power trips than Indians are, for a variety of reasons). Well, I'm no longer unsuspecting. Now I am extremely suspecting.
(By the way, I saw an Indian woman walk into the stadium with a camera. That's why I'm saying we were targeted as foreigners tonight. And it was beyond obvious that I was targeted as a foreigner in Bikaner--no Indian would have been put under hotel arrest during Holi.)
This is just a theory, and I came up with it while pretty pissed off, so take it with a grain of salt. It might be totally wrong.
Anyway, I never got to see the cricket game I was so excited about (and spent so much money and time on--due to the stupid rule that e-tickets are not real tickets and you must pick up your tickets from the stadium box office between 10am and 5pm the day before the game, I had to skip out of work for 2 hours yesterday and then stay late in the office to make up the work).
Needless to say, though I already said it multiple times, I am angry.
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