A City halted

Work took a backseat as most offices declared Wednesday an official holiday. While some MNCs had anticipated the level of fervour and declared a holiday as early as Tuesday evening,government offices rescheduled their meetings and the Delhi administration declared it a half-day after realising that it would not be able to pull its employees away from television sets.

The euphoria of the match and a line-up of excuses from a majority of employees forced the Delhi government to declare it a “half-day”. By 1 pm,smiling faces could be seen running out of the Delhi Secretariat building,so they could go home and catch the action. But a few decided to stay back till India’s innings got over,crowding near the few TVs in the building. Such was the cricket fever that the Delhi Secretariat horticulture wing even crafted a World Cup trophy out of flowers.

While nearly 90 per cent of councillors abstained from work at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s main office in Chandni Chowk,Mayor P R Sawhney turned up for work at 1 pm. An hour later,he shut the files and invited all Class IV employees,peons and cooks included,into his office to watch the match together.

Cricket ruled the roost even in courts. Judges postponed their orders,hearings were fixed for the first half,widescreen television sets blared in packed Bar halls,and advocates left early. However,the visit of a special Supreme Court team to inspect the functioning of a lower court threw a spanner in their match-viewing schedule. “The team visited just when the game was in progress. We missed crucial moments,” an officer said.

The furore over the match even had personnel at the police headquarters wanting to take the day off. Though many submitted leave applications a day before the match,not all were granted permission.