The Wembley stadium’s hallowed pitch was covered with a white cloth on which two large rangolis one each in the colours of the British and Indian flags. For a function for which free ticket distribution began three months ago, the crowd seemed short of the promised target of 60,000 but not short of enthusiasm despite temperatures that dipped below 8 degrees celsius at the iconic British football stadium.
“I am fan, a ‘bhakt,” says Rishikesh, an engineer who moved to the UK from Indore, when asked what brought him to Wembley. He says that when they heard Mr. Modi would be speaking at Wembley, he and six friends decided to drive the roughly 400 kms from Darlington to London to watch the event.
Frail 83-year-old Satish Kapadia was among the audience clapping as he saw the garba performed. Mr. Kapadia moved to the UK in 1973 to work at the Bank of India branch in London. He says he never dreamt that he would attend an event like this with so many Indians. A single parent of two sons he brought up in the UK, he says, his sons couldn’t access Indian culture the way young people today can. Despite his age, he uses the internet to catch up on news from India. When asked about PM Modi, he seems remarkably up to date. “He will have to take the elders in the BJP along,” Mr. Kapadia says, “Or he will face more difficulties.”
A young couple, Ajit Reddy and Swapna Murali (names changed) are bankers from Andhra Pradesh and Chennai, walk into the Wembley stadium taking selfies of themselves. They have come “to get a feel of India” and also follow Indian politics closely. “The Bihar elections was a reality check for Mr. Modi,” says Mr Reddy who later confesses to being an aam aadmi supporter. “I think Mr. Modi should start delivering on his promises at home before he goes on his foreign visits,” says Swapna. Both of them think the crowds for the greatly publicised Wembley event is thin. “When there are real crowds here, the mounted police are out keeping order. This is thin.”
Meanwhile on stage, roughly 800 artists performed everything from Garba to Bhangra. An apt song from the past, which is now a catchline made famous by PM Modi was “Made in India” and veteran singer Anisha Chinai flew in to perform her song at the stadium. Another artist who made a big impact, was Wembley born singer and rapper Jay Sean. Mr. Sean, who said he changed his name from Kamaljit Singh Jhooti years ago because “I thought people would look at my skin and religion before they looked at my talent”, said he was happy to see pride in India today.
