The receptionist at the Hotel Kunal, Dharamsala could offer nothing but a big smile at first instance. He had rooms available, but he could not give them to four Bangladeshi journalists, who were looking for lodging in this chilly and hilly north Indian city. Initially he was reluctant to give any reason as well. But finally he revealed that all rooms had been booked by Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. When he was told that we are also here for cricket, he got softened. After repeated request, he agreed to call the man responsible for all the bookings. From the other side of the phone the HPCA man only wanted to be sure if we are also for cricket. Once confirmed he ordered the receptionist to give us rooms from his booking. The life for us, two scribes and two television crews of Dhaka, could not have begun in a better way in Dharamsala. We were told by the fellow journalists that yesterday [Monday] they had to wait for two hours to collect their accreditation cards. Already tired after a hectic bus journey from New Delhi (we could not mange seats in Dharamsala-bound flight), we were afraid if we need to suffer the same way. But Rabeed Imam, the Bangladeshi media manager working for the ICC, made things easier for us. He requested us to go to gate number three of HPCA stadium, where we needed to wait only for few minutes. Two volunteers named Rajesh and Sradha came out with our accreditation cards and allowed us to go inside. Throughout the day they helped all media personnel with whatever they needed. From my experience I knew the first day of any overseas assignment is difficult. Thanks to Rajesh and Sradha, Dharamsala turned out to be an exception.
-With New Age input
