They are birds of prey. However, they are not of the avian kind. But, like their feathery fellows, they smartly stalk their fall guys. Cast their eagle or hawk eye upon them before they go in for the kill. Like a carcass or a carrion that has carnivores swoop in from nowhere drawn by stank smell of rotting corpses for a ravenous repast, these mercenaries of merchandise too converge at City centres drawn like magnets by prospects of profits. They brook no bargains. Take it or leave their strict sales lingua franca having closed ranks as a cartel.

Winged hunters

While winged hunters hovering high scour from skies to swoop in on their prey shackling them in their talons to fly back to their roost. These platoon of peddlers of panoply of souvenir products too are as sure sighted as a kite or an eagle. They niftly play upon sentimental value, occasion’s importance, as also prospective customer’s own yen to mark a reminder of his association with an event, and pander suit to these human emotions to sell their wares.

Savvy merchants

And with cricket, country’s sporting religion, come to town, can these savvy merchants of sovenirdom be behind? Nay. So, there they were busily circling Chinnaswamy Stadium as if in a protective cocoon and cajoling customers to buy the attractive array of wares they tantalising proffered before them.  From India flags to India caps to tri-colour T-shirts, India bandannas to national colours wristbands. And for the more enterprising among the betwitched, as also equally bemused cricket enthusiasts, there on hand, were band of boys with water colours to paint the Indian tricolour on chubby cheeks, or dimple chins, foreheads, why, which ever vantage position possible that would catch the television camera’s roving eye.

A huge sum

Those that succumbed to the cheeky, chirpy charms of glib-tongued seller’s persuasive salesmanship, soon rudely discovered that they had to pay a princely sum for having let their hearts getter the better of their saner reason. And with security squardon playing spoilsport these mercenaries of merchandise had a field day even within confines of coliseum where men in white flannels were doing battle with ball and bat in the theatre of cricket.

Right from edibles to nature’s life sustaining water sold in sachets, all came at a heavy price for connoisseurs of the game and City’s cricket-crazy fans.

But with Saurav on a song and Pathan playing ideal Sancho Panza, Jumbo Kumble’s magical mumbo-jumbo and wristy Sadar’s spin spell with cherry on cards, cricket die-hards who made it to the stadium did not seem to crib or care few chips more they shelled out for their indulgence and handsome profits these mercenaries of merchandise made making the most of the mania that has swept the City.