29/08/2014

29/08/2014; 05:52:

All of 26th morning was spent watching the Business Etiquette presentations. People had come up with a whole lot of innovative ideas.
One group had background music, with live running commentary by one group member, while the rest of the group hilariously mimed everything that was being said, as it was being said, to demonstrate First Impressions, Elevator & Dining Etiquette.
Another group made the whole presentation in the form of a NatGeo show, complete with a host in camouflage gear. The host followed members of the Managementus Graduatus species and one member of the rare sub-species Managementus Graduatus Etiquettiu around their natural habitat- the cubicle-office & their mating ritual-performance location, the pub.
A video advertisement for a Cultural Sensitivity Seminar that offered to transform a person from being highly insensitive to different cultures to being very sensitive was a novel approach to the whole idea. It looked like the real deal- all with a host in a shiny shirt & successful reviews by past users of the product.
Short video clips, which showed an untidy, cluttered table, loud co-workers and gossipy cubicle-mates, accompanied by words of wisdom were well-appreciated.
One group focused their presentation on Dining Etiquette, following the story of a man, who by undergoing rigorous training goes from being ill-mannered to being the perfect dinner host to his clients. The highlight of their presentation was actual noodles making an appearance on the character’s plates, who attempted to eat these with almost-real chopsticks.
The presentations went on till 2 p.m.; the last group picked ‘Telephone Etiquette’ as their topic & demonstrated a series of small acts, which saw people munching while on the phone, people breathing heavily into the mouth-piece & people forgetting to identify themselves on an official call to a new person. The best part of this last presentation was the PowerPoint presentation which ran in the background- it was one single slide, which a group member typed & re-typed as the act progressed. It felt like a Tickr with Live Feeds on it.

Post all the presentations, I slept all afternoon & all evening. Atharv’s Core Committee met again at 11 p.m., to make important decisions. We seemed to have run into a slight bit of trouble & confusion was in the air. Discussions ran late into the night, shifting from a physical meeting to a conference call.

We had only 2 lectures on the 27th , both pre-lunch. There was then a meeting of Atharv’s Core Committee, at 1 p.m. Most of the previous night’s confusion was clearer & an optimal solution agreed upon, rather quickly. So, everyone was happy.
SunBurn is to be in Indore, on the 7th of September, at the IIM-Indore campus; the passes had just been printed! I set off for T.I. Mall, to spend my evening there, selling passes for the event. We set up a registration desk, stuck a poster, positioned our standee perfectly & got to work. We got a much better response than anticipated and an immensely better response than our counterparts at C21 Mall.
I got back by 10, just in time for the Freshers’ DJ Night. I believed that sports shoes were the perfect attire for the party. Fortunately (or not!), my friends were vehemently opposed to my genius plan. I was promptly advised to ‘dress up’. I complied. Scrutinizing glances, 3 outfits and 2 pairs of shoes later, I was declared properly dressed & permission to go to the party was sanctioned. I had the most incredible date to accompany me to the DJ Party. He’d called up & let me know, exactly 15 minutes before he showed up that I was obviously going with him & that I ought not to dress up too much. There was also a strict prohibition on the involvement of any pretty heels. The party had begun, when I reached. My incredible date hung around, complaining about the DJ & the atmosphere for exactly 10 minutes before he turned around & decided to leave. I might have followed him, but, I bumped into a bunch of batch-mates on my way out & we headed straight for the dance floor. The party was well organized, and all was good except that the Schezwan Chicken was too spicy & that the DJ had no English music. We got back to our hostel around 1 a.m. & since we were in the party mood, we were up all night, finally crashing only at 6 a.m.

28th morning was non-existent, for I woke up only by 12 noon, to find my room-mate missing. She had very nicely left me a note & I figured that she was out in Indore city, probably eating chicken.
I had a nice, long bath & prepared to visit T.I. again. This evening was less successful & someone very nicely informed me that Thursday is the least popular day with mall-goers in Indore.

Once back from T.I., there was the usual 11 o’ clock meeting at the FPM Block. A special meeting of all the boys of the 2014 batch had been called at 11:30, courtesy the Atharv Coordinator. They were all informed that their valuable volunteer services would be very required on the 5th, 6th & 7th of September, to ensure a very successful fest. The meetings, 3 cups of tea & some rain later, I was back to the hostel by 1 a.m.

We then gathered in the common room, to wrap up all pending fest-related work. There was a rather detailed Events Schedule to be prepared. Of course, expert advice from the head of the Events vertical was called for, so, I shifted myself & my laptop to her room. She sat working busily & this helped me get to work too. Well, the writing was fun & is finally all done; I shall probably put it on here, once it gets approval. Plus, the names of the judges of each event need to be added.

06:21 :

It’s now daylight out. I’m still at the desk of Ms. Events Vertical head, typing busily. Her room is on the first floor (mine is on the ground floor) and I can see a large green patch of land, beyond the institute boundary wall. It runs a great distance, before it gives way to trees and an endless expanse of blue-grey sky. There is one single white cloud in the distance. It hangs low in the sky, looming over the vast expanse of all-encompassing green nothingness.
There are a few other clouds, closer to the hostel building. One is particularly domineering. A shaded hint of sun rays poke their arms, as if trying to draw their way out from within & around. And, I see 3 lamp-posts & a tree with pink flowers.