Of grit and gratitude..

I have been thinking about starting my own blog for too long now, but haven’t been able to, due to supposed lack of time. But now with Opulence 2007 over, I have finally found some time to spare.

Opulence’07 was like a dream come true for us all. The last one year has been a roller-coaster ride with very loose seat-belts and the only thing we have been able to focus upon has been Opulence.

Around a year back, Vikalp, Ashwin, Murali and myself, all saw a dream; that of taking Opulence to heights never known before. At that time, it was only a dream; a pure and transparent dream, full of possibilities, impossibilities and ambitions. And since then, as days and nights have gone by, we have seen that dream materializing into reality. The single-minded focus on the task at hand and the determination shown by the team at all times has been exemplary, to say the least. I won’t be wrong if I say that the amount of work put in by us all amused us as much as it must have amazed anyone else.

Two years back, the four of us, Ashwin, Vikalp, Murali and myself were giving entrance tests to become a part of the team of Opulence 2006; along with a host of other candidates. At that point, sitting around that lamp-post standing centrally in the hostel, all we were probably thinking about was getting into the team and doing a fine job. Who had thought that next year, we would be the ones giving fattas to our juniors, asking them to give written tests and interviewing them. Never had we thought that one day, we would be getting the likes of Prahlad Kakar to come to Opulence, or for that matter, we would manage to fill a 1500 capacity SB Main Hall twice when it was so difficult to fill even a 150 capacity Senate Hall once. But we have grown since that time. We have seen dreams which at times, we thought far outweighed our own expectations, whenever we consciously decided to be pragmatic. Yet, there was this intuitive feeling always that if we do the best we could, nothing could stop us.

I daresay that the commitment of my fellow team-mates has been unsurpassable and my imagination restricts itself in thinking that their efforts can never be surpassed for the sheer amount of dedication and innovation they brought to the table in all their dealings.

The marketing successes, achieved by Vikalp and Ashwin, were the result of infallible perseverance and resourcefulness, along with their more obvious convincing and persuasive skills. Murali handled the events with a professionalism that would shame a corporate and originality that would shame an artist. The 2^nd year team, though a little lethargic at times, has to be applauded for the raw talent that they possess, the novelty of their ideas and the power of the execution of their events. However tensed we might be and however angry we might be at them, they were always able to make us smile and see the lighter side of things.

There are two persons, though, whom the more we thank, the lesser it seems. Abhinav bhaiya and Akshay bhaiya have been the guiding forces behind us in whatever we have managed to achieve thus far. Two years back, they were impressing upon us the virtues of sincerity and passion; and teaching us the nuances of professional marketing, innovative publicity and sound event management. The last one year, they have done all this and more, be it explaining to us how to get things done by the BHU officials, or going to the airport to pick up Kakar, or chalking out the inaugural and valedictory proceedings and executing them with silky smoothness, or mundane things like thinking out names for our new events, or throwing lavish parties to cheer us up and sustain our enthusiasm, or staying up late in our hostels telling us what’s been missing and what’s not. I can go on and on. I am so overwhelmed with awe at the amount of passion they have been able to sustain for the last three years, that I am stuttering to give objective direction to my thoughts as I write this. Along with the passion, they have also made us laugh our lungs out with a humour which is simply unique and I would like to call this the Abhinav-Akshay brand of humour. For saying something like, “It’s wonderful”, they would say, “I am feeling full of wonder”, or sample this “I am going to pick up the Prahlad of Kakar.” We had never thought that we would have seniors who could act like fathers and friends at the same time. I can never forget that fateful night of Diwali of ’06 when Abhinav and Akshay bhaiya flaunted their humorous side so brazenly, that we laughed like never before as much at the P.J.s as at the good ones. Some moments like that crashing of kulhads containing lassi at the Pahalwan’s while saying cheers, have become etched in our memories forever.

Opulence has been like the coming of age for many of us, and has given us impetus to do more such fruitful things that would enhance the reputation of the college and encourage development of its students. But most importantly, it has given us friends (and might continue to do so) whom we can brag about and has become synonymous for one of the best phases of our lives, undoubtedly.