Having heard from our senior batches on the rivalry between IIMC and XLRI, I waited in anticipation for the 4 college meet that was to be held. I had seen videos on the welcome that was dished out to each other. “Well, this falls right in my alley” I thought since I had spent a considerable amount of time over the years honing my skills in refining my dictionary of the “doosra” variety. Here was a noble cause that would let me use my skills to the fullest.
Not to be – just a few days before the event was the note on the bulletin board that supporters could not be accommodated since our contingent was already among the largest. To pick an analogy from mythology, my state was similar to that of the blind King Dhritarashtra who wanted to watch the Mahabharata. However, given that most of the folks I hang around with are sportspersons, finding a Sanjaya to provide me with live reports was not that difficult. So, thanks to Sachin, Kunwar, Saurabh, Avantika and Santosh (no – not me – our badminton captain) whose experiences form the basis of this account.
There’s a whole lot of hard work and preparation that happens before any inter-collegiate meet. This is even truer in case of the first event of the year. There are new members to be recruited on to the teams – hence asking for applications, conducting trials and finally selecting teams. Given the schedule that we operate on, I wasn’t surprised to see some of the badminton trials happening at 3 in the night. And that’s just the start. Daily practices – stressful for people participating in multiple events or say for someone participating in the 5 km race – were attended to diligently.
As we got closer to the event, we could see a variety of emotions on our contingent members – some were cool and composed (just another game), some edgy and tense (a game to die for) and yet others focussed with a steely grit (bring the game on). Three of the guys from our PGPEX batch who were going to XLRI were surprised to see on our facebook group the outpour of good wishes and exhortations to come back victorious (many of which were too “explicit” to be reproduced here). Now, that is some real pressure.
D-Day. Time to go to XLRI. A long drive to the Howrah railway station and on to the train to Jamshedpur. It was quite late by the time our contingent reached the XLRI campus. If you thought that the odd time would deter the XL folks, think again. Each person in the contingent was individually seen through the XL gates. A line of people on both sides were ready with the most unimaginative expletives heard of. After all, you can’t expect the general “labour” folks to be creative, can you?
Once the entire contingent was seen in, they were taken to an enclosed area near the hostel where yet more boring slogans and abuses were in store – this time with a generous sprinkling of water. One of the posters took the cake for the self goal it inflicted on XL.
Not to be – just a few days before the event was the note on the bulletin board that supporters could not be accommodated since our contingent was already among the largest. To pick an analogy from mythology, my state was similar to that of the blind King Dhritarashtra who wanted to watch the Mahabharata. However, given that most of the folks I hang around with are sportspersons, finding a Sanjaya to provide me with live reports was not that difficult. So, thanks to Sachin, Kunwar, Saurabh, Avantika and Santosh (no – not me – our badminton captain) whose experiences form the basis of this account.
There’s a whole lot of hard work and preparation that happens before any inter-collegiate meet. This is even truer in case of the first event of the year. There are new members to be recruited on to the teams – hence asking for applications, conducting trials and finally selecting teams. Given the schedule that we operate on, I wasn’t surprised to see some of the badminton trials happening at 3 in the night. And that’s just the start. Daily practices – stressful for people participating in multiple events or say for someone participating in the 5 km race – were attended to diligently.
As we got closer to the event, we could see a variety of emotions on our contingent members – some were cool and composed (just another game), some edgy and tense (a game to die for) and yet others focussed with a steely grit (bring the game on). Three of the guys from our PGPEX batch who were going to XLRI were surprised to see on our facebook group the outpour of good wishes and exhortations to come back victorious (many of which were too “explicit” to be reproduced here). Now, that is some real pressure.
D-Day. Time to go to XLRI. A long drive to the Howrah railway station and on to the train to Jamshedpur. It was quite late by the time our contingent reached the XLRI campus. If you thought that the odd time would deter the XL folks, think again. Each person in the contingent was individually seen through the XL gates. A line of people on both sides were ready with the most unimaginative expletives heard of. After all, you can’t expect the general “labour” folks to be creative, can you?
Once the entire contingent was seen in, they were taken to an enclosed area near the hostel where yet more boring slogans and abuses were in store – this time with a generous sprinkling of water. One of the posters took the cake for the self goal it inflicted on XL.
As one of our folks put it – “Forgive them – for they know not the difference between praise and abuse”. Well, I don’t blame them. For someone mauled 35 times in the past 40 years – this picture aptly describes their state of mind whenever they see anyone from IIMC J. And then, they departed, but not before leaving blaring music on through the night outside the dorm where our players were put up – looked like this was XL’s trump card for victory. If only, they had constructively utilized this time practicing...
Everyone awakes the next morning geared up for their respective events. However, the delay in the arrival of the XIMB and IIML squads prompt a discussion in the ground rules for the tournament. XL is keen to exploit any loophole which could net them more points. Our squad also wanted to ensure that rules don’t get tweaked such that they produce an undeserved winner. In the end, after much debate, no common ground could be reached and our team had to leave without participating.
It’s now a week since the event and there has been a lot of discussion in campus on this topic. There have been arguments that have weighed the pros and cons of this subject. As they say, hindsight is always 20-20. It would be easy to look back on the decision taken and dissect it threadbare, but that would also be a futile experience. Right or wrong, it certainly was a courageous decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment