Into the Limelight.....
I glanced around one last time at our crew around me, a small lump growing in my throat - it would be the one last time. The host took the stage heralding our act and the lights dimmed for a moment before they flashed at the steadily increasing rhythm of Mission Impossible; and it some ways it would indeed seem to be so.
We certainly came from many different backgrounds, cultures and areas. Some of us ( I may be one) may have not even chosen to be here as a first option - but none the less we had in some inimitable ways shared the joys and sorrows which accompanied four years of undergraduate education at S.P. College of Engineering, Bombay. To be completely honest, the year was divided into three distinct parts, 8 months of playing and sleeping through monotonous and uneducative lectures, 2 months of studying during study leave and 2 months of examinations.
A couple of months of the 8 glorious months of the state of guilt free freedom were typically spent in the college cultural events, and more so for us during the intra-college cultural extravaganza. On hindsight our class could be put into the bracket of 'deprived' in the whole scheme of things - we didn't have any Miss or Mr India's to win big events like fashion shows, the few guys who may have made it possible never seemed to be able to pass without failing and staying behind. True, there were few events like dumb charades and a few art and craft events where we made significant strides - but it was never enough to challenge the more 'privileged' classes. Nonetheless, if we had ever lacked in terms of being gifted, we tried to make up in terms of perseverance and diligence to the task at hand. Even though within our class we may not have been in absolute speaking terms all the time, for the duration of the competition an unspoken truce was duly observed. Thus we struggled on together for four long years and were on the final lap of our uphill struggles with obstacles including brain-limited lecturers which could be another chapter into itself.
As the competition dates drew nearer only a few of us were interested to any extent in the event. Some of us were working towards interviewing for jobs, others for examinations and still others just battle-weary. No wonder most of the events elicited little or no interest on our part. Finally there was the entry for a fashion show - an event which we rarely even considered - the reason being plain to see. There was absolutely no hope of winning - period. But then, it was our last year, and who really cared about winning or losing anyways. eitherways there would be no face to hide, no shame to conceal, no folly to live with for another year - and we decided to give a crack at it.
First was the lineup for the fashion show - what the heck, anyone and everyone who was interested could take part, if we had to go down as the worst of the lot may as well do it with all guns blazing!!!! That was the simple part and we soon had around 15 interested individuals. Next was the song sequence and dress theme. Actually even that wasn't that difficult a decision after all. Dress had to be formals (suits, jackets, dress-coat - all were acceptable) - preferably black... (ethnic etal would be too tedious we assumed) though we figured that under all those psychedelic lights nobody would notice - and hence the music too had to be western. Don't really remember who got the initial idea - but the soundtrack of Mission Impossible 2 caught our fancy. In some way it was apt - we are embarking on something we had never successfully accomplished before - not as an entire class at least!!! Now came the difficult part - learning to walk and having a sequence.
To a passerby any catwalk looks pretty simple - well, people just walk..... Or do they? We spent a couple of days staring at the endless 24-7 catwalk on Fashion TV - much to the consternation of my folks, and others I am sure, dissecting the swaying and the rhythm of the anorexic models on TV; typical of an engineer I would agree - break an impossible task into several small possible ones - then the job can be accomplished. Easier said than done, especially if you try to unlearn 21 years of 'normal' walk and have 6 days to incorporate something that looks like a person walking after having to sit on a camel for a whole day!!!!!
But try we did - with emphasis on the essentials, that was the key word - SIMPLICITY. We practiced walking in synch, turning and adding little flourishes with the credo of the music trying to pack in an oomph factor. The simple beat rhythm helped us along and added to our enthusiasm served to keep up our spirit.
Finally D-day arrived and as evening approached we quickly donned our formal attire. Simple - elegant - purrrfect! From the gleaming shoes, to the black skirts/pants and the blazers we all grinned happily and maybe a wee bit nervously of our impending act. Some of us had never ventured on stage before and to prevent any last minute stage-fright in front of a large and unforgiving audience some smart aleck came up with the great suggestion of using sun-glasses. That way people would never get a clue of the fearful expressions in our eyes - and yes it definitely would serve to cut the harsh glare from the powerful halogen spotlights. Anyways most of us had the sequence so drilled into our heads we could walk blindfolded if needed and still not crash into each other.
...... As the show lights bathed us in blue with a smokescreen hazing the stage we moved - ever so tentatively at the routine that we had worked out. Being one of the last of the pack I looked around at them - Aniket, Deepak, Sameer, Ashutosh, Sachin, Siddharth, Sonali, Ashwini.... People I had worked along with for the last four years. This would be our final encore - there would be no other - not united as one class at least - never again as the batch of BE Elect 2001. Maybe there may have been others among us feeling the same - views not expressed but definitely ever so hanging in the air around us. A final strut down the ramp and it was all over - the audience on their feet clapping as they saw a class give its final farewell.
It was now time to diminish from the limelight - and never reappear .......
We certainly came from many different backgrounds, cultures and areas. Some of us ( I may be one) may have not even chosen to be here as a first option - but none the less we had in some inimitable ways shared the joys and sorrows which accompanied four years of undergraduate education at S.P. College of Engineering, Bombay. To be completely honest, the year was divided into three distinct parts, 8 months of playing and sleeping through monotonous and uneducative lectures, 2 months of studying during study leave and 2 months of examinations.
A couple of months of the 8 glorious months of the state of guilt free freedom were typically spent in the college cultural events, and more so for us during the intra-college cultural extravaganza. On hindsight our class could be put into the bracket of 'deprived' in the whole scheme of things - we didn't have any Miss or Mr India's to win big events like fashion shows, the few guys who may have made it possible never seemed to be able to pass without failing and staying behind. True, there were few events like dumb charades and a few art and craft events where we made significant strides - but it was never enough to challenge the more 'privileged' classes. Nonetheless, if we had ever lacked in terms of being gifted, we tried to make up in terms of perseverance and diligence to the task at hand. Even though within our class we may not have been in absolute speaking terms all the time, for the duration of the competition an unspoken truce was duly observed. Thus we struggled on together for four long years and were on the final lap of our uphill struggles with obstacles including brain-limited lecturers which could be another chapter into itself.
As the competition dates drew nearer only a few of us were interested to any extent in the event. Some of us were working towards interviewing for jobs, others for examinations and still others just battle-weary. No wonder most of the events elicited little or no interest on our part. Finally there was the entry for a fashion show - an event which we rarely even considered - the reason being plain to see. There was absolutely no hope of winning - period. But then, it was our last year, and who really cared about winning or losing anyways. eitherways there would be no face to hide, no shame to conceal, no folly to live with for another year - and we decided to give a crack at it.
First was the lineup for the fashion show - what the heck, anyone and everyone who was interested could take part, if we had to go down as the worst of the lot may as well do it with all guns blazing!!!! That was the simple part and we soon had around 15 interested individuals. Next was the song sequence and dress theme. Actually even that wasn't that difficult a decision after all. Dress had to be formals (suits, jackets, dress-coat - all were acceptable) - preferably black... (ethnic etal would be too tedious we assumed) though we figured that under all those psychedelic lights nobody would notice - and hence the music too had to be western. Don't really remember who got the initial idea - but the soundtrack of Mission Impossible 2 caught our fancy. In some way it was apt - we are embarking on something we had never successfully accomplished before - not as an entire class at least!!! Now came the difficult part - learning to walk and having a sequence.
To a passerby any catwalk looks pretty simple - well, people just walk..... Or do they? We spent a couple of days staring at the endless 24-7 catwalk on Fashion TV - much to the consternation of my folks, and others I am sure, dissecting the swaying and the rhythm of the anorexic models on TV; typical of an engineer I would agree - break an impossible task into several small possible ones - then the job can be accomplished. Easier said than done, especially if you try to unlearn 21 years of 'normal' walk and have 6 days to incorporate something that looks like a person walking after having to sit on a camel for a whole day!!!!!
But try we did - with emphasis on the essentials, that was the key word - SIMPLICITY. We practiced walking in synch, turning and adding little flourishes with the credo of the music trying to pack in an oomph factor. The simple beat rhythm helped us along and added to our enthusiasm served to keep up our spirit.
Finally D-day arrived and as evening approached we quickly donned our formal attire. Simple - elegant - purrrfect! From the gleaming shoes, to the black skirts/pants and the blazers we all grinned happily and maybe a wee bit nervously of our impending act. Some of us had never ventured on stage before and to prevent any last minute stage-fright in front of a large and unforgiving audience some smart aleck came up with the great suggestion of using sun-glasses. That way people would never get a clue of the fearful expressions in our eyes - and yes it definitely would serve to cut the harsh glare from the powerful halogen spotlights. Anyways most of us had the sequence so drilled into our heads we could walk blindfolded if needed and still not crash into each other.
...... As the show lights bathed us in blue with a smokescreen hazing the stage we moved - ever so tentatively at the routine that we had worked out. Being one of the last of the pack I looked around at them - Aniket, Deepak, Sameer, Ashutosh, Sachin, Siddharth, Sonali, Ashwini.... People I had worked along with for the last four years. This would be our final encore - there would be no other - not united as one class at least - never again as the batch of BE Elect 2001. Maybe there may have been others among us feeling the same - views not expressed but definitely ever so hanging in the air around us. A final strut down the ramp and it was all over - the audience on their feet clapping as they saw a class give its final farewell.
It was now time to diminish from the limelight - and never reappear .......
The A Team: Aniket, Chetan, Deepak, Siddharth, Sonali, Sachin M, Sandeep B, Tanmay, Sameer S, Sameer H, Devang, Ghanshyam, Ashutosh, Dinkar & Joseph
posted by Joseph Noronha @ 5:40 PM
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