How the unforgettable day went for me.
Haaah. I was waiting for the elation to sink in before describing one of the most wonderful days I’ve ever lived.

The day began with Sanjay & me reaching the venue early to discuss our strategy in front of the jury. Having done that in less than 30 seconds, we found that we have many common acquaintances. Sanjay is a super-cool guy and the strategy was to “Have fun and go with the flow.”

Our partner Vijay informed us with the unfortunate news that he has met with an accident and would be missing half the day. He was extremely apologetic about “letting the team down” due to his absence and we assured him that he need not bother himself; we both were good at doing that anyway.

Then other contestants started pouring in and we had some good laughs. We went on clicking photos in group over the ground. The photographer fans used to click and then call me to have a look at what they clicked. All I checked was whether I was there in the photo or not. I don’t have the aesthetic sense or knowledge to go deeper than that when it comes to photography . I made a note to myself to wiki about the skill and get a general idea about the equipments once the contest is over. I’ll catch Siva, the master himself, to give me some gyaan over the next few days.

Many fans were late due to delays in flights caused by heavy rains everywhere. Once all were in (except Vijay), things started rolling. Photographers were sent packing to a local cricket match and they were to be judged on what they would capture there. Fans were taken to the ground where they had a blast creating slogans and cheering and other fun activities.

Bloggers were supposed to do three activities in 75 minutes. One was to edit an already written article down to 500 words. The article had typical English-humor and was a nice read. The other activity was a verbal test which took 5 minutes to be done with. The third activity was to write in less than 500 words about “Anil Kumble: Captain Material Untapped”.

Nidhi, is it possible to get the copy of what I wrote in the assignment? I would post it here with minimal editing. Of course, the work won’t dazzle everyone as Siva’s photographs did, but I would like to get reactions from fellow blogger-fans on it.

A brief outline of what I wrote:

It began with comparing Kumble to a magician who can sing too, but the beauty in his voice goes un-noticed because the audience is lost in his tricks. Then a parallel with Warne was sighted. Having stated the well-known reasons why Warne wasn’t made the captain, I went on to ponder the reasons for Kumble’s case. Two major points were sighted. One was the tendency to keep your spearhead bowler away from another big responsibility and the other was pertaining to the timelines of Kumble’s career and his contemporaries, mainly the big-three. Ended on a positive note about Kumble getting his due and we getting to enjoy and marvel till his captaincy continues.

I was pretty satisfied with the write-up, though couldn’t do justice to the editing.

A sumptuous lunch was followed with a fun quiz on cricket, IPL and RCB. Then the interview round began. Sanjay and I paid the price of being back-benchers. We were team 9 and were last to be interviewed. I was tired by then. After having some light chats with Yogesh, Ujjwal and Shashank, I went and sat by the wall. I kept telling myself that my write-ups haven’t been bad and that I should be ok if I don’t act dumb in the interview.

By this time the people from press had gathered and arranged their equipments. At long last, the team 9 was called for interview. It was hard not to be in awe of the situation. I was called “So you are Mr. Agony and the parrot?” due to my first post. Instead of acting dumb, I went deaf and asked them to repeat the words thrice.

They questioned me why I wrote like that. My justification was that I wanted the post to not only be analytical, but also funny in nature, so that even those who aren’t die-hard cricket fans should also enjoy reading it. Of course the reply wasn’t so articulate, but this is what I was trying to say .

Shortly after the interview, everyone gathered at the press conference for the announcements. First to be announced was the Chief Photographer. Kumble gave a long praising speech before taking Siva’s name and halfway through that, it was clear that Siva has grabbed the job. Nidhi was standing next to me. I had noticed her taking Siva’s video before his name was announced. Then was the time to announce the chief blogger. My ears were focused on stage but I was observing Nidhi through the corner of my eyes. I saw her taking two steps backward and her camera focusing on me. I pretended not to notice that .

When they called my name, I clenched my fist for a couple of seconds and walked to the stage. Jindagi me aaj tak itne phto nahi kheechwaye honge jinte do minute me un logo ne le liye. There were congratulations and hugging from the fan-friends and it was hard not to be touched by the compassion.

Within a day, most of the fanatic fans have already added each other in their facebook accounts and the communications are going full throttle. We all are geared up now for what lies ahead.

Organizers, need I mention that the event was a huge success.