TMS - the journey II

i was standing at THEKKINKAD MAIDAN, the venue of the show and saw all my dreams and aspirations breaking into a zillion pieces. the time was about4pm in the evening and the show was to begin the next day at11am. why my dreams shattered?? the structure was not ready yet. there was to be a tent of 20,000 sq feet and 2 dome structures of 5,000 sq feet each. and what did i have then? 1dome structure partially made, and the patch work of tent still in motion. if i could have afford to cry, i would have. but what i saw around simply instilled in me all the confidence i needed. my friends were all over the place, working in hundreds, helping the so called builders to finish the work in time. a bunch of us were rolling the carpet on the floor(aint an easy task as we had to cover more than 20,000 sq feet), few others were working on the partition for various stalls. the vehicles started coming in by 6pm and we could not let them in at that point of time. so we started pleading to them to wait for some more time outside the tent. that when i heard a shout saying that the cloth for the partition work is over and we needed more of that, and by the time a person was sent to fetch cloth came the next shout demanding for more carpets. so we decided to confront the building contractor and ask for explanation and we had to give up for he made it sure that he cant keep his word. the carpets would arrive within an hour he said, ans so we had to wait. the hour stretched to two long hours before we got angry. the partition work was going smoothly and i was damn happy to see my friends helping out where ever they could. by this time the work for the second dome had commenced and it was our gang that showed more vigour and zeal than the workers. we helped them fix the structure, we dug holes, we cleared the ground, we helped them mount the structures, there were five of them of which two were up, when again the shout for more carpets came. finally few of us set about for the next haggling session with the dumb contractor, who clearly was not so good at communicating for his tongue was a little too big for his mouth(no offense) and we could only understand half the things he said. finally he asked for an hours time and he gave it to him, had no other option.

by this time the vehicles that had come by were all ushered in, and few of them were taken to their respective stalls. there was a small rift around that time among us itself. aravind and team was give the charge of getting all the dealers and they had done a great job at that. having said that they gave away a free stall to one particular company. had it happened when we were trying to fill the stalls for the sake of filling, we would not have mind it, but the situation was so that people were coming to us asking for space and we did not have any. a little later it was time for us to raise the next set of structures and were in the process of raising the third one when it snapped. now looking back it certainly seems funny, at that instance it was pure horror. we did not know what to do and we turned around to face the contractor with rage so unpredictable, when he said he would fix it nonchalantly, that our anger subsided for a minute. we had to trust him again. on the other side, the interior of the other dome was being worked on. just one guy doing all the work, hanging on to ropes and wooden blocks like spider man. even he was taking his time at what he was doing. seems like i was in a place where time did not have any value.
it was on this day, around the time of sunset, that we decided that we need a board up front stating the name THRISSUR MOTOR SHOW. we sent few students to take care of that(you gotto know that in about 15hours tha show would begin). the carpets finally arrived and we again resumed the work on the floor. few dealers had come and decorated their stalls the way they liked it. at around 12 in the night i asked maxi to sleep for he had to be on stage in the morning during inauguration.

around the same time few of my junior batch students also called it a night, and took for themselves what ever space they could find. they slept peacefully, they deserved it. it was a tough days work. the working mens group was left with around 20 odd students now. the core group in our batch, and our support nitesh and gang. we kept working through the night, with countless number of teas and cigarettes shared among us. finally at around 6 in the morning , the skeleton of the 2nd dome was also ready. that when a friend of mine came shouting with a newspaper in his hand. today was the day when mathrubhumi said a page would be dedicated to TMS. we all looked at it eagerly, like this is what we have been working for. another cup of tea and another cigarette and we were ready for more work, when finally a branch mate came by in his car and looked up at the structure and commented "oh, it is not ready yet eh? i could not be here yesterday, i was on a tour." he was lucky that i was being addressed by him, had it been anyone else, he would have been a dead man. around 8am the covers were put over the second structure and interior of 1st dome was done. the name board was brought(only problem that we could not put it up for it was too big for just one dome). two of our professors came by to inspect the settings, and i told myself that i was a dead man. but i guess they were also in my shoes once for they understood and that gesture gave us immense impetus to go on. by 900 everything was set, we had decided to start of with one dome and all the attractions which were to be shared by the two domes were put in just one dome. then i was asked to freshen up and come, for i had to appear on stage for a brief period of time. i had not slept for over a 24 hours now and all the hard work had taken its toll. i did not think i could move on, but when i saw my friends of last night still working their arses off, i was given that extra energy to move on. finally after a shower and a decent attire, i was ready for my duty. by the time i returned my friends had made a makeshift ticket counter also. it was then that there was a ruckus about the order of names on the agenda, i was given a hearty dosage of one of my professor's mind and i almost succumbed to it, but fortunately i sent someone to fix it at the right time. the show was finally inaugurated after an hour's delay, and after all the speeches and photo session, i finally got out of the tent by 12pm. what i saw was the most memorable thing in my life. people were flocking like anything to witness the show. it was immaterial that we still had one dome to finish, it was immaterial that the stalls were yet to be filled, it was immaterial that i had to put up with the contractor, it was immaterial that i had not slept in 30 hours,...everything was immaterial. all that mattered was what i so, the eagerness on he hundreds of faces to be there. all the hardship that my friends and i had gone through to organize this had finally payed up. in simple words, i could not hold on, i welled up and broke down on my knees and cried my heart out. the first time i realized what tears of joy was. the best moment in my entire life till now.

i want to thank everyone associated with that event for giving me what nobody else could have given me. steents the amazing chap resposible for all the designs that rolled out, aravind and gang for their work, sandeep for taking care of the media, ajesh for the publicity, saji and gang for taking care of banks and schools, sandeep (psycho) for that air show, tarun for the website, cherian and gang for the attractions, anwar for all the documentation, manoj for canvasing and spreding mech spirit, niranjan for sponsorship and support, sam for the shear support he gave me, jess and team for taking care of momentum, jess for the support he gave me, maxi i cant thank you( you and i never did any work),ben for taking care of finance, sarath and gang for taking care of tickets, byju for the documents again, nitesh and gang for giving us a hand in everything, above all the day prior to the show, all my batch mates for chipping in at the right time, all my juniors for their help and support....my professors CP, KK, HOD and KKR and Samad for their support, to our principal(Prof Rani Thomas) for giving us an opportunity to prove her wrong and convince everyone that we still are the backbone of the college. also a special mention of subin who unfortunately broke his leg while working for the show and still wanted to remain at the site to enjoy and experience the show,....hats off to you mate.

i salute you all, with respect, happiness and joy.