The Best Day of My Life

We won the Illumination GOLD. Yes, RK won the Illumination GOLD. We also won the Rangoli Silver, and I am very sure that it was only because the judges wanted to balance the prizes and not give both GOLDs to the same hall.

I was sure of the GOLD long ago. When I saw the diyas being lit, I was assured that the GOLD was ours for the taking. That was perhaps one of the most memorable moments of my life. Words are not enough to describe the ecstasy you see when you see them all lit, in all their grandeur, all their brightness, all their flaring flames.

I was in the Rangoli presentation team who explained the judges our theme, the physical and spiritual significance and the hard work we'd put in our Rangoli. So, the Diwali day was one big marathon to search for matter, find shlokas, find relevant mythological references, prepare scripts, practice hard, think harder. Our Rangoli was a little behind schedule and we were really worried. Kudos to ID, Naween, Sunassir, and Shahid for sleeping less and working a lot more for the past week and completing it on time. Congrats also to our Illumination team headed by Prakhar, Ishu, Sandip, Podu, Kapil and the others. And Kb man, you rock! You proved all detractors wrong !

The Rangoli was a scene just before RasLeela begins. Krishna creates symphony with his flute and the Gopis mesmerized rush to him, leaving all their household work. The best part about the rangoli was the colour effect. The whole thing had been made in monochrome, using shades of grey signifying the separation between the Gopis' bodies and their souls, which were lost into Lord Krsna. Only Lord Krishna and Sri Radhika had been presented in colour, in their 'advait' form. It was RadhaKrishna, two bodies and one soul.

Out slot had been at 9 PM in the night. Since the morning work on the Garden and the Chatais was going at full throttle. We had to take a lot of safety measures as well, including building a huge structure to stop the wind from blowing off our diyas. The rangoli team had put their heart and soul in finishing the excuisite piece of art. The Garden had been done up the the last moment. We hadn't enough time or manpower to do it, but somehow we managed. We had written the famous shloka from Bhagwad Gita with diyas:

Yada Yada hi Dharmasya,
Glanir Bhawati Bharatah,
Abhyutthanam Adharmasya,
Tadatmanam Srijamyaham.

Paritranay Sadhunam,
Vinashays ch Duskritam
Dharmasansthapanarthaya
Sambhawami Yuge Yuge

At 7.30 PM electricity in the hall would be cut off, and everybody would be in position. Since I was in the presentation team, I had to take a quick bath after some frenzied searching for a kurta-pyjama set which I would be wearing.

Towards the end it had become one mad rush to manage chaos which obviously rules supreme before any event of this scale. Before the judges were to arrive, the tables had been stacked up (to a height of 20 feet from ground), the oil and the wicks ready in the diyas, everybody standing ready with lighted candes, ready to light the diyas at the first utterance of 'LIGHT' on the speaker. As soon as we heard that the judges had started, the call was given. The chatais were lit in a matter of minutes. As they were being lighted, some diyas always blow off again and you had to go back and light them. As soon as we heard that the judges were nearing the gate, the call of 'RK SPLIT' was given. At this instant, the tables parted, everything removed, everybody ran back from the chatais. As soon as the judges had entered, one of said, "Your time starts now...". But the split wasn't over yet.

Saha, one of the final years, went to request him, that we wanted the two minutes of grace period which are given to every hall to finally light up. The judge wasn't very enthusiastic, and he tried explaining that since it was mentioned in the rule book, we were entitled to it. By this time the split was over. As the judge turned to look back, he was amazed to find nobody there, only the flames of the diyas dancing in a majestic fashion. The other judges who saw the split taking place were amazed, they couldn't believe their eyes. The entire structure over twenty feet high, with 7-8 stacks of tables, 15 wooden cots, and over 100 odd tables with over 150 students standing on them was brought down in 37 seconds !!!

As soon as I saw that awe-inspiring scene, I was sure. The wait had been worth it. It would all burn off in half-an-hour. But that moment would live for my entire life. That moment had justified all the hard work, all the late nights, all the cold and winter we had to endure, all the classes we had to miss, the cold and cough I had caught due to working after midnight, all the despair, all desperation of the last few days. Whenever I feel low, this moment will return to reinstate faith in the human spirit, which can win with despite all odds.

The next twenty minutes were spent in explaining the Rangoli to the judges. The judges really liked our new black-and-white concept with the central figure in colour. RadhaKrishna almost seemed to come of the picture, lively, staring at us with all their divinity. The judge whom I was explaining could not stop appreciating our work.

As soon as the judges left, the whole hall, which had been waiting with absolute silence erupted in shouts of 'RK RK' and YOOOO. We had a great tempo shout. Then began wishing 'Happy Diwali' to the friends. By then I had almost forgotten that it was Diwali, the festival of lights. I must have hugged almost half a thousand people on that day. We were congratulating our hallmates after seeing the Illu light up. Diwali was more like 'by the way'.

I then visited the neighbouring hall RP, our traditional rivals, to gauge our chances. Their chatais were good, a few of them could even match ours, but the grandeur was missing. The feeling was not there. I am probably biased, being of RK, but somehow the effect out Garden gave was just not there at all. And none of their chatais could match the splendour of our twenty feet huge chatai showing Vishnu resting on Shesh Naag and Lakshmi near his feet. That was one breathtaking view.

Then the wait started. The results were going to be declared at Technology Students Gymkhana at 11 PM.The prizes are huge matkas of Rasogollas. And the tradition is that only the hall which comes first savours those Rasogollas and the rest just break the matkas and throw the rasogollas away.

We waited for almost 15 minutes before the judges came. The atmosphere was electric. We heard the RP people shouting, cheering. We decided to keep quiet. When the judges came I saw the face of one of the office bearers from another hall lit up and with a distinct smile. I was broken. I was standing right in front, broke the entire crowd and went right at the back. I felt as if all had been lost, as if all our hard work had gone to waste. Some people started going back to the hall dejected and broken.

Suddenly I heard my hall mates shouting. I rushed back, and somehow found my way to right at the front. It was unbelievable. I cannot describe the ecstacy and the frenzy of those beautiful moments. When I touched the trophy, the pot of Rasogollas. I do not know when I will feel the same way in my entire lifetime.

The next hour would be a Victory Lap. We were drooling over each other, clasping them tight when wishing them Congratulations. We lay down on the street to get our photo clicked. We jumped all over the place. The air was rent with shouts of 'RK ka tempo high hai', 'Insti ka raaja kaun? RK... RK...', 'Illu kiske baap ki? RK... RK'. The feeling was simply exhilerating. I felt a rush of adrenaline, unbelievable energy and wanted to go on and on with it.

As soon as we returned to the hall, everybody jumped over the pots of Rosogollas. There were two final years giving them out, and everybody wanted to have as many as they could stuff in their bellies. I myself had four huge ones, with three at one go stuffed in my mouth.

The Rasogolla had never tasted sweeter.