Let’s get this straight. The first term at IIM Ahmedabad is tough. And it’s hectic. And it’s gruelling. Mostly we’re scared because we’re unsure of the rules. We’re scared of the profs, we’re scared of quizzes, we’re scared of being “Cold Called” in class, we’re scared of assignments, and we’re scared of exams. But there are some moments that make us forget all about this heavy burden these 300 odd poor souls shoulder every year. And the mother of all such moments is T-Nite.
T-Nite is something that all “Fachchas” and “Tuchchas” alike look forward to. For the Fachchas, it’s a break from the routine class preparations and the studies. And for the Tuchchas, it’s an opportunity for rekindle Section ties and bring back the old competitive spirit. And so arrived our T-Nite.
And what makes it even more brilliant is the timing of it all. T-Nite kicks off the evening the mid-term examinations end. And the last of those exams is spent mostly being exited about the 4 days that lay ahead. And it is not a very pleasant feeling when the last paper you get, the one only a few hours away from the famous “Pub-Run” is a four hour long HR paper which has a 25 page case! I still remember the name of the case … People’s Express! So once those 4 extremely painfully long hours were over, all the PGP-1s were busy getting ready for the PUB-RUN to be celebrating the end of the exams.
Now let me explain how it works. We have four sections out here, namely A,B,C and D, myself belonging to A. Other than the four of these, the PGP-X programme also joins in for T-Nite, being called Section X for obvious reasons!
THE PUB-RUN
The PUB-RUN, although the name might give other ideas, stands for “Publicity-Run”. You see, the first two days, or “nites” of T-Nite are held in the Mess building. Now during the Pub-Run, 10 runners from each section run from a designated starting point with a 10second interval between successive runners, to try and capture as much space for the section on the Mess walls as possible. And some of the places in the Mess are of strategic importance. So, I was the first runner for my section.
An hour before it began, everyone ran back to their rooms, stuffed their bags with old newspapers, whiteboard markers and paint. We even conjured up a snare drum and a dhol from somewhere. The time until Pub Run starts off is spent drawing large As on newspapers and old bedsheets. Meanwhile, us poor runners were being decorated with double sided tape. (You’ll understand why in a minute). Amongst this was all the “Tempo shouting” and cheering. And then, Cult Comm (the cultural affairs committee) called the sections to their respective starting places. So there we stood at LKP, (what better place to start of T-Nite?). I had one large bedsheet pre-stuck with tape in one hand. And stood at the starting blocks. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. My eyes were focussed….yadayadayada..Im sure you get the point. So finally it began. I ran with four other runners and the next half hour was spent searching for any free space on the walls and climbing chairs, tables, chairs on top of tables and sticking those newspapers there. At the end of it all …. In the blink of an eye, the mess was completely covered.
All this time, the rest of the class was busy singing and shouting and cheering. After all, we had no studies to worry about. This was the time that everyone was completely carefree for the first time since they stepped into this blessed campus.
Straight after this, all of us headed back to our classrooms, and practise began. First we assigned people in charge of taking care of the various events for the next few days. I was assigned Music.
The artists of our class got to work designing the posters, and some of them were simply brilliant!! These were being done along almost all of the benches. In the well, the dancers were deciding steps for the songs to be done.
After a shower, I got back to class to discover our “Section Tuchchas” sitting in class, giving us the “Tuchcha Gyan” that seems to be an important part of life on campus. So with some of their help, we got around to practising, and I sat with Arun (Papa), Ameya (Maala) and Vignesh (Scuba) to decide what to do on the Music front.
The next day was “Mess Nite – 1” so we did not need to perform then, but we did need to do something for both the RJM Nites!
Yea I know! Im not gonna let you guys sit and wonder for yourselves what Mess Nite and RJM nite is!
The first two nights of T-Nite involves each section performing for 20 minutes each in the stage at the mess. These were more fun filled. The last two nights at the RJMCEI Auditorium were more serious and required good displays of talent.
But before we proceed to talk of these 4 days, it is important to understand some of the finer aspects as well.
1) The T-Shirt
You see, at T-Nite, every section has to have it’s T-Shirt. And ours was designed by Mohit Gidwani AKA Haddi. We still proudly wear it and it has everyone’s dorm names at the back. Which is one reason many of us do not wear it when we go home.
2) The Section Name
Every section has to have a name. This year they were, Arbit Raj, Beagles, Cla-C, Dhinchak and XtaC.
3) Tempo-Shouts
For the unaware, they are basically cheers. Every section will have a couple. Loads of fun to scream. Something to laugh about years later.
4) The website
Every section must create and maintain a website for T-Nite.
5) The Newsletter
Every section also has a newsletter where they provide a completely biased view of the happenings, and is a good opportunity to have a good laugh at the expense of the other sections.
And so with your fundamentals of T-Nite covered, we can now proceed to my memories of what happened. : )
MESS NITE - 1
The slots for performance during all days is decided by lots. And on Mess Nite 1, we drew the last slot. We all decided to wear our section T-shirts, and went ahead and performed. Our opening act was one that not many will forget in the near future. A stunner dance routine headed by Mihir Lal AKA Syler. This was followed up by our take on a portion of the Mahabharat. A couple of dances more and out time slot was up. But unfortunately, we apparently were not too good, and ended up with the least points on that day. And we had left a prop on stage!! And lost points for that as well!
I remember that night after the scores came out perfectly. Many of us were sitting on Dorm 20’s terrace, trying to figure out what to do the next day when the scores came out. Even though our seniors had mentioned that the other sections were better, we did not expect this.
So went on a discussion about what to do the next day, what to perform and so on. And this continued till late in the night. Which according to normal people clocks would be early in the morning.
MESS NITE – 2
The second day, we were determined to redeem ourselves and prove ourselves to be strong contenders for the T-Nite title.
The change was evident from the moment we entered the mess. In bright colours, in a carnival theme, we ran and cartwheeled our way onto the stage and we had some impressive dances. With star dancer Rajiv G in full flow.
With our skit also going off well, Mess Nite 2 altogether was a very good day. We ended up in second for the day, just behind the PGP-X guys.
After that performance, we had so much fun in class! Some of us stayed up till 5 in the morning practising, singing, watching music videos on the screen and cleaning up. We had our own little party in class.
RJM Night –1
Here was the first of the two big days! Majority of the weightage was for these two days. We had to do a good job. Our best dancer, Rajiv was ill, but still managed to get himself up for practise.
And then comes the music. This requires some elaboration. The guys who were gonna play for the section band along with me are some of the most talented musicians I’ve met. Papa in particular. But they were also lazy Asses. And so we’d go to the Music room during the time allocated for practise and do absolute timepass. We’d start jamming to random songs, and not practise anything for the show. We finally decided to perform Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall and the Friend’s theme, and also a bit of Roadhouse Blues and Smoke on the Water.
On stage, somehow we managed to pull it off. No big f*** ups. And everyone liked it a lot as well. The dances went of nicely. The random act, conjured up by the king of arbitness and starring himself in the villain’s role, was completely random and arbit but hilariously funny!
Before the performance, the artists including Gouri and Dash (can’t remember who else was involved) created a massive back drop depicting our theme for the day’s performance. It was “opposites”!
At the same time, Mahima and Syler were busy in class preparing for the Fash-P ( Fashion Parade) for those who don’t know. On returning from the 40 min performance of dance and what not, people began dressing up for the Fash-P. Duski and Miski were fire, Tenzing, Himanshu and Guppi were ice. We had our own private army, we had peace. We had the new and the old. We even had Fachchas and Tuchchas, in which I played the most critical role, without which, the whole Fash-P was disastrous!! I was a signboard! I proudly held up a thermocole board that read “Tuchadom!! (I still have that in my room btw. I’ll be sure to hold it up in the air as I scream “Muggo Fachchon Muggo!!” come June!) It ended amazingly to a standing ovation. And with that ended RJM nite 1.
RJM Night –2
At this point of time, Cla-C and the PGP-X were out in the lead. We again continued our practice from early in the day till the very last minute until we were to go on stage.
Music practise, as usual was a couple of hours of timepass with each of us switching instruments and playing a different song. We ended up playing Californication and Aadat with no practice at all. As a joke, we were talking about making a “Section song”. Maala picks up the guitar, began strumming and making up lyrics at the same time. We had a good laugh then, and decided that was our section song, just for the fun of it.
We had our class act, which went off really well, which was in line with our theme of the circle of life. Rajiv had a brilliant solo dance routine to Ek pal ka jeena and Black Eyed Peas’ Bebo. We’ll atleast it was supposed to be a solo dance routine. We were standing near the entrance to the auditorium watching the dance when all of a sudden, Maala walks off onto center stage and proves to WIMWI that he too, can dance.
Incidentally, we got the last slot for the day. Meaning we would be the last ones to perform at T-Nite 2007. The bands performance was over and the organisers said that time was up. And so we went into a huddle and discussed whether we should do the section song or not. And we decided in the affirmative. And so Papa, Scuba and Maala begin the song, with me supposed to join in with drums when Papa stops the guitaring in the middle. But guess what! He doesn’t stop. I kept waiting for the entire length of that song, waiting for my cue, but in vain. But it was good fun nonetheless. And we received a standing ovation, yet again.
Later we learnt that we brought some of our Section seniors to tears (thy names shall not be mentioned). Apparently we brought out the true spirit of T-Nite, and ended T-Nite on the right note and all that jazz.
Section C emerged winners, with PGP-X in second. We were a close third.
But seriously. T-Nite served its purpose. It is meant to be an opportunity for the people in a section to get to know each other. And it did happen. I met some people who have become some of my closest friends on campus at T-Nite. A sense of camaraderie is formed. And in the end, it was a lot of fun!
The whole of next day’s classes were spent deep in sleep. And normal life at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad continued.
