The preparations start 4 months in advance. Brochures are designed, budgets are negotiated and the calender is consulted. Not that we believe in auspicious days and bad omens, but simply because everything must run to plan. Any oversight in planning and things could go sour. And nobody likes a sour taste, especially not corporate honchos. And especially not when there are 1500 of them.
All holidays are marked out. All major events and marriage seasons are doubly checked. And then a date is finalised. The date around which the lives and summer internships of 6 people will spin for the next 3 months. The date that has to be met at all cost. The date that once announced can not be taken back. And then, it is announced.
Now the countdown has begun. From now on, the clock only moves forward. Sponsors are approached, venues are looked at and people are motivated. Options are weighed at every stage and projections are made. Made and revised. Mails are sent. Shortlists are drawn up. Then further filtered. More mails are sent. And then one reads "Venue Finalised". 6 people stop to heave a sigh of relief. And then get on with it. Soon, 6 venues are in place. Even now the budget looks more like an astrological chart than an account. There are more variables than Dell offers on its computers. And many more permutations. The sponsors drive is pushed harder. Negotiations are pushed harder. 6 people push harder. Every single day. More is still less.
Contacts calling gives way to cold calling. And some more mails are sent. More. Some more. Then one mail reads "We are ready to not bust the bank". 6 people pause to heave a sigh of relief. One pause. Another round of motivating mails and they are back to calling. Now with a different tone, a different task and a different audience. Within a fortnight of the event now, every single Alum who can be reached has been called and emailed. Invited. Another mail. Another pause. And back again.
Lists are made again. Final projections frozen. Money moves across the vast internetwork of the Indian Banking System in little bits and bytes. 6 people brace for one last leg of the run - on the ground. From here on, everything can be seen and felt. Banners, check lists, decorations, gifts, mementoes, food, liquor, people, enthusiasm and a sense of achievement. What was only an idea till only some time ago has come to life. And in six cities across the length and breadth of the country, at 1930 hours, over 1500 corporate hot-shots remember their days at one of the most beautiful and effervescent campuses in India - IIM Kozhikode.
The Pianist
6 years ago
