What a festival!!What a week!!I really don't know what I am gonna do not preparing for the fest.Now,wait a second..What's this all about???Weird title,weird start??!!Don't worry, you will understand in just some time.
Just when I was thinking I have nothing really worth blogging about nowadays,came a phone call from my senior anna on July 10th 2009(I think the date is right :P) .He said there is gonna be an event "Dominoes Contraption" and that I can take 2 people with me and work on it.The first person I called was Neelam because I knew she had a hint of more creativity which was required and I felt I lacked.The first thing we did was watch so many videos on youtube ,each one amazing and better than the previous one.We searched everywhere possible for cost-effective dominoes,every mall possible.At last,we found what we wanted in a small gift shop near our place.And that's when our association with dominoes started.
Just before our not expected swine flu holidays,we had to send a synopsis for the event we wanted to organize.So I did the job of sending and when asked a question whether I would want to organize the event on both the days,I replied saying that if it is a crowd puller,we don't mind.I have a feeling anna had a deja vu or something when he replied.(The reply will appear at the right place ;) )
So at the end of our unexpected vacation,we had made a rough sketch as to how the design would be,what we are going to use and how our event should be as great as that of the contraptions event.We bought 840 dominoes at first and set to work at my place.We started with the spiral and God,the number of times the whole spiral fell just because of the misplacement of one finger,only we know.At that time,both of us thought...we really have a difficult event on our hands.But pride made us go on and on.Dominoes would fall,initially we would scream or cry out in despair;with experience,we would just start arranging them again.As a friend quoted: "You have lost your responsiveness to stimuli!!!!" because our classmates were amazed with the fact that 100 dominoes would fall and both of us would set to work again with no emotional outburst.The whole week before Nirmaan(yup,that's our fest) ,both of us waited in college till 8 or 8.30 till the watchman came to scold us in marathi and go on about the fact that girls aren't allowed beyond 7 in the college(blah blah). This patience of ours was to be tested on the first day.
The day before,we had a freshers' party.We troubled the head of admin(practically nagged him to death) to clear the final room where we had the display because we had initially planned that we would set up the whole thing the previous night and have the first show once nirmaan had officially started.But bad news,this wasn't allowed.So we went and expressed our dilemma(really it was one) to one of our seniors who said that we could come anytime as early as possible in the morning as they were in the college the whole night.What fun..I wish I had been a boy or was staying in the hostel just to work along with them.Anyway,wishes apart,we did half of it in the night just for the sake of confidence of having done it once and finished half of it by 9.45pm(yes,u read the time right) all alone in the room with only dominoes in sight.Suddenly,we heard our friends' voices and I recognized one of their voices and called him immediately.They reached the room almost immediately and informed us that all girls were shooed off the college boundaries at 7.30pm itself.Lucky for us,no one realized we were in the room.But we had to clear up,so we had half of the show then itself with one of them knocking the first domino down to find that the display worked.I and Neelam were really happy and went home in peace.
However, both of us landed in college at 6.15 and set to work immediately(We were the first ones to reach college).First of all,we had to lift and place 20 benches on our own to create space for people to stand and to make an obstruction in between them and the so delicate dominoes.(We could actually be in the logistics team next year..lol)That required so much energy that we were really exhausted after an hour of lifting and moving benches but we still had to switch those fans off.So,we started our work and in 2 hrs we had finished setting up half of it and Nirmaan was yet to begin.Now,the most difficult parts of the creeper and the spiral were left.We divided the work amongst ourselves.In this duration,our friends in the next room kept popping to see how much we have done.And guess what,once we had done 3/4th of the spiral,the whole thing came falling down due to some carelessness.And the floor wasn't very good either so even the creeper part that my friend was doing kept falling.It was 11.30 and lots of people had already come to ask when our first show was.We were really exhausted,had no energy left.My friend practically lost her head after it fell 5 or 6 more times.She suggested that we dont keep a show on the first day at all!!!!!!Luckily for both of us,I still had some positivity left in me and somehow convinced her that we will have at least one show that day,doesn't matter when.
We feverishly worked till about 1.We locked the main door so that no wind hits the dominoes,the fans were already switched off and our hands were numb having supported them on the ground for so long.At around 1.15pm ,two of our friends came at the door.We told them to go away as we were working.They banged the door and made us come out of the claustrophobic feeling filled room.I must say they were our saviours and life-savers at that point of time.They also sat and tried helping us(Emphasis on tried) for about 15 minutes but that change really rejuvenated us and we at last finished our display at 2.We made an announcement and called up all our classmates to see the display.Within 15 minutes,the room was filled with people we knew including our juniors and seniors and mostly with people we were seeing for the first time.We had left gaps in between the dominoes so that even if the dominoes fell,only a portion would fall.So once the room was filled with everyone who had to come,I and Neelam set to work.
And what happened was a part of the creeper dominoes fell down,around 70-100 of them immediately making the crowd go "Ohh!!" in shock and "not again!" response from us.The whole crowd started whispering and I am really thankful to my seniors who helped maintain silence so that we could arrange that part again.We set to work,only in vain.That particular part just kept falling down.Pride didn't let us bow down to fate.But well,the people were really generous.They waited for 10 minutes only to see the part we arranged fall again and again.They were with us in all our efforts.Some of our friends came and said they want to help but were scared that it might only be the opposite while the others kept so quiet so that even their breath shouldn't disturb our concentration.At the end of it,those dominoes just wouldn't stand(@#$$@!!!) .
Our senior suggested that we do it in 2 parts.When we asked the crowd whether they mind if we do it in 2 parts,half of them said no while half of them said "yes"..though not for the question.The moment we stood up,the whole crowd started clapping for our efforts...and the display hadn't even happened yet.So Neelam did the inaugaration.When the dominoes fell perfectly,the whole crowd went "Ohhhhhhh!!" with happiness and when there was some error in between,they went "Ohhh!" in surprise.But the best part was the spiral which shows the colours of the rainbow in succession when it falls.The display was barely for 50 seconds but the whole set of people were with us.When the end spiral worked beautifully,the whole group started applauding and shouting "Once More!" for which both of us could only laugh.Our friends were the first people to come and congratulate and all we could do was thank them for their continuous popping which showed their support.We were so tired after that but we knew what were the flaws and were ready to set it right the next day.
The next day,we started with the difficult part...the spiral and the creeper.We did not allow the volunteers to do anything on the first day as they had no experience as to what it was( I must mention the volunteers made beautiful charts and wrote "Dominoes Contraption" on the board so artistically...WONDERFUL JOB!)The next day we gave them the parts where it was a straight line.Also,we tried out the parts which had flaws the previous day using lesser dominoes.The second day was crucial as lots of people who missed it the previous day ranging from different classes,different branches had asked us to call them when the show happens.Can you believe it!!We had finished everything by 12.30(in just 4 and half hours compared to 8 hours on the previous day!) and we sent the volunteers to make an announcement and publicize in the college.These girls,My God,they went everywhere possible from the ground floor to the sixth floor,pulled people out of other events,stood outside the door and asked every passers-by to come and see the display.
By 1pm ,everyone who had come on the previous day came along with the people we had to call plus we saw many more new faces.By 1.15,there was no place to stand and they had to lock the main door.There would have been at least 65-70 people standing in a very constricted place with no ventilation at all.I was the one who initiated it(even for that I had to squeeze through so many people)And the show started.Everything worked perfectly except for one or two which people didn't seem to mind.The same "Ooh"s and "aah"s from the whole set of people.At the end of it,everyone stood and cheered for us.We got a standing ovation.So many people came and shaked our hands.Some of our seniors came and hugged us on account of our success.Our volunteers were practically jumping with joy.Now comes the time.Anna had replied saying this....
"Stupid question to ask about the crowd.You do your best and the rest will follow.Trust me."
And btw,we had a second show too that day(we finished arranging in 1.5 hours!!) and we called the main committee for nirmaan(which included the poor head of admin as well) plus many more new faces(need I say)and the only expression I saw on their faces was that of surprise and stun.
Everytime I saw this reply of his before the event , I just shrugged it off thinking what kind of crowd will come for a mere dominoes display event.The only people we expected to turn up were our friends and maybe a few seniors.But the kind of response we got,I really am surprised.All our seniors made it a point to congratulate us on our job when they saw us that night after the show.So many people smile at us in college after the event.Our event was remembered so well.So many people praised our patience and asked us to organize it again for SPACE,our non technical festival(hmmm).It turned out that our event was one of the most popular events of Nirmaan and we owe this success to all our juniors ,friends and seniors who helped and supported us in times of need.
Now,the title...What does that mean???
I and my friend during the whole process wished that the thing was much more simpler and definite and faster and as assuring as saying"if you don't get a dominoes' pizza in 20 minutes,its free!!".There were so many times we could have thought,if we don't get it this time,we are going to give up.But one thing we learnt out of the experience in itself was cooperation,team-building, positivity, never-say-die attitude and most of all,Patience.
Like a friend said,when we sit for our placements,when the interviewer asks us what did we do in our college fest,we answer "Dominoes Contraption",We would surely get the job because this event taught us everything a company needs!!!
