Living Randomness

I don't know where to begin this one. There is so much that can be said so much that can be written, and to compound the problem even further am not sure what I want to write. Synapse, if ever I would be asked to name an event that would define my four years in this institute, it would undoubtedly be Synapse.

Ohk, for the uninitiated, Synapse is the annual techno-cultural megafest of DA-IICT. Synapse 08 was a 3 day affair and took place from 29th February to 2nd March 2008. There were a lot of things that separated this edition of Synapse from the previous ones. After the financial fiasco in '06, Synapse 2008 built upon the platform established by the previous edition. The budget for the festival almost doubled to breach the 10L barrier. However more than anything, it was the introduction of events like Inc. and Rekriti, and Agnee's live in concert that made Synapse 08 special for me. While Inc. and Rekriti added a whole new dimension to Synapse, Agnee marked the return of celebrity quotient to Synapse.

The journey that culminated in the 3 day extravaganza started way back in March of the previous year. We had just witnessed a successful annual festival and people were keen to build upon the platform. The enthusiasm was particularly high among my batchmates as next year, the onus was going to be on us to deliver a memorable festival. It was in such times that I was approached to contest the election. The situation was so similar to my first year in college. Then too, I had been asked to throw my hat in the ring, and at that time having volunteered for Synapse 06, I was very keen to do so. However I lost, owing to a sad truth I came to realize then; college elections do not ensure that the best person for the job gets the job. A subsequent rejection as an event coordinator, in favour of a more connected team, ensured that I detached myself from Synapse 07 completely. It was a successful event and I had nothing to contribute to it, apart from as a member of the audience. And thus when I was asked again to file in my nomination I wasn't that keen. An year had passed. And I had gained enough experience of my own to know that I could contribute significantly to Synapse. However I wasn't sure that I wanted to do this. The desire to contribute was there, but the motivation to put myself through another election process was not. Anyways, I did throw my hat in and got through after a close battle. Thereafter there was no reluctance, no doubts; only passion and commitment.

Soon it was August, the beginning of my 5th semester. As is the norm, the month of April and the summer vacations had passed without nay significant progress. However now it was time to start dreaming about what we wanted for Synapse 08. Some pointers emerged after the initial discussions. There was a need to rope in at least one celebrity artist and to add a business leg to Synapse. Today am very happy that both of these were successfully achieved. Another thing which, in hindsight, makes me proud of working of our Committee was the transparent selection of the event coordinators. I guess it had much to do with my personal experience last year.

The theme for Synapse 08 was Living Randomness. It was a conscious decision to move away from a serious sounding 3 word theme of the previous edition. Agreed that an annual festival is an expression of the potential of the students of an institute, but more than that, its about fun. The theme was chosen to represent the inherent randomness in our lives.

No matter how good the planning be, if there aren't any people to implement and execute those plans all your planning amounts to zilch. I was blessed that I got to work with some real good people during the run up to Synapse. In no particular order, let me list a few of them. Hmm lets see, there was Chito, responsible for keeping Re-Kriti on track. He was reluctant to be a part of the organising team, but finally my persuasive powers proved to be too much for him :satan: . But seriously, his presence ensured that I was free from the burden of looking into Re-Kriti. Then there was Sai Gopal, briliant designer. All credit to him for an awesome sponsorship brochure. Vasu, for managing the website and looking after other technical stuff of which, frankly, I have no knowledge. Appy, for the liveliness she brought to Synapse through Synapcity. I still remember how we used to plead with Mundra to let us gorge at McD or at Dominos on those innumerable trips to Ahmedabad ;P.

All that Synapse 08 was, the standards it set, the benchmarks it bettered, wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated team that I had the privilege of leading. Saurabh, a calm young man. He rarely ever raised his voice and always put forth his views in a composed manner. Excellent at executing tasks assigned to him. Sandy, a lazy man with potential. Was instrumental in securing sponsorship from the Govt. companies but had to be pushed and prodded a lot. Ankit, hmm, he could aptly be named as the lieutenant of our organization. Single handedly managed logistics and all the ground work during Synapse. He is around this time too, hoping quite a bit from him. Bharat, ahha, the enthu cutlet of our team. He achieved a hell lot of things during Synapse by the sheer magnitude of the effort he put in. We had our disagreements, but on the whole a great guy to work with. Finally only one guy remains. The person with whom I worked the most. Mundra. Indeed the story of Synapse could be told as a string of episodes comprising of our visits to Ahmedabad.

Synapse meant a lot of things. It meant staying back in college in the month to figure out sponsorship deals, it meant 10 o' clock appointments with our then placement officer, Col. Kanetkar. Indeed he played an important role in establishing initial contact with the various IT firms and helped us save a hell lot of money on telephone calls! Synapse meant innumerable visits to Ahmedabad, it meant a desktop littered with word docs and excel files dealing with something or the other related to Synapse, it meant hour long sessions with our faculty counselors that drained more energy out of me than any number of calls to prospective sponsors. The only thing that made it possible for me to make it through those was that at the end of those, more often than not, we used to get what we wanted.

I don’t remember much of those three days. However there are a few incidents that would forever remain etched in my memory. It was a few days before Synapse. In house prelims were being held in the Club House and I too was there looking over things. That's when I got the call that a couple of sponsorship deals had come through. It was a moment that I had been dreaming of for quite a while, for with those deals, my dream of breaching the 10L sponsorship mark had been realized. We had succeeded in raising bloody f***in 10 lakhs!!

Another was the day before Synapse kicked off. I had gone to the Director's office to invite him to kick start Synapse. That's when I came to know, that someone had completely ignored my instructions and a few things were horribly wrong. I still remember the moment when the Director said, 'Give me one reason why I shouldn't call of your festival?'

The next one came on the morning of the 29th. I was sleeping at the Synapse room, as we had somehow managed to misplace the keys. It was 8ish in the morning, and having just woken up, I had decided to head back to my room to get ready. That's when I saw the jeeps coming in with the participants. Synapse had begun!

Those 3 days passed in a blur. I have no recollections of the details though certain things remain unchanged. Everyday I slept at the Synapse room, somehow it felt more comfortable despite the chill and lack of a proper bed. Everyday I slept after 4 and was awake by 8 in the morning. Those four hours charged not only my body but also my cell phone. I used to start my day with a fully charged mobile and by the afternoon I was reduced to carrying my phone in one pocket and the charger in the other.

For several months Synapse came to define the purpose of my existence and it was but natural when I felt at sea when it was all over. I was exhausted. I had achieved what I had set out to achieve. There was nothing more to do. But somehow there was this desire within me, to live those days again. I had come to like the pressure, the tension that comes with it.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Synapse. My life has changed a lot from those days, but the memories remain. And its these memories that shall define what Synapse was all about. I still remember the trips that Mundra and I undertook in December, his wake up calls once he had met with Col. Kanetkar. I remember us hanging on to a jeep for dear life, those burgers at McD, those exhausting walks up and down Ashram Road. I remember the innumerable phone calls, the days when I could have talked to sponsors half asleep. I remember the drink that I had with the guys from Agnee the night they had arrived, and the ones post their concert. Synapse brought a lot of people in my life, some are still here, some have moved on and some will still be around in the future. It's the latter that matter. People come and go, events take place, things change but the memories linger…