MINDZ Achieved the Dream

Finally, 6th October came. MINDZ its 6th of October. The day for which we had worked day & night round the clock. But it doesn’t mean that, that day we were sitting idle & watching the proceedings. No, we went to different colleges to sell the tickets for last time.

People had started visiting the venue (Birla Auditorium) from 9’o clock. Sponsors took the charge. They got there stalls. They were setting up there show. Companies also got there stall. They were also setting up the things for themselves. At round 11’0 clock, news came that Education minster will reach the venue shortly. Now, the question was who will welcome him. Everybody was nominating himself. Then Rohit suggested that my parents are there so they will welcome him. So my father took the charge. Education minister (Sorry I forgot his name) was very cool. He visited every stall, interacted with every sponsor. He even interacted with the students. Then at around 12:30 he departed.

Job Fair was a failure; it was not at all a successful event. Some of the companies were fake & the genuine companies were not showing interest. They were just taking the CV from the people. They showed no interest in the students. They were even not bothering in answering there queries. Girls who have came all the way from Laxmangarh for this event were very sad, because they came just for Job Fair, they cannot attend the seminar & fashion show as they have to go back to there campus & also they cannot come all the way to Jaipur again just to see a movie. So for them it was complete disaster. I still remember two of my schoolmates who were then studying in that college came to me & asked “What is this” & I was like what to answer…..

Somehow we managed the things & were praying that now only Seminar & Fashion Show can save us. At 4’0 clock Seminar started. Seminar was on “What is LIFE”. Speaker Mr. Tiwari took the charge of the stage & managed the show. We were somewhat relaxed now. Seminar was pretty cool. But as usual people of our age cannot tolerate such type of things for a very long period. Mr. Tiwari knew it so he wrapped up the things gracefully.

Finally Fashion show Started. Two of our juniors were the host of the show & they managed the show so brilliantly that everyone was enjoying the show. All the contestants (engineering people) rocked the show. The show was breathtaking, it was beyond our expectations. When we saw people were enjoying it like anything then we all took a sigh of relief. Finally, hosts asked all the MINDZ members along with Naggi bhai to come on the stage & that moment was overwhelming. I can still feel that moment. People were cheering us, hooting for us. It was something which will always remain in at least my memories.

Finally the winners were announced, prizes were distributed & on a very happy note the show was over. The moment show was over; we wrapped up the things & went on a drive with Naggi bhai. Then we had a dinner there, enjoyed the night. That day we all forgot about the total losses as we were on cloud 9 because today BIRLA Auditorium was booked on our name & we have organized a show there.

Next day we calculated the total expenditure & we were in loss of 35k including a movie show that was booked in a multiplex for all those who had bought entry ticket or was a fashion show contestant. Irony was, the day when movie was organized none of the MINDZ member except me & sunny was in city. To compensate the losses we arrange the movie in morning (10’o clock show). Again the whole multiplex was booked in our name. “KHEL” movie was released during those days.

I & Sunny were sitting outside the theatre or hum Theatre owner ko goliyaan de rahe the ki paise aa rahe hain 10min main 15 min main. We were just waiting ki bas ek baar show over ho jaye, uske baad to dekh lenge. Show over ho gaya or as usual hum goli dene main succeed ho gaye. After 1 month all the payments were settled. But now we were in debit of 35K.

Nobody was ready to ask for money from parents. We all managed it at our own. Kuchh logon ne mobile bech diye, kuchh logon ne tution kar liye. Per kisi ko afsos nahin tha kyonki show was a huge Success. Or iska pata humein tab chala jab humko offer aane lage even management ke. We were offered 1lakh Rupees to organize the show. All we have to do is just get the sponsorship. Bu we declined as we don’t have the time. Exams were coming or waise bhi humko to ek baar try karna tha

In the end I would like to thank my friends (too many to list here but we know who they are!) for providing support and friendship that MINDZ needed. They had not only worked with us but also some how contributed financially. To our surprise, they came forward & rather than entering with FREE passes, they opted for entry tickets, so that some of our losses can be compensated. One of our friends took 10-15 tickets just for our sake. So, on behalf of MINDZ thanks to all those people who have contributed in making this event a success.

Love,
Vishal

MINDZ The Journey Continues………

Now, we had a proper plan to execute& we were aware that from the very next sunrise our schedule is going to be very hectic. To check out our convincing skills we decided that we all people will go together for the first sponsor. We all agreed unanimously for Stani Memorial College as our first target. Initially we were bit nervous, but the moment we started showcasing our idea, we regained our confidence & explained the whole concept to those people. There response was positive & that has given every individual a confidence that we can do it.

Now as per plan we have to work in teams. Every team comprises of 2 people. After Stani College, we parted our ways as per plan. Surprisingly Rohit was in my team. Surprising because communication speed of Rohit is 1.5 times than that of mine & my speed every one knows). We first went to an English Speaking Class in Shyam Nagar (don’t remember the name). There we met the director of the institute. It took round about two hours to convince him. He was very much convinced but now he was more of interested in our history. He was all praise of our guts & instantly gave the cheque of Rs. 2100/-. This was our first cheque & we were so happy as if we have finished the race.

Next day we decided that few of the members will meet our college director & ask him to sponsor the event. Getting money from our director is a very tedious job. They explained the bits & bytes of the concept to him & tried to convince him that it will take RIET to new heights. He agreed on every point but he was not ready to sponsor it. Then one of our team member said that we will make you the judge of the Fashion Show & then he instantly gave the Rs. 5100/- cash.

Everybody was asking what all companies will come in Job Fair. Naggi bhai gave us a list of companies to us & said it is his responsibility to get these companies in Job Fair. We were relaxed as it was not our responsibility to get the companies.

Response for Fashion Show was overwhelming. Only Engineering guys/girls were allowed to participate in it & its entry Fee was Rs 300/-. We hired a professional to train the contestants for the ramp walk.

At every night we meet at Yogesh or our place & discuss the things happened that day & were planning the things for very next day. Kisi ko bhi bhookh pyaas ki chinta nahin thi bas ek hi cheez dimaag main thi 6th October. Initially things were moving slowly, but were moving as per our plan. We were succeeding in convincing the people. Some of them gave the cash/cheque instantly. Some of them gave the dates to come & collect the money. Some of them simply rejected us. Everything was going fine. But later on don’t know what happen, things started changing. Nothing was working, nobody was giving sponsorship. Tickets bhi nahin bik rahe the. To sell the tickets I went to Alwar, Tanush went to Sikar. Alwar was a complete failure. Sikar gave a nice response.

On 30th September our college was celebrating Freshers Party, we were enjoying it, and then suddenly one of the MINDZ people came to us and said that we are enjoying today & 5 din ke baad hamari lagne wali hai. Then there only we calculated our total collection & it was just 1lakh rupees. We were short of 1 lakh Rupees & this came as a shock. Now we have to do some thing to attract more & more sponsors & sell tickets. Naggi bhai suggested giving an advertisement in newspaper & posters in city. This was adding to our budget but we were left with no other option.

We gave an advertisement in Rajasthan Patrika or posters & pamphlets bhi chhapwa liye. Fir us raat hum Jaipur ki sadkon per ghoom rahe the or posters chipka rahe the & the best part was usi raat Police un logon ko search kar rahi thi jo diwaron per posters chipkate hain. Poore 2 ghante tak police ko chakma dete hue humne posters chipkaye the. Is event ke liye humne kya-kya nahin kiya. Event se ek din pehle Jaipur main ek FAIR tha. Hum uske bahar khade hokar pamphlets distribute kar rahe the. Kismat dekho, hamare college ke faculty members bhi aaye the wo fair dekhne or jab humko wahan dekha to………… But that day we realize how it feels when someone just throws away the pamphlets without even reading it. It was really a different experience……………

Yogesh managed to get the Higher Education Minister of Rajasthan to preside the Job Fair. Advertisement & Posters gave some momentum & we got some more sponsorship. We were using our each & every source to sell the tickets.

Fir 5th October ki raat aa gayee. or aakhiri bouncer aakar laga ki Companies nahin aa rahi hain Job Fair main, but Naggi bhai told that not to worry he will manage this & will bring the companies. Hamare pass koi option bhi nahin tha unki baat maane ke alawa. Hum kuchh nahin kar sakte the siwaye intezaar ke

To be continued….

Love,
Vishal

Bus Subah Ke Intezar Main Raat Yun Hin Guzar Jaayegi
Ab To Bus Uljhan Hai Saath Hamare, Neend Kahan Aayegi
Subah Ki Kiran Najaane Kaun Sa Sandesh Laayegi
Rim Jhim Si Gungunaayegi Yaa Pyaas Adhoori Reh Jaayegi

MINDZ The Journey Begins………

MINDZ…… a name very close to my very heart, a name which has not only given me fame but also motivation to think BIG. This name has achieved the things which were far beyond from our imaginations. Not even in our wildest dreams, we had ever thought that we will be able to accomplish this & that too in our college days.

Before I start let me tell you what MINZ is & what it had achieved. MINDZ is a group of 7 people namely Aashish Pareek, Rohit Singhvi, Saurabh brahmi, Sunny Manghnani, Tanush Gandhi, Vishal Mittal(me) & Yogesh Gupta in alphabetical order. We were college students when this group was found.

This group was found to organize some State level programmes exclusively for engineering students. So, we planned to organize a Job Fair, a Seminar followed by a Fashion Show. Out of all these three events, fashion show was exclusively for engineering students.

So let me elaborate how it all began & how our lives took a 90 degree turn. This all started in last week of Aug’03 when all the MINDZ member except me went to a marriage, where they met Nagendra(Naggi) bhai. He gave an idea to organize some event. He had a plan in his mind which he shared with them. That idea clicked the members & they agreed to join the Naggi bhai. He said to make it BIG & to attract the people, we will organize it in BIRLA AUDITORIUM (biggest auditorium of Rajasthan).He then asked the team to come with a proper plan.
Interestingly, these guys had not revealed anything to anyone as they wanted to keep it under wraps. They were silently working on it. But eventually, they realized that they need me & that’s when they had explained the idea to me. This whole concept sounded thrilling to me so the same moment I joined the bandwagon & coined the name “MINDZ” to our group. As it usually happens everywhere, 1-2 people are against you but…...This all happened on 4th Sept 03, so this is the reason of posting it today.

That night, we had to work hard as we had to plan out the things for the events like target sponsors, how to lure them & get sponsorship, how to sell entry tickets, get contestants for fashion show. This all was not so easy because nobody will trust us as we don’t have any brand or name associated to us. We were just college going students without any experience in this field. Only thing which can be used to attract the people was Birla Auditorium.

As this was basically for engineering students, so we decided to initially target the people related to engineering fields. For sponsorship we made a list comprising engineering colleges, computer institutes, English speaking classes & food stalls. For entry tickets we decided the entry fee as 100 bucks & to lure them we agreed to offer a free bollywood movie in a multiplex. Then we form groups & assigned tasks to ourselves according to our skills & contacts. As now individual contacts will help us in making the event a huge success.
Then we went to Naggi bhai & shared the whole plan with him. There we calculated the total expenditure for the event including bits & bytes required for the show & which came around 2Lakhs (0.2 million sounds better) & the best part was we didn’t have 2Rs in our pocket but we were expecting that it will earn around 3-4 lakhs. But it was just our confidence & enthusiasm to do some thing BIG which was constantly motivating us to move forward.

Naggi bhai also informed that Auditorium is being booked in the name of MINDZ for 6th October 2003. This information came as a boost for us & each & everyone has only one thing in mind & that was 6th October. From the very next day our life was totally changed. The journey had just begun….

To be continued….

Love,
Vishal
Zindagi ki asli udaan abhi baaki hai, Apne iraadon ka imtehan abhi baki hai.
Abhi to langha hai parwaton ko, langhna abhi aasman baki hai....

Arrange Marriage.........

Ishq hota nahin sabhi ke liye, ye bana hai.. ye bana hai kisi kisi ke liye...... Through this nazm Zameer Kazmi Saheb has portrayed a deep thought on love. He is trying to say that MAN if you didn’t get your love then do not crib/cry/lost yourself. Love is not meant for everyone. It’s for very few people who are lucky enough to hold it back. And, this blog is for all those male people who are heading towards arrange marriage irrespective of whether they have ever fallen in love. In this blog I will share my experience with the parents of the girls (don’t know what to call them) who came to meet me & my family as an initial step. So, here it begins….

I am the eldest son in my family; so my grandparents wanted me to get married as soon as possible, they were trying for last 3-4 years to convince me for marriage, but I didn’t. There joy knew no bound when I said YES last year, & then it all started (in fact they started it long before that). I have met & interacted with lot many parents in this period & what I observed in these candid discussions that almost everyone ask same set of questions. Almost in each & every case, before meeting me, those people met my parents. So they know each & everything about me but still they want to hear it from me. So, here are some of the questions

1.) Where are you working? (as if they don’t know)
2.) Which company you are working with? ( majority of the people don’t know about IT companies but still they want to know because everyone asks)
3.) For how long you are working in this company? (Does it really matters)
4.) Where are you living?
5.) How you guys manage food?
6.) What is your qualification?
7.) From which college you have completed your graduation?
8.) Is it your first company?
9.) Why you have left the first one? (It seems I am facing HR round of a company)

Now suddenly & very slowly comes the million dollar question
10.) What is your package? (This matters a lot to lot many people)

These questions are like those important questions in college exams about which we were always sure that these questions will come for sure. No hard feelings for anyone (parents), because everybody wants the best MAN for their daughter/sister. But trust me this is really absurd. Anyways guys sooner or later days of INDEPENDENCE will vanish but till then enjoy the life. Only once in your LIFE you will get a RIGHT PERSON with whom you will get Married.. So till then … keep enjoying with the WRONG ONES.

Love,
Vishal
Zamaney ke Sawalon ko main hans ke taal doon
Lekin nami aankhon ki kehti hai “Mujhe tum yaad aate ho”
(Courtsey: Ahmed Faraz Saheb)

SACH KA SAMNA

I am a TV buff guy, one day I was just surfing channels & saw something catching my eyes. It was a game show named “MOMENT OF TRUTH” broadcasted on STAR WORLD. If I have not watched this serial I would have never believed that show like this do exist. I don’t know whether it was real or just set up………..but whatever it was, it just made me glued to TV for one hour.

If you have no problem with revealing your deepest darkest secrets for a big wad of cash on national television, then this game show is for you. I had never thought that such kind of show will ever be presented by Indian channel as to make it interesting & more appealing its owners ask questions more on sexual life which is not possible in India. So what kind of questions will be there in Indian show which can touch audiences? So continuing the journey of creating cult programming this time Star Plus aired a new show. Yesterday it launched the Indian version of MOMENT OF TRUTH i.e. “SACH KA SAMNA”. It is a psychological game that tests the nerve and integrity of a contestant.

Before I go move forward, let me give you brief what this game show is all about. This show takes strong contestants and straps them into lie detector test (by expert polygraph) and ask them round around 50 questions. Contestants are not aware about the answers they have given i.e. they don’t know whether there answers are correct or not. Only polygraph machine will decide whether there answers were right or wrong.

Host of the show (Rajeev Khandelwal) will then ask you 21 questions for the chance to win 1Crore Rupees. All you have to do is answer these questions honestly. But that’s not so easy as these questions are based on the past of contestant. They have to reveal uncomfortable truths of their life which they have to answer in front of their loved ones. Immediate Family members, friends, bosses are part of the audiences when these devastating questions are given. The questions become darker and more personal as the stakes are raised. You can actually leave the show after reaching certain level.

So, yesterday its first episode was aired & what I observed in the very first episode is that we Indians are very emotional & that’s the things which can touch audiences. All the questions were personal questions targeted on the mother & husband of the contestant. Some of the sample questions are: At some point of life you thought of killing your husband???? God you have to see the face of his husband ….and the answer was TRUE.
Then other includes: Would you like to have sex with third person if your husband is unaware of it? You are living with your husband just because of your kids? etc…

Though it was the first episode but I am sure slowly & gradually it will hit the charts. Although its host is not so good but the kind of questions shooed on the contestants are…………. I don’t know how the contestants will handle there life after the show. Because the kind of questions were asked, left my mouth wide open that MAN how can one answer these questions but……….

From nail biting anxiety to answers that will almost have you fall off your chairs, the show has kept the bout of anxiety high with each contestant. Just for money one can go to what heights as some of the answers can really hurt your near & dear ones. I am not sure what will happen to the people of India…?

I will recommend the channel/media house to please invite elected officials, politicians so that some unsaid truth can be revealed on national television.
But most of all, the million dollar question remains; can an honest person worth Rs. One crore be found on the show.

Met after 14 years............

Before I start, let me tell you the reason of writing this blog. This blog is penned because of two reasons; first, FRIENDS are everything for me, without them I cannot imagine my life. Second, I am a very emotional guy (might sound surprising for lot of people) who remember & cherish all his good & bad (as well) memories.

So, coming back to the point, long time back somewhere around in 1993-94, we had a group of 4-5 school friends. This was the time when I was very “Seedha Saadha” type & was not such a big chatter box that I am today. We people enjoy each & every moment of school life. Except me all my group mates were legendary chatter boxes. As everybody’s school days, ours were also unforgettable. Life was complete fun. Then in 1995 one of our group-mate left the school. She not only left the school but also our city. Her family moved to Delhi. After that I lost touch with her. And as life doesn’t wait for anyone, it just moves on…………….

“Ye zindagi bahut lambi hai or hamare pass waqt bahut kam, isliye hum fir milenge” sounds impractical but I think that’s true because one fine day after a long gap of 14 years I found her on Internet (social networking site Thanks to ORKUT). I thought she might have forgotten me but to give it a try I scrapped her & to my surprise she replied in a fraction of second. That day we chatted for 2-3 hrs. We exchanged our contact numbers. After that we used to chat regularly. Then one fine day I thought of giving a call to her, in spite of in touch for long time now, I was in dilemma whether to call her or not. So, I messaged her “Can I call you” & on reading this she burst out in laughter, replied “Yes you can”. And in this conversation her sharp memory has really shocked me. She remembers all the bits & bytes of our school days. She remembers all our discussions, incidents etc. She even remembers the names of all our classmates, teachers (even I don’t remember). She refreshed my memory of those school days. She remembers all the things & if I was unable to recall any of them then she tried her level best in helping me to figure out incident. HATS OFF to her sharp memory.

But the best part was whenever I ask her to meet; she used to do “Talam-Toli”. We tried to meet once, but somehow it doesn't worked out and then we decided to meet after 15 days. She agreed to meet on a cup of coffee. We met after 14 years but I recognized her in a fraction of second. I had never even in my wildest dreams thought we will be meeting again She was just the same. We were so casual that no one can even think that we people are meeting after so many years. And as usual both the chatter boxes were opened. I am also a chatter box but she has done MASTERS in it. She is a legendary chatter box who can chat non-stop. All you have to do is just listen to her. But there is one thing that differentiates her from other girls and that is “her love for food”. She & dieting are like two sides of coin. That meeting was one of the most unforgettable ones of my life.

All the above mentioned things are just a glimpse of her. If I write all the things then it will take years. Well it was really good to regain a very old & close friend.

A Night in Emergency Ward

Last month (Feb, 09) I lost my Grandmother. She died because of Brain Haemorrhage. She was living at my native place. She was referred to Jaipur & there she was admitted in a hospital. Incidentally I was also in Jaipur that day to attend 3-4 marriage functions.
When we took her to hospital then doctors said nothing is remained in her body. She is more or less like a dead body. But we requested them a lot to admit her. So, they admitted her in Emergency Ward & there she was breathing through artificial respiration, which is pumped by us.

The situation inside Emergency Ward was…. Horrible. The condition of all the patients inside the ward was very critical. Every one of them was fighting with life. None of our family member was able to stand inside that ward, but one of us have to stand by grandma as we have to pump that respiration system.

Then me & one of my uncle decided that we will pump that system alternately & that’s where started the journey. That night I realized what is life & what does it mean to our family, our friends, and people around us. I was there for whole night. That night almost every 30 min a patient was admitted. One of them were admitted because of “I am not so drunk, I can drive” attitude
He was around 27-28 yrs old & faced a severe accident, when he was admitted to hospital; I saw he was so drunk that everyone in that ward can smell. Doctors perform CT scan of his head but everything was right. He was unconscious & he was so drunk that doctors said they can’t do anything until or unless he comes out of that state. He was from a very rich family. They called all the big doctors but all of them said the same thing. His whole family along with his just married wife was sitting out there & they were crying like anything.
Another patient, whose condition was worse than earlier one, was fallen from terrace; he was admitted in very critical condition. There was 1” inch deep 2” X 2” hole in his head. His face was completely covered by blood, his body was completely RED. After I saw his condition, I was like about to vomit. That guy was in conscious state & the best part was he was consoling his family.
That night I realized how tough a surgeon’s job is. They are supposed to be a HITLER. It requires a hell lot of guts to do the job what they are doing.
I can’t explain the journey of whole night, around 19-20 patients were admitted that night. Out of which 2 people died. They died in front of me & I can’t explain that scenario. For a moment I forgot the condition of my grandma.

I passed the whole night in this trauma. Here & there everywhere were patients, blood, shouts, and cries. Next morning they discharged our grandma & we come back to our native place but I was not able to sleep for lot many days. Those moments were revolving around my mind. A day later my grandma passed away but in her last days she taught me “Please do not take your life for granted. It means a lot to lot many people”.