Visi, vidi, vici

Four hectic days of Shaastra (arguably the best technical festival in India; those who disagree may google for ‘directions to hell’) just got over. And its end has brought in a terrible lethargy in me. Basically, things are back to normal.

Shaastra, to a lot of people in the institute, is a time for an extended siesta. In fact, a lot of people just ‘crash’ through it. For some, it’s a time to DC++ all the movies and series they have been craving to see for long . Yet, for some, it’s a time for a trip to a nearby hill-station or to go home.

But then, there are the participants, which I have taken in a wider perspective to include those who come here for bird-hunting (or watching) and not for the events. I’m sure they had lesser to complain this time. The birds were indeed a soothing balm to the sore eyes of tired participants . They would not participate in any event but just stand like mannequins the entire day. It would make good economic sense to use them rather than posters for ads. Most people look at them, not at posters.

The events occupied my whole day and the nights were spent in planning (which took more time than actually making it) and making a model or two for the next. Squeeze in two hours of football practice and a match (which I unashamedly admit we won; so what if it was against a bunch of school-kids) in the torturous morning sun. And, u know I am grateful that I’m not a vegetable yet.

On the flip side, we did win an event (The Incredible Machine) on the first day and came second in a major event later (The Puzzles Championships), which is more than enough reward for our toil, before and during the fest. And then, there’s a rocket and a glider that we made out of our own sweat, blood, and anabond. Though, we were a bit disappointed when they performed below par. At least we got a lot of oh’s and ah’s for our aesthetic design!! Lesson learnt: Anabond sticks almost anything, and quick.

(An anabond ad would look something like this: A guy is caught in a not so flattering situation with a girl. The culprit, however, is not his intention, but anabond, which has stuck his limbs in all the wrong positions. The girl’s dad comes and gives a stern look at him. The guy manages to slip an anabond tube to him. And everything is cordial again. Then, comes a subtle tagline and a voice-over – “Anabond bonds everything. In seconds.”)

Coming back, Shaastra as a whole has been better and won the ISO 9001:2000 certification again. What with better organized events, less events cupping, bigger budget and most importantly, more prize-money. Most events started on time (which was indeed a surprise for some Shaastra veterans), perhaps thanks to the QMS team, whoever they are. The spirit of engineering models – both the hovercraft and the smart-bridge worked (after two years of disastrous failures). And the main quiz was what it always has been – elitist (though not many are complaining). At least it doesn’t start at midnight to go into the wee hours of dawn like the Saarang MQ. U know what to expect when u are shown 2/3 vague pictures with the quizmaster breathing a constipated, “ Machha, put fundaes da.” Or “ Connect da.” But it sure is an unforgettable experience going through the very well-researched (read vague) questions with equally vague (and quite creative) answers.

Some events were scrapped for varied reasons, most notably Tech Cluedo and Ai-wars. In fact, Ai-wars/ AI- bots was the most searched strings in Shaastra this time!! Seems like the co-ords did too decent a job last year leaving little room for improvement! I would love to see the event bounce back as it has a special place in me, having come second in it in my second year (which I did with less than 500 lines of code compared to the thousands people made). A lot of people called it a fluke. I still call it a stroke of genius.

Anyways, it has been quite an experience indulging in the plethora of activities, as consuming and exhausting it may have been.

Cut to the present-
Alarm. Classes.
Life goes on.