The Perfect Storm

The meteorological department at Hyderabad has bungled again. How could they not see it coming? After all, it was one of the biggest storms of the decade.

What the heck am I rambling about? Well, Gachibowli, Hyderabad witnessed a storm front on Saturday the 14th April 2007. 420+ charged men and women stormed the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad starting from the wee hours of the morning. Each of them a hurricane in his/her own right! Yeah Yeah, I know. Meteorology is for storms in the sky. But this one was no different. Trust me. I survived the Super Cyclone in Orissa in 1999. This was a storm all right. The Orientation Week for the Class of 2008, a perfect Storm! Like any other self respecting wannabe consultant, I will explain myself in three (the magic number) bullet points.

A perfect storm has an "eye". This part is very calm. Like a perfect morning. Just like the 420 odd faces, each with an omnipresent smile. For some strange reason, the smile just does not go. Every face greeted with a "Hi", followed by some utterly and completely useless small talk! The perfect image of bliss. And Calm. So much peace. Nirvana. Smelling like a million dollar worth of perfumes. Neat perfectly ironed smart casuals. Like I said, the eye of the storm.

But if you look closely enough, you will see that the faces do betray the turbulence going on behind; the turbulence of a million thoughts. Of prejudices. Of self doubt. Panic. Will I bloody make it? After all, the guy on my right is from IIT. The chick on my left is a beauty queen. Somebody in the row behind has 3 bloody patents from Sun Microsystems! Not to mention the guy who served in Kargil. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO COMPETE? THEY WILL EAT ME FOR BREAKFAST! Each of the 420 faces betray the storm going on in their minds. Now you understand why people have to yak bullshit all the time. Just to smother the feeling of panic. You see, you just cannot be left alone.

Interestingly, as the storm progressed through the week, through the team building exercises, the club presentations, the informal gyan sessions till the middle of the night, the booze parties, the sports, the pranks, the treasure hunt; it sculpted a landscape of its own. It created groups that did not exist before. Or maybe it was the hormones that did it :-) Of course there was some collateral damage. A huge sleep debt!

The storm started with 420 strangers. They are still strangers all right. Don’t know how, but after “Orientation week” they will be my 420 strangers! Somehow they belong to me now; just like I belong to them. The storm has left behind a family.

Chandan
Your friendly neighbourhood reporter. And by the way, I like being crazy. So please dont send me to the Psychiatrist!