It was my first outing representing my Institute in a film making Competition in Hyderabad. 30 hours in the train would be a pain in the arse I thought, looking back now, I wish I were together with my buddies forever. I only knew them as passionate people before, but the journey helped me discover the beautiful souls they all were. I think I will never forget Jasheel not for his free spiritedness but for the Sevaiah and Kaju Barfi he got for us along the ride. All thanks to Naveen, we had to wait for a train as lazy as Abhishek in Nagpur that night. We decided to give Varhadi Thaat the opportunity to feed us with Jhunka, Baingan Bhartha, Khichdi, etc. that night. My craving for Orange Barfi and Rasmalai was satiated, all thanks to Abhishek. Chewing pan, freezing like a statue, being at the receiving end of a prank and burning something I never burned before, I spent 2 hours waiting for the train.
It was near afternoon by the time we reached Hyderabad, exhausted and hungry after a whole day on the train followed by a bus journey to the beautiful campus of BITS, Hyderabad. We had registered for the festival and received our accommodation. Hogging on the Andhra food after a long time was pure bliss. Abhishek, Sameer, Kalyan, Vamsi, Naveen and I decided to go attend the photography workshops. We were late for the Ritam Banerjee workshop where Abhishek's notion of photography were contradicted, and he was mocked. Just when I felt like the night was going to pass by while we were busy pulling each other's leg, someone in the group came up with the idea of watching a horror movie being screened. I not being a fan of the genre and Abodid pretending to feel sleepy came out of the room and were roaming aimlessly in the academic building. We spotted a long haired guy singing as his fingers struck the strings of a guitar. There was a small crowd around him in the atrium when we joined them. He appeared to be a fan of JIMMY PAGE and was taking songs on request from the crowd. Abhishek and Jasheel joined us later, but it was time as the session started getting annoying with a few wannabe rock stars creeping in. We had an amazing time though, singing and listening to those songs that night. Abodid and I decided to leave, and it was a long walk to the place we stayed. It was then that I got to know how he did what he loved and found what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
I woke up to an exciting day two of the festival. This day was packed with workshops, performances, competitions and talks. First up, it was a storytelling workshop by Kommune's Shamir Reuben, Tess Joseph and Hussain Haidary. It was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and the stories they told were so simple yet so beautiful that I secretly wished to be there one day. Synergy, the dance club of our college performed at a dance competition and the whole auditorium had their mouths wide open in admiration. There was a dance performance by IIT Madras which gave an outstanding performance too, but at the end of the day but it was us who impressed the judges. I also had the privilege of attending a talk on leadership by General Bikram Singh who spoke of many customs and protocols followed in the Army emphasizing leadership. The day was pretty short and packed while the night was long and joyous. Abhishek, Naveen, Abodid and I were binging on ice-creams that night when Abhishek dared me to talk to a girl I did not even know. Jasheel, Payal, Bharti, Kalyan and Vamsi also joined us for fun but, I never expected what was in store for us the next day.
It was the final day, the day the film making competition was held. I was busy participating in a writing competition that I never bothered to care about the results of it. PK and Jasheel were the ones who never lost hope which was rewarded with a second prize. The time passed away jet speed, and we were out on the roads after having the Hyderabadi Biryani and wandering in the bustling lanes of the Old City late in the night before taking a long ride to the place I called home for the last four years. It was because of those amazing friends that this trip will remain etched in my memories forever.
