Sangharsh 2006 -
The Sports Meet
- by Vinamra Srivastava *
The sports meet was announced
quite a long back but the enthusiasm built up only gradually. The thing is that
at this place if you (a fachcha I mean ) wants to take part in any extra
curriculur event, you got to be mentally prepared to manage your time to the
absolute second and be ready to put in the extra effort so as not to sacrifice
on studies, which you really can't afford to.
Eleven sports were scheduled in
all, that carried points and the rest few were just fun games like Frisbee (the
IIM-A sport) and Tsepak (the IIM-B sport). The selections for all sports had
started long back and even though the fachchas found it tough to manage,
the response was pretty encouraging. I won't say the practice was up to the mark
in most of the sports, but considering the severe time constraints we all work
under, I think we did a decent job in getting as much practice as we could
barring a couple of sports.
The meet was scheduled over three
days and was the first in the Sangharsh Series which I hope both the institutes
carry on for years to come. Kudos to both the sports committees for getting this
event off the ground.
The IIM-B team arrived on friday
night/saturday morning and lo and behold!!! What do we see... They have prepared
special T-Shirts for the event that read: "Let's teach those nerds how to
play ball." Holy cow... if they thought that we were some pushovers who
don't know anything else other than academics, they were sadly and badly
mistaken! That very instant our resolve to beat them was strengthened and we
were all pumped up to prove them wrong.
Man, what audacity... in a way it
was good for us because it got us going in full tempo. The tournament
kick-started with Cricket. I have to accept that their team and preparation was
very professional and even though we made a decent total, they chased it quite
comfortably. Full marks to them... The overall score line (IIMA-IIMB) read 0-1.
We knew they were on a high after
the victory and the second event planned for that day was Badminton. We knew we
have to win this one to get level and we couldn't afford to let them get away
with two wins on the very first day. We heard they had a national level player
but our resolve was made of steel.
We had faith in ourselves. We had
hired a wooden court in a club outside campus. Slowly and steadily the crowd
built up minutes before the start of the game. By the time the match started,
the court was full of supporters, shouting slogans and cheering the team. The
enthusiasm was seen to be believed... Every point that we got was met with huge
applause and the standard tempo shouts.
There were Singles / Doubles /
Mixed Doubles matches planned for both men and ladies. We lost a hard-fought
first Men's singles but after that it was WIMWI all the way... We demolished
them in all the other games and the final score line read 6-1. We had got our
revenge, our entire sports team got a huge morale boost with this comeback and
we were all geared up for the next two days. The overall score line 1-1.
Before I go ahead, I just want to
mention that I represented IIM-A in cricket and badminton, and won my badminton
Singles match as well. I may goof up in the order of some of the events from now
on and I hope the WIMWIAans and IIM-B people reading this would excuse me for
that.
Tennis was next in line that took
place at WIMWI campus way late into the night, after midnight. Now we have a
class player in our team and we were confident of winning... and that's what
precisely happened. We beat them by a heavy margin and there was no doubt all
along who was dominant. So by the end of Day 1, we led them 2-1.
With every win, only one thought
occupied our minds... to make them eat their own words of what they wrote on
their t-shirts.
The next day was the most hectic
one as majority of the events were lined up on that day. I may not be able to go
into the details of all the other sports as I wasn't physically present for all
of them, but briefly, here is what transpired...
IIM-B beat us in Chess, which I
was told went to the final seconds, ditto with Swimming, where again the finish
was very close but we lost. However, we got our revenge in Football and Snooker.
We won Football handsomely by 4-1 if I remember correctly. I am told it was a
clinincal performance and I have no doubts about that.
Before this match, our football team had played a couple of matches in a
tournament at NIRMA University and had won by margins of 9-1 in both the games.
We later went on to win the tournament comfortably and defend the title.
In Snooker as well, we inflicted
a heavy defeat on them with the star being our very own PGite Anubhav Kaul. Both
Football and Snooker, just like Badminton and Tennis, were almost one-sided.
We also went on to beat them in
Table Tennis, again pretty heavily (6-1 again, if I remember correctly), so the
WIMWI team was on a roll and with each victory we moved from strength to
strength. The support we got was awesome and the constant tempo shouts kept us
motivated in all the events.
By the evening, we led 5-3 and we
knew one more victory and we would be the kings!!!
The next event in line was
Volleyball and the court was jam-packed with all the supporters. We had a garaba
night that time on campus but the noise and enthusiasm was so much that people
left their dances and came to the court to cheer WIMWI. The environment was
electrifying to say the least. We had prepared two banners as a response to
their t-shirt and held them all throughout the match to show them who's better!
I won't disclose one on a public forum but the other read: "Sangharsh 2006:
Another Chance for You to be the Second Best."
We beat them heavily in
Volleyball as well and there it was!!! The Sangharsh Trophy was ours. We led 6-3
overall in a 11 event tournament. The crowd support was awesome to say the least
during the Volleyball match. There was sledging going on as well and the tempo
shouts knew no ends... we just kept on going and going...
The remaining two events were
only for academic interest... Basketball and Throwball (Ladies). I have to say
their Basketball team is awesome indeed and they displayed a thorough
performance to rout our team... But the real tension and sledging was going on
among the supporters... two factions had formed and what sledging... Oh god... I
wouldn't have been surprised had things gone out of hand... But maturity
prevailed and finally all was peace.
The final event was Throwball the
next morning which we again won very comfortably... So there it was a perfect
end...
IIM-A Beat IIM-B in Sangharsh
2006 by 7-4
In the closing ceremony, their
Sports Committee President acknowledged candidly that they came here with the
intention of teaching us a few things but underestimated our potential and
didn't realize we would be so good...
I have to appreciate his
statement and his maturity... A very gentleman like ending to the Sports Meet
and we all appreciated his frankness and maturity by giving a huge round of
applause.
All said and done, kudos to IIM-B
for putting up a splendid show despite the tremendous home support we had...
Hats off-to you guys!!! We hope to have a good time next year as well when we
visit them.
Personally, it was a super tough
but exciting week for me. I am a big sports freak and had not played a single
sport in the first term. And hence, I grabbed this opportunity with both hands
and was ready to put in the extra effort to do something which I love. Plus
doing something apart from studies finally at WIMWI was thrilling.
It was tough. We used to go for
badminton practice at night from 9.00 pm to 11.00 pm to the club... I would come
back and mug for the next day... and then wake up again at 5.30 am to go for
cricket practice... It was taking a toll on the body but my mind was relishing
it.
The tournament was so very
exciting. The feeling of cheering your team mates and college on the sidelines
of the court... Those tempo shouts, this time not of Section A or Dorm 23 but of
WIMWI... the feeling of unity and spirit... of being a part of the WIMWI
family... I have to accept all this got me emotional... I felt proud of being
here, being with everyone, fighting for my college and sharing all the ups and
downs together.
WIMWI showed great spirit and
proved yet again that it's the best, be it academics or sports. But what
mattered to me the most was the strong bonding I reinforced with the institute
and my tuchchas... from holding up the college banner standing on an iron
railing... to shouting, "WIMWI ka tempo high hai" with the entire
college...
... the feeling is exhilarating
to say the least.
