FROM THE PENTAGON...

Drawing an analogue to convey the magnitude of the situation in IIID where multiple battles are fought simultaneously is one thing. (Of course, I feel like a General reporting from Ground Zero!).To get slapped across the face with eye popping synonyms to match the fantasy is another. Imagine, on September 11th I find myself at the Pentagon! Refer Wikipedia. ‘Pentagon is the seat of the military of the US’. Nick name – Ground Zero! Well… we are not at Arlington exactly, but this small cottage named ‘Pentagon’ by Architect Gayatri Shetty at Soorya Samudra, Trivandrum is no less a General’s office than our Big Brother’s, more so now as the venue of IIID Special Summit EC 06! Lo, the entire top brass is here – the President, (actually in a ‘white’ house), his Council and the Chiefs from Chapters and Centers in barracks all around.

September 12th – the D-Day! Too much on the agenda. I am nervous; (But ‘intelligence info’ is that the image is of a curtly rude overconfident General. My foot! But then, that is how Generals are in all the novels I have read). How to get all these brave hearts in line for the meeting? Drills! Yes. I order. Jogging on the beach 6.00 am, yoga 7.00 am, extreme PT and what not? They fared at every count. I caught madam Tanuja perched on one leg, leaning dangerously forward, one arm stretched to The front, head held high and eyes fiercely locked ahead. Last time I saw something like this was a picture of Anjaneya carrying a mountain with ‘Mrithasanjeevni’ to save Laxman and thus a war. Well, declaring IIID Anchor Awards against all odds in time was Mrithasanjeevani itself for IIID! Hats off!

‘Hello, can’t you see the red flag? You are not supposed to go there (unless it is a suicidal mission)’. Manish from Natcon Platoon climbing up ‘the steep cliff and the rocks! Just before I cry out, ‘don’t do anything stupid, we will manage’, he sits and starts meditating! 400 registrations handed over, complete with cheques, in style before even a single brochure is printed? Hey, with his God kind of hairstyle and height, he can easily be our Krishna, the mastermind of Operation Imagine and ‘Sarathi to Arjun’ too. Arjun is from the Indore contingent; in charge of winning 2000 registrations. Well, the chariot is on its‘yatra’ fighting a battle as epic as Kurukshetra for ‘Taking Design to Masses’ and leading us all to where ‘Pragati’ awaits at Indore (Chairperson).

The outcome of EC 06 the summit and the month together with immediate future may be taken ‘as your share of bullets’. For me, the highlight was the President’s address at EC – a real speech balanced with applauds and apprehensions. Processes are in place, progress is steady. We are all good at IIID’.