Cultural Day

The Cultural Day performances took off, true to the name 'Parwaaz.'

The 89th FC batch showcased their acting, dancing, singing skills, keeping the audience captivated for close to two hours in the first cultural event for this course. After the lamplighting by the senior faculty members of the academy and a spellbinding rendering of a devotional song, a skit depicted the travails that the UPSC Civils aspirants undergo both before and after crossing the academy gates. This was done through the use of mythological characters. The result was that the skit was the undoubted attraction of the evening. Few notable and popular characters were Narada, Shiva and Yama. The others contributed their best to deliver an entertaining programme.

The lady officers of the batch took us through a quick tour of a Bollywood heroine's evolution from the 1950s on till date with the help of illustrative dances. A jugalbandi between the ladies and gents team of clever, modified Bollywood songs was entertaining if a bit long. There were recitals of shayari, English and Urdu poems, a group dance, a group song (Dooba dooba!), a solo guitar performance-all were memorable. 

Kudos to the OTs who participated on stage and to those behind the screen. Kudos too to the comperes, they kept the audience engaged. Overall an evening well spent.

This batch truly deserves the tag 'Rainbow Batch.' If this were the preview one looks forward to more such scintillating performances in the future for India Day and other cultural days.

The cultural event was followed by a dinner hosted by the course faculty. There were a variety of savoury victuals that could have sated the most gluttonous OT.

Photographs of the event may be posted at a later date depending on their availability from fellow OTs.

Rainbow Batch and the Registration Day

Registration day did not disappoint from the perspective of form filling and form submission. Everyone was each other's surety/witness/kindred soul and other things.

I wish I had Google Glass on. It would have been a cinch to ID a person. To ease the process, one is required to wear the identity card on person at all times.

The stairs and the steep slope has me huffing and puffing by the time I reach the mess. How did we manage to get so out of shape?! Now, it is a full fledged ego war between me and the stairs. It is a Kung Fu Pandaesque situation. If I stop looking at the stairs as plain stairs and and imagine in their stead delicious wafers arranged as steps, perhaps I may yet climb them. Or I would be biting in to them. Or I might just roll down from the mess all the way to the hostel. In which case the Indiana Joneses of the batch may well be advised to dodge the Rolling Stone.

I had a sneak peak at the gym and the badminton, tennis courts. The gym is as they say, world-class. There were many plans made for paying a visit to the said place at the earliest and every day at unearthly hours. I see myself visiting it only in my wildest dreams. Good luck fellow OTs with the gym plans.

Probably in an indication of things to come, a lovely rainbow adorned the sky as the day drew to a close. Was it a sign? I would like to call our batch of 89th FC the 'Rainbow Batch.'

Registered a rainbow on the Registration Day

The batch is diverse and it is a good thing. However, the North East seems to be under represented. Correct me if I am wrong.

Talking of signs, while on the way from Patiala to Mussoorie, at an unschedule road side stop, one of our party came across two fat cobras 6 ft in length, it seems. And that, according to him, was a good sign. Perhaps he was currying my favour. I would have liked to know for whom it was a good sign. For him for seeing? Or for me for not seeing? That then is a glimpse of the vast underbelly of superstition. It should be cut and the entrails of ignorance ripped out.

Where were we?

The premises look spic and span now. Workers were seen putting few last minute touches. Mud was being scooped out of the grooves in the pavement. Railings were being wiped and wiped again to a fine sheen.  LBSNAA is fully geared up to host the visiting dignitary tomorrow. Us OTs (Officer Trainees) are expected to turn out in the ceremonial attire- a white/black Jodhpuri suit for the gentlemen OTs and saree for lady OTs.

The batch celebrated the birthday of a fellow OT and it was a fine occasion to get a taste of the esprit de corps (and the birthday cake) that I hope will come to define our batch, the Rainbow Batch.