Apart from the day I celebrate my birthday, January 6th is one of the days I look forward to and is quite a special day to me. With three
close friends of mine celebrating their birthdays on the same day, 2017 gave me
another reason to remember the 6th of Jan, each year!
Montage
2017: Celebrating Student Shots, my college’s first student short film festival
hosted by the batch of 2014-2017. It sure is a moment of pride to dwell in the
idea that we have started a trend and a chain that will only get bigger year
after year. It is rightly said, Inspiration can come from anywhere, I don’t know
what good the Goa tour I took last month with my group of friends has done to
me, other than giving us the chance to experience the fun and the thrill of a
film festival. Films and movies have never been my forte or my area of
interest, but the only reason that excited me to do something this huge in a
time frame so little was the fact that it involved ‘people’.
I, as a
person enjoy working with huge groups of people, and the idea of a short film
festival just highlighted the biggest prospect it had: Team effort. Although, having studied for three years in
the same class, I unfortunately couldn’t build a bond with most of my
classmates. I never found the time to sit and have a decent conversation, other
than while having to prepare for exams, ‘coz notes are something just one among the 80 of us had. But, more importantly I was a lot more involved in my
own clique, than I should have been!
The idea to
actively take part in this Short Film Festival is a decision I really take pride
for. It’s just one of those feelings and moments of realization, that no matter
what, this show would’ve been a huge success, but to be a part of it and to reminisce
over every learning curve and every never ending discussion is just a beautiful
feeling, and something I would have definitely felt sorry for having missed.
Sometimes,
risks give the biggest high I don’t know if that is true and I don’t know if
beginning to prepare for a national level event just one month prior to the big
day counts as a risk. For us, especially for me, it was the most exciting thing
I have done in the last couple of months. Right when I was feeling a lack of
excitement and a drop in my spirit, Montage came disguised in jubilance. From
designing banners to writing content, from chart work to shopping, from sending
over invites to inviting chief guests, from convincing people to register to
social media promotion, I have never seen my class unite and set everything in
place.
With two
wonderful teachers who stood by us, giving us the liberty to experience and
experiment and giving us the freedom to take decisions, I have never felt more
responsible. The biggest learning that Montage has given me is to take
ownership and I can bet that is was the best way to learn it. January 6, 2017
was the big day. Mistakes did happen, there was chaos, little confusions and so
many more, but to wash that all down, we worked as one big team, each one
taking responsibility for everything they could, each one rising to the occasion
and each one putting their best foot forward.
 |
| The Girl gang! |
I have
actually spoken to people, I never did in three years and now I can say I have
a good lot of friends with whom I have memories and who mean something to me. I
can look back and smile at all the little inside jokes we had and the samosas
and teas we shared. Of course, nothing, nothing at all beats the rush of
excitement and happiness at the end of the event. It was overwhelming to
imagine the success of an event I took way too seriously and personally, and I can’t
thank my friends and my teachers enough for letting me be a part of this grand
show.
With hectic
preparations since a month, tons of decisions, thousands of phone calls and so
many WhatsApp groups, I don’t know if I will be able to cope with the sudden
monotonous and uninspiring days ahead of me. Again, inspiration can come from
anywhere and I am on the lookout!
One month
into 2017, and I can already feel a sense of satisfaction and happiness. I am
almost positive 2017 is going to be a great year!
