Emcee-ing @Office

An article i wrote for my company's internal magazine, probably no one read it there - so trying it out here

:-) anyways, this seems like a good place for keepsakes.

About 200 pairs of eyes staring. Almost all of them way too eager for the show to start - actually roaring at the two emcees present on the stage. This is the point at which I had to enter. As the co-host. For the first time ever in my life, I was compering a live event. Whew.

Scary, right?? No way…scary doesn’t even begin to cover what I was feeling at that moment. I was horrified. Mortified. Dumbfounded. It took every ounce of self control I had to not tremble or collapse there, and every iota of confidence (which my friends wrongly believe I have in plenty) I could muster to deliver the two lines I had been practicing since the past two days. I took a deep breath, looked at my co-anchors, felt the weight of the faith that Team Samskruthi had shown in me, braced myself (I could also have taken lord’s name, but I am not much of a believer, or did I? can’t remember) and lunged forward. All in the span of a second or two. Funny what an adrenalin rush can do to you - moving things in slow motion is just a side effect. After that, it wasn’t exactly piece of cake, but I still managed to control the butterflies in my stomach reasonably well, if not completely :)

I am talking about Fashion Fiesta - the launch of Samskruthi’09 on 28th August in Indore. The rumor that a fashion show is going to be held (for the first time in my office in Indore) was in the air for quite a while and became news when nominations were invited about a fortnight before the event. Like everybody else, I was also thrilled at the idea of watching friends and co-workers walk the ramp from some sheltered corner amongst the audience. But that was not to be. After a week or so, I was asked, or rather, informed that I would be the emcee for the show. And the preparations began. Thinking of a good introduction was a major challenge. Not that the rest was easy….it took a hell of a creative brainstorming for the three of us anchors to come up with each and every concept (which was of course already tried and tested in various national events) - the na-real awards, questions for the contestants, brain teasers for the audience, and what not. That was fun, real fun…thanks guys…I owe you one!!

The show was a great success, thanks to Team Samskuthi @Indore, amazing music arrangement, hilarious skits by the Musketeers group and most importantly, the wonderful participants and senior managers for their special "tapori" walk. Not to forget the enthusiastic audience who kept the momentum on from the word go. I can’t help but feel a bit proud that I too in some way was a tiny part of this magnificent evening. Thanks everyone for letting me be!!!