The blog camp organised as part of IIT's Mood Indigo festival was an eye-opener in many ways.
I treasure my Sundays and going 30 kilometres to deliver a talk (hauling a laptop and bag weighing a few kilograms) is not my idea of spending a quiet Sunday. Hm. But I did. As I wrote in a post below, I dressed up in a round-neck tee-shirt and jacket and showed up. Well, it had its moments.
Ramya (Idea Smith) is the only person I knew and the sole contact point. She very nurturingly gave me instructions about the Powerpoint, the organisation, the basic ground rules by email. Netra the other contact person is away in Ahmedabad and she called me to give me directions to IRCC, which sounded a bit like IRCTC (which is where I do my railway bookings).
Mercifully IRCC (Industrial something... something...) is nothing like the unpredictable IRCTC (which has a habit of cutting me off mid-booking and asking me re-log-in, or, sometimes stating rather bluntly, "Train list not available."). IRCC is a quiet – though old-fashioned – building set in the IIT campus to which I walk through a tree-lined road full of banners of sponsors of Mood Indigo. I have heard great things about Mood Indigo, that it's the largest festival in Asia, that it's organised by the best minds of the country.
At the registration I try to schedule my talk early, before people go to sleep. I am told to speak to the organisers. So I hunt for the organisers and am met by Ramya. She schedules my talk for 11:45 a.m. and tells me that it – the schedule – is flexible and can be changed. I agree.
When I enter the auditorium I see that most of those present know each other. There are knowing comments and secret jokes passing back and forth. However, Moksh Juneja is a good compere and wonderfully guides the speakers. When the sessions start with Meeta Kabra and Harpreet I too join in to comment as I don't want to seem like a spoil sport. I find the energy quite infectious and a welcome change. Also, I didn't know there were so many serious bloggers in Bombay (incidentally, IIT is still IIT, Bombay, I don't know for how long).
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