Well, if you ask me one thing which I can do my entire life
24 x7, the answer will be …play sports again and again and I was lucky to find
MIT, with a rich sporting culture. Be it the departmental events, the inter
college events like SUMMIT; the college shared a rich tradition of sports
unlike many other colleges.
I still remember the first prize distribution ceremony which
we had at the gathering, the way MECHANICAL went upstairs to collect their
trophy for the departmental championship and from my bottom of my heart, and I
wished we would be there sometime.
I remember that we missed the trophy by some points when I was
in second year. This was our final year now, the last attempt at the prestigious
cup. I knew, alone I can’t do much, but the way ECE was building up with sportsman
was phenomenal and we wouldn’t have any better chance than this .
Training and practice started, we made all sorts of
calculation. We had a good volleyball team and if we could get past mechanical
in the quarters, we were expected to win and get full points. Sourabh and
Kushal were leading us in volleyball. We were also expected to win the cricket
since more than half of the player in MIT, were from ECE. We were underdogs in
table tennis, carom, football and basketball. I was associated with all the
games except table tennis and football.
Finally the day had arrived. We won an easy first game in
volleyball and were supposed to play MECHANICAL. We had this sort of cold
rivalry between us. Sanket was a big tall guy and a good smasher and our plan
was to somehow make him play from behind. It was a close one, but we won the
first set. In the break, we saw Sanket getting furious over his team mates.
Good crowd had pulled in. There was support for both the departments. The
second set began, we made our mistake but the opposition was worse. The quirky
comments from our supporter made it more worse for them. There was no one to
make ball for Sanket and that proved the deciding factor. Finally we won the
final point when he hit the ball across the far line.
Rohan Jagtap and all came running to hug us. We were all
down, shouting and cheering. News came from the background that our table
tennis team is also doing good. Atrey was leading us there. We know our close
competitor will be the mechanicals, so we were targeting them.
Badmintor had a lot of events and a lot of points to play
for. There also we had Pranit and company who represented MIT. Badminton was
the only game involving ladies .Pranit used his wits to schedule matches in
such a way that ,both the opponents reaching final will be from our department hence giving
us that extra point for both first and second place. The calculation was all
made. Everything was relying on cricket now. We somehow have to win against
mechanicals to win the trophy.
Because of student parliament, the venue for the match was
shifted to MANIT campus of MIT. It had a beautiful lush green cover and was
better than many national grounds. Both of the team went in a winger. We had a
nice time chatting with each other.
We won the toss and went to bat. Sourabh Kataria and Tejas
lead our way. The batsmen played well .I along with Tomar hit 2 sixes and the
total was decent enough to defend. Mechanical dropped a too many catches. We
bowled well, with Sanjeev taking the crucial wicket of Bipin. The required run
rate got a bit high and the team collapsed to the pressure of chasing. We won
the game. Celebration began!!
We were supposed to play semi-final against Civil the next
hour. We lost that game. Someone in the evening called to inform us that, the
final points from badminton are out, and we lead by small margin.
Yes, we have won it.
I had a dream of winning the trophy from first year. It took
us 4 years, but finally we made it. It was a great team effort; I must say and
would like to thank our then juniors for the jubilant performance they showed.
Without them, it wouldn’t have been ever possible .
It was time to get the rewards for our efforts. Our teacher
threw all of us, a treat. We all waited excitedly for the prize distribution
ceremony. Finally, one the day it was announced.
“May I ask the ECE DEPARTMENT to come to the desk and
collect their championship trophy”..
We all went running and howling. The feeling was amazing. We
pulled everyone with us, no matter if they played or not. I never knew what it
would feel to get an Oscar or a Nobel Prize, but for us, the feeling of lifting
the cup was no less. We all went to the stage, clicked a lot of snap, kissed
the trophy. We took it back to our department shouting and singing all the way.
It felt awesome. I guess no individual success can give you
such happiness, like winning a team thing. Isn’t that’s the beauty about sports.
We made a collage of the teams involved and framed it in the department. We
were THE FIRST BATCH TO WIN THE TROPHY FOR ECE…we created history!!
It’s been a long time since that event and it will feel a
little weird if I go back now and thank to everyone involved, but as we say it’s
never too late. I would like to thank all of you for the efforts you put in. It
was really one of the happiest days in life for me.
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