If anyone ever needed a definition of "multitasking" they should monitor my life over three weeks,i.e. the one gone by and the two to come.
It all started with a leisurely walk into the chess room of my college,where I turned up for the trials for the college team.I had given up on playing chess since my 7th standard and then started playing here online,just for killing time.Till my second year I didn't even know that we have a chess team and trials are held for it.Last semester I managed to get into the substitutes of the third year chess team and was lucky to get a game because Harsh,the person who re-ignied the passion for chess in me,had to pull out at the last moment. It was 14th Feb,2008 and I lost the game after taking the lead.Not giving excuses but my mind was somewhere else,after all I expected(and probably deserved) a better "Valentines' Day" than that nightmare.And ultimately it was my defeat that cost us the tournament,as we lost by a score of 1.5-2.5
Anyways,this year I desperately wanted to give it a shot for the MIT Chess team and thankfully I have improved my game and I was unbeaten in the first round(forcing a draw in 1 and winning 5 of a total of 6 trial games).The captain, Abhimanyu Sangwan(the Grandmaster of our university) was skeptical in picking me(as he should be) because I was outscoring a few big and better known players.However,I played innumerable rounds and finally he was convinced to take me in the "A" team and handed a part of the selection responsibility for the other teams on me.
It was last Tuesday when we had inter year tournament and I played the game of my life to help my team win it.I guess none of you have ever played a game of chess(leave alone on a 5 minute timer) so there's no use trying to explain you the thrill and pressure to avoid defeat at the hands of a first year guy when you're on the backfoot.That victory really set me up and the joy on the face of my teammates was the biggest satisfaction for me.That blitz-krieg prompted me to try my hands in the "Best Individual Player" competition which was to be held the next day and,to my delight,I stood second in that.Harsh,the deserving second placed candidate was third(which was unfortunate) but such was the draw that I didn't get to play him.
So,moral of the story is that the agony of costing my team the title the previous year is mitigating.It would have been nice had my so-called sports freak friends turned out to watch the games(about which I had duly informed them) but then,when they could not come to my cricket games because it was held "under the sun"(at a ground where everyone except the players can sit in the shade) it was too much to expect from them,given that it collided with their dinner time.They wouldn't even know the result had I not told them and I am sure some of them still don't know it,neither do they care.
Moving on to another of the many happier things,I was delighted to get my end sem exam schedule yesterday.I know it sounds weired but I have a reason to be elated.My brother's wedding is on the 30th of November and my exams are from 21st nov to 4th dec.But,the good news is that I don't have any paper on 30th Nov and 1st Dec, which means I'll get around 48 hours to make a u-blink-and-you-miss-me trip to Delhi for that,which was seeming impossible.
The Infosys campus connect program is starting from tomorrow and it'll occupy me for 90 minutes,4 days a week.Add to that the seminar that I've to present tomorrow,for which I've been working for a week.Once that is done with,the chess evenings would reasume and it'll be time for some serious games,as we'll be practicing to defend our title of MAHE Chess Champions in the Inter Mahe Tournament,on 13th and 14th sept.
Then the preparation for the second sessional would start and this time I'll have to perform better so that I can relax a bit in the third test(which has been a dream till now).
All in all,it's been a busy semester till now,with a couple of parties thrown in here and there by my friends to keep me going.I don't know how long these good and busy times would last but I'm loving it like anything.It makes you thing that you're actually not sitting idle whole semester and putting on weight.
SORRY TO THE WHATEVER FEW READERS WHO STILL ARE PATIENT ENOUGH TO VISIT MY BLOG FOR NOT GETTING BACK TO YOU.I'll be back soon..
