AXIS'17-'18: A Roller Coaster Ride!
11th November 2016, 6PM.
I was in the parking lot, walking back to my vehicle to go home after spending the day in the college. In the dark and shady parking lot, I accidentally saw a couple intensely making out. Realising that someone just saw them, they stopped and looked back at me, making the situation really awkward. I quickly took my phone out in a desperate attempt to unsee what I had just seen. I started to walk by them checking my messages and pretending nothing had happened. And suddenly, I stopped. I was shocked to see 30 messages, all congratulating me. I was like, What's this?... I scrolled down and there was a group on which a senior had posted an image, I opened it and saw my name listed in the Core Committee of AXIS'17! We didn't know it back then, but this group of 13 were in for one heck of a journey. Our seniors told us to come to Katta as soon as we could and this was our first meeting as AXIS Core. Many things were told, many experiences shared and the meeting ended with an advise which stayed with us for longer than we had expected. "No matter what happens and how much shit you find yourself in: load/13, forever."
We gave our endsems, finding it difficult to concentrate. The December vacations were spent on video calls and conference calls, bonding with each other and having fun together! We then became a part of our first event together: Yearly Alumni Reunion (YAR). It was great fun! When we came back to the college, our lives had changed. Even going to the canteen to have a cup of chai did not end without me hearing people murmuring AXIS Core behind my back. We started meeting daily in secret locations in the campus and bit by bit started planning our AXIS. We were under extreme pressure, each of us had a list of things to complete and our meetings became more intense day by day! And why wouldn't they be, it was January 2017! Our event was barely 8 months away, nothing mattered more than what happened on those three days: 23rd to 25th September 2017!
In the next few months, the foundation of AXIS'17 was laid down. A rough plan was ready, a rough timeline was made and work started for building our brainchild. Time was flying! We were shocked at how fast weeks were passing by! By the end of that semester, we were a well-oiled machine. As the summer vacation started, it was time to put ourselves in the 5th gear and work like we had never worked before, or was it?
Little did we know, a decision had been taken in VNIT's Corridors of Power that AXIS was to be shifted! Six months into the nine-month journey, we were told that we had to work not for three, but for nine more months! We were shocked to hear this. But we were determined to reverse this decision! After all, student opinion matters in this Institute of National Importance, right? LOL
I wouldn't even want my enemies to go through what we went through in the next few months. The group of 13 college students who were planning and executing an event was suddenly in-charge of figuring out structural changes to a 17-year old legacy. Everything we had planned, everything we had put in for the past 6 months was a waste. Instead of the 5th, we went into reverse gear. We now had to plan all over again! This tested our strength, rigour, and endurance! Fatigue started to creep in, we had been doing this for way too long. This was the worst period of my life.
But this is the time when I realized why we were AXIS Core! If it were easy, anyone could do it! We came together, our bond was stronger than ever, our conviction stronger than ever. Through many highs and lows, we powered through. Solving one problem at a time. Contrary to the last time round, time was moving excruciatingly slowly. On 23-25 Sept (the days of our previously planned AXIS), we felt heartbroken. What had happened with us hurt us a lot, it still does.
Notwithstanding all the negatives, we were planning again, thinking of the new AXIS again. It was so much harder this time around! More months passed and just like the last time, a timeline was prepared, a rough plan was made and nothing mattered more than what happened on those three days: 23rd to 25th February 2018!
We started with an Ethical Hacking Workshop in November. A year after we were appointed, our AXIS was just getting started. Overcoming all our problems, we were determined to show everyone the best AXIS they had ever seen. The December vacations went past in a jiffy. The next sem started with our series of announcements leading up to AXIS! VNIT's first video lecture by a Nobel Laureate, Nagpur's First ever Josh Talks Conference, ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition and what not. We had thought of hosting a Summit at our AXIS, something which was a far-fetched dream! But we were relentless in our pursuit and to our surprise, we were able to pull off getting so many people to come to VNIT! Everything was going great.
But the Problems ka Pitara, what one ex-Core called AXIS, had a couple of more tricks up its sleeve. Our Chief Guest for the inaugural function, Dr. Vijay Bhatkar fell severely ill a week before AXIS and messaged us that he won't be able to make it! We were heartbroken again. That news was followed up by a meet of intense discussions to decide what to do next! We decided to send a doctor from Nagpur to Pune and see if he can accompany him to Nagpur under his watch, but alas, it was not meant to be! But we had back-ups ready for such an event and started executing our Plan-B. But that was not it! A day before AXIS, when our organizers were preparing to put on sponsors' banners, the Core Committee was in the Green Room. Our international artist who was supposed to perform on the second day had cancelled. We got ourselves back up again like we had done a million times before. We divided work and managed to secure a Stand-up Comedy show on one day's notice!
What actually happened on the three days of the fest is a blur memory. And just like that, our AXIS was over. AXIS was tough. But it was definitely the best thing I could ever ask for! I'm blessed to have a team like ours and am definitely grateful to God for making it tough, kyuki aasan AXIS me maza hi kya hai!
I was in the parking lot, walking back to my vehicle to go home after spending the day in the college. In the dark and shady parking lot, I accidentally saw a couple intensely making out. Realising that someone just saw them, they stopped and looked back at me, making the situation really awkward. I quickly took my phone out in a desperate attempt to unsee what I had just seen. I started to walk by them checking my messages and pretending nothing had happened. And suddenly, I stopped. I was shocked to see 30 messages, all congratulating me. I was like, What's this?... I scrolled down and there was a group on which a senior had posted an image, I opened it and saw my name listed in the Core Committee of AXIS'17! We didn't know it back then, but this group of 13 were in for one heck of a journey. Our seniors told us to come to Katta as soon as we could and this was our first meeting as AXIS Core. Many things were told, many experiences shared and the meeting ended with an advise which stayed with us for longer than we had expected. "No matter what happens and how much shit you find yourself in: load/13, forever."
We gave our endsems, finding it difficult to concentrate. The December vacations were spent on video calls and conference calls, bonding with each other and having fun together! We then became a part of our first event together: Yearly Alumni Reunion (YAR). It was great fun! When we came back to the college, our lives had changed. Even going to the canteen to have a cup of chai did not end without me hearing people murmuring AXIS Core behind my back. We started meeting daily in secret locations in the campus and bit by bit started planning our AXIS. We were under extreme pressure, each of us had a list of things to complete and our meetings became more intense day by day! And why wouldn't they be, it was January 2017! Our event was barely 8 months away, nothing mattered more than what happened on those three days: 23rd to 25th September 2017!
In the next few months, the foundation of AXIS'17 was laid down. A rough plan was ready, a rough timeline was made and work started for building our brainchild. Time was flying! We were shocked at how fast weeks were passing by! By the end of that semester, we were a well-oiled machine. As the summer vacation started, it was time to put ourselves in the 5th gear and work like we had never worked before, or was it?
Little did we know, a decision had been taken in VNIT's Corridors of Power that AXIS was to be shifted! Six months into the nine-month journey, we were told that we had to work not for three, but for nine more months! We were shocked to hear this. But we were determined to reverse this decision! After all, student opinion matters in this Institute of National Importance, right? LOL
I wouldn't even want my enemies to go through what we went through in the next few months. The group of 13 college students who were planning and executing an event was suddenly in-charge of figuring out structural changes to a 17-year old legacy. Everything we had planned, everything we had put in for the past 6 months was a waste. Instead of the 5th, we went into reverse gear. We now had to plan all over again! This tested our strength, rigour, and endurance! Fatigue started to creep in, we had been doing this for way too long. This was the worst period of my life.
But this is the time when I realized why we were AXIS Core! If it were easy, anyone could do it! We came together, our bond was stronger than ever, our conviction stronger than ever. Through many highs and lows, we powered through. Solving one problem at a time. Contrary to the last time round, time was moving excruciatingly slowly. On 23-25 Sept (the days of our previously planned AXIS), we felt heartbroken. What had happened with us hurt us a lot, it still does.
Notwithstanding all the negatives, we were planning again, thinking of the new AXIS again. It was so much harder this time around! More months passed and just like the last time, a timeline was prepared, a rough plan was made and nothing mattered more than what happened on those three days: 23rd to 25th February 2018!
We started with an Ethical Hacking Workshop in November. A year after we were appointed, our AXIS was just getting started. Overcoming all our problems, we were determined to show everyone the best AXIS they had ever seen. The December vacations went past in a jiffy. The next sem started with our series of announcements leading up to AXIS! VNIT's first video lecture by a Nobel Laureate, Nagpur's First ever Josh Talks Conference, ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition and what not. We had thought of hosting a Summit at our AXIS, something which was a far-fetched dream! But we were relentless in our pursuit and to our surprise, we were able to pull off getting so many people to come to VNIT! Everything was going great.
But the Problems ka Pitara, what one ex-Core called AXIS, had a couple of more tricks up its sleeve. Our Chief Guest for the inaugural function, Dr. Vijay Bhatkar fell severely ill a week before AXIS and messaged us that he won't be able to make it! We were heartbroken again. That news was followed up by a meet of intense discussions to decide what to do next! We decided to send a doctor from Nagpur to Pune and see if he can accompany him to Nagpur under his watch, but alas, it was not meant to be! But we had back-ups ready for such an event and started executing our Plan-B. But that was not it! A day before AXIS, when our organizers were preparing to put on sponsors' banners, the Core Committee was in the Green Room. Our international artist who was supposed to perform on the second day had cancelled. We got ourselves back up again like we had done a million times before. We divided work and managed to secure a Stand-up Comedy show on one day's notice!
What actually happened on the three days of the fest is a blur memory. And just like that, our AXIS was over. AXIS was tough. But it was definitely the best thing I could ever ask for! I'm blessed to have a team like ours and am definitely grateful to God for making it tough, kyuki aasan AXIS me maza hi kya hai!
Teamwork makes the Dream Work!
AXIS'17 AXIS'18.
Ritvik Joshi,
Core-Coordinator,
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