The Conference

Hosting a conference turned out to be quite a massive affair. A week later, visit this site treatment I am still lost buried beneath the aftermath exhaustion as well clearing up the bills. In between, pulmonologist I took off to Delhi and took a well deserved holiday. That accounts for the long absence on the blog.

Mercifully, more everything in the conference went off with clock-work precision that would make the Swiss proud. True, there were minor goof-ups. In fact, on the day the guests were to arrive, there were several of them (largely thanks to the hotel, who otherwise were extremely good but somehow things went patchy on that morning) but we managed to douse all fires and before the biggest bulk of delegates arrived in the noon we had done the clean-up. When they entered the hotel’s porch, everything was settled the shehnai-and-dhol-and-nagada-wallahs whipped up a resounding welcome note, the girls from the hotel in bright red sarees showered fresh petals, and the cool welcome drinks were served meticulously.

When the hotel fell in step with our energy and demanding levels, the weather played truant. We had prearranged a night cricket match to build up excitement. Before the last over could be bowled the skies suddenly ripped apart and the rains washed away any hopes for the beautifully arranged pool-side dinner. Considering that it was May (and burning hot and not expecting rains) we had been a bit lax in not keeping a back-up venue, though the hotel’s machinery worked pretty fast to provide us dinner at their regular boufet in the restaurant. But mercifully we didn’t need it as the showers stopped as suddenly as they had begun, and we enjoyed a peaceful dinner by the wet pool-side.

The next day I pestered the hotel to keep a back-up arrangement, since the venue for the gala dinner was again an outside lawn.

Early morning was earmarked for Taj Mahal visit and from the bus parking to the monument, we had booked eleven tongas to ferry the delegates, with banners of our company pre-fixed on them. They made a quaint sight as the caravan moved the short distance of about a kilometer or so.

The day passed in lectures and meets, though frankly I didn’t sit through much of it since I was moving around trying to see that no loose thread stuck out sorely. It didn’t. Except that as the evening approached a sandstorm threatened to ruin our grand gala ghazal nite dinner. We had a back-up, but that would have been an awfully low-key compromise. My selection for the dinner was a beautifully kept lawn, surrounded by well trimmed hedges; on one side, there were couple of steps on which water flowed (with colored lights in it), and beyond this was a sort of stage where the ghazal singer would sit. Even though I hadn’t seen the effect I could imagine that it would be absolutely beautiful.

We requested our chief to delay the dinner a bit so that the storm could subside, else we would have to do with our back-up. Mercifully, the wind relented and everything settled down. The dinner passed off without a hitch. Perhaps the biggest success of any party is the way people enjoy it and when guests get up to dance even on some ghazal, you know you have a success in your hand! The ghazal singer, Rajinder Parekh, employed by the hotel, has a mellow voice, with just the right tinge of Jagjit Singh’s tenor and the sound system was of superior quality. A magician, that I had liked when I had visited the hotel scouting for entertaintment options, regaled with his few tricks at each table.

By the time the guests left the next day (after a lunch arranged en route at Vrindavan that s why I was there the other day when the monkey episode happened), we were all terribly fatigued and couldn t stand a minute longer on our feet.

In the end, it was worth all that effort the conference was a success, and I am sure people in our company will remember Agra for a long time to come!

6 Responses to “The Conference”

  1. Manish says:

    That must have been an awesome affair for your guests, and nice but tiring experience for your guests. I do have slight expereince of doing similar stuff at college cultural festivals – and agree that in the end its worth the effort. One derives immense satisfacton from the success!

  2. Mehak says:

    WOW!! The conference was a HIT with the delegates……mehnat safal…now, back to daily updates DJ..plisss

  3. mink says:

    Hi ,intersting but would have loved if you writen more about TAJ and the weather……no one written about TAJ in the rain. Still you made me think about it.Thanks

  4. Manish – Oh yes, it was extremely satisfying

    Mehak – Trying to find that rhythm again…

    Mink – Warm welcome to the blog 😀 The weather in Agra is HOT HOT HOT! The rains were an anomaly. About Taj, have mentioned it earlier in a travellogue.

  5. gaurav says:

    bhai..
    bahut accha narration hai..felt as if i was there during the whole affair!!

    ab samajh main aaya us din subah subah kahan bhage jaa rahe the!!

  6. Gaurav – Thanks 🙂

    And yeah, that’s where i was off to. The day started off bad, but settled by noon -Thank heavens!

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