Jashn 2009

It all began at 3:00 pm on 30^th November 2009 while we left office to head towards Andheri Sports Complex which was the glorious venue for Jashn 2009 (Official annual event of my company). Cutting the noon traffic of Mumbai city we reached the destination at 4:30 pm. The sun was mild and we were amazed as what it could be like.

After reaching there, we got our hands stamped and made an entry. After freshening ourselves, we started to hunt for some snacks. As soon as we started to hunt, there were innumerable platters in front of us. Though helpless, we then tried out almost every item which included chat, pani-puri, ragda-puri, dosa, uttappa and so on. Juices included mocktails, fruit juices, pina-coladas, soda juices and so on. My company has many offices in Mumbai itself. So, being at Jashn meant having to see all other people from other offices as well. After a bit of 'people' hunting and a mouthful of snacks, we decided to settle down. Initially we took the last row in the first section. But very soon, I shifted to the front with one of my friends. The hosts for the evening were Jaggu and Tarana (some TV star). They started with some light jokes, some small games and very soon the event was officially commenced by lighting the Jashn 2009 logo by fireworks.

The jury for the evening composed of wives of the TOP management as well as a couple of other biggies. The evening also had the grand presence of Paul Hermelin (CEO of Capgemini), Salil Parekh (CEO of North America and Asia–Pacific operations – also known as the 'King of the World') and Baru Rao (CEO India and a VP). The evening grew by some subtle jokes, speeches by the biggies and the dance performances. Not for a matter of doubt, Mumbai team won the national dance competition. Also, not to forget to mention about the speech by Paul Hermelin which, I am sure attracted the audience. He was narrating an incident about how, during the initial years of Capgemini, many big people in India had in a way or other worked for Capgemini. He also mentioned that NR Narayana Murthy once worked for a company in France (much before forming Infosys and much before when he worked for Patni) which later was acquired by Capgemini, so in a way, NRN also worked for Capgemini for which Paul Hermelin was a proud man. This narration, sort of bemused me as I am a big NRN fan right from my Infosys days.

As time passed, the hosts announced the guest of the evening and he was Shankar Mahadevan. It took him 30 minutes to make an appearance. During the meanwhile, all the stage was being set for his band and troops to perform. He made a grand entry by singing a religious song and then many of the famous Bollywood tracks. Within few minutes of his appearance on stage, the crowd took its toll towards him. The bouncers and the security guards had a tough time to keep the mob away from him. He took the entire audience at the ASC up high on his vocals. Many exhilarating tracks from Bollywood movies like Don, Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On, etc were presented before the audience. He introduced to his band in a never-seen-before way. He used to sing a raag on mike, and the same raag was then followed by the octopad player. The same followed for keyboard, drummer, lead guitarist, bassist and the tabla. It was breath taking and I was truly impressed by it. Andheri sports complex was the very place way back in November 1996 when the Mumbai crowd and all rock and pop fans witnessed the King of Pop – Michael Jackson perform in front of an audience of around 70,000 people.  When seeing Shankar Mahadevan performing live in front of you can be so amazing, I just could not sum it up what it could be like to even see Michael Jackson. Forget about him performing in front of you. A few girl fans were also reported to be fainted just by his sight. He is truly an immortal legend.

After few hours of his music, people started to scatter in search of dinner. There was a huge variety of dishes. I stuck to a few spoons of Chicken Biryani and then ice-cream and gulab jamuns. It was late in night when the crowd began to walk back towards their homes. So, we also decided to walk back to our buses by bidding Jashn 2009 a sweet adieu.