We woke up by 5 next morning.Deepak, Sajeev and Amith were there with us at the hostel. We again faced a transportation problemo. We were going to my home again.We walked all the way to Madanmukku from where we succeeded in getting an auto to my home. We were to try and to extricate the darn pc's HDD.No one was up at home.We set a glorious precedent for prospective robbers by jumping the walls with professsional ease.We tried in vain to get the HD out.Having given up, we proceeded to school where some batchmates like bachu and jowin,govind were trickling in.
By 8 the sun was up and blazing.It would have seemed a joke that if we mentioned that we were out in the precarious rain the previous night.Everything was NOT ready.Prakash Food Products were supposed to get their stuff here by 8.30.Suraj,supposedly our chief accountant, sauntered in by 8.45.Mereen and Geethu, who wouldnt miss a class were in their places to assist their belated chief by 8.As always the girls from the hostel were there to help. Finally the food came from Best Bakery,the drinks from PFP and the ice-creams from Amul.All items were priced at their respective MRPs as we had decided(in defiance of the policies followed both by our predecessors and our unscrupulous successors) that we would not resort to rapacious profiteering and would make do with the margin that our distributors gave us.Everybody proudly wore their respective badges.The auditorium was thrown open exclusively to our seniors, the ISC-2004 batch ,to function as a restaurant where we had tables and chairs and on-demand music(for a sum of two rupees).Jamie, our melody queen manned this part and did an excellent job.the restaurant was quite popular and it was called 'La Gourmet'(I think it was Preethy's suggestion).We had the princy come in and inaugarate the stall.We gave him mango juice. suddenly everyone clapped and Joseph Mathew sir stood there wondering whether to drink the thing or not.
The show was on.We had customers trickling in.The restaurant was a hit.That year I was vice-captain of the Green House.Only once did I visit my house's tent. I was so very preoccupied with the stall's functioning.Most of the newcomers of our batch were asked to sit at the counters. What is so special about MTRS is that all newcomers find it so very easy to jell with the others.Our batch wasn't any aberration either.Sam Chacko was a new entree, popular for his eccentricity.He surprised me by his dedication and concern.He also helped by giving a lot of valuable suggestions.Sam Thomas (Shaam),was in charge of the Rupees-three-a-piece "Ice-candy", a branded euphemism for a "sip-up" which we procured for 1.75 Rs. and it surely was our biggest hit.Unfortunately, the Amul dealer hadn't the requisite stock.We could have made a lot of profit through that venture even though we hadn't any exorbitant margin.Quantity was where we could score.This was where we couldn't capitalise.In fact this was our biggest flaw.We had ordered what seemed would be reasonable amount but then that was two weeks ago when we hadn't anticipated the postponing of the stall. We didnt show the managerial acumen to walk upto the Amul outlet and tell the guy of the developments.Therefore the current imbrglio.
In the run-up to the day of the stall, we did not witness any pervasive participation.that is why it surprised me when every single person was so very concerned on the day of the stall.The girls led the way in breaking the inital lull which i must say was also quite a surprise.
It was turning out to be a runaway hit when we realised we were short on supplies.By the time supplies arrived we had already sent off two dozen disappointed prospective customers.The day was nearing close.We had SUP, Rachel miss, SVK and Suja miss (our class teachers,thats what they say) to help our accountants with the money. SUP ,as usual, was right on the money(no pun intended), with her characteristic efficiency and no-nonsense to the fore.So then it was pack-up time.Vinay,Sajeev and the girls helped with the cleaning-up. I, judicious as ever, volunteered to settle some matter with Amul(and stay away from the 'dirty' work).Vinay it seemed was totally dissatisfied with the way everyone was involved in the delivery mechanism. he suggested that on the ensuing day we would make do with select guys for delivery.
The following day by 8, I was in school. We were warming up for the second day's sale.The bundle of notes were recounted(i think).It had been placed in the safe custody of the girls in the hostel. Vinay made an announcement that we had suffered a loss of 4000 rupees.I was devastated.So was the rest of the batch.I couldnt make out were we lost such money.He cited inefficiency and mismanagement as prime reasons.I kept pondering all day how we could lose money that ran into thousands.We were really on stilts that day--Vinay's announcement had done the trick.Everything (except Best Bakery's punctuality) was impeccable.We had periodic announcements at the gallery.having run out of the 3-rupee-ice-candies we made do with the five-rupee-ones.We never expected it to click.How could you?When you had 300ml lemon-sodas at Rs.6, whichlunatic would buy these?However we did find some though they weren't as much as we would have liked.
In the meantime we had to placate Joseph Mathew Sir who was disillusioned with the restaurant.He had asked us to close it down immediately as it had ensured that none of the Std 12 students were on the ground.We coaxed and cajoled and finally got him to comply.
Vinay meanwhile had pledged not to eat anything during the time that the stall was on.A lot of us drew inspiration from that and confined ourselves to the consumption of drinks.
That night, some guys stayed back till about 8 o' clock.We had some lemon-sodas(which were
tabbed).John who was mastering the art of breaking open a soda bottle all day failed here.The mouth of the bottle broke instead.We were contemplating adding that to John's tab when Mathew,the genius, put forth hisscientific views.Since lemon-soda is also carbonated water under pressure, when opened, the gushing gas makes the possibilty of the glass pieces making it back to the bottle almost nil.With his unflinching faith in science rearing its face once again,we washed our hands off him.We even stated that we had no hand in his death if it happened.But Mat/Mathai/Mathy, the eternal patriot and science and history buff , took the bottle and gulped down the whole drink to the last sip.Then he looked at us and smiled characteristically.That night still gives me a feeling of warmth every time i think of it.
The following day Vinay broke the news that the 4000-loss announcement was all bogus. The aim was to drive home a wake-up call.For the second day in a row, I was taken aback.Jowin broke down.He was aghast that Vinay should have concealed the plan from efficient-him.Vinay tried to pacify him but Jowin wouldn't oblige.I lost track of the drama that ensued.We had the last day's sale that day.Although we had been told not to order foodstuff for the day,we defied directions and went forth with our predilections, which ultimately proved beneficial. In the meantime there was a staff meeting going on in the auditorium, which more specifically was a send-off party to Baby miss and Rema Pillai miss.We struck gold when Joseph Mathew sir ordered mango juices for all the teachers.
Eventually it was time to wind up.Having settled all the bills,we had a quite time by the tree in front of the auditorium.We bought ourselves some chips from 'Chinchus' near-by,sponsored graciously by Jinta's mother.We went to the hostel and had a good time throwing papers and pens at each other.Finally it was all over.
ASTELA FEASTA was surely a cherished episode for all of us.For us it was the epitome of camaraderie.The fact that i can recollect so much even after more than 3yrs speaks volumes in this regard.ASTELA FEASTA will hopefully be etched in MTRS history as a venture that provided (pesticide-free)products at the most reasonable rates that you'd ever get them.Here's to wonderful memory!!!!
PS:I must have left out a whole lot of events and incidents and people involved.Plz attribute that to my poor memory(something that even a religious consumption of Brahmi has not been able to cure)
