Magpie Part - II

Continued from part I ...

Seven years later, standing here now in my own ice rink I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. All these years of persistence by both of us had paid off. Looking back, the struggle was like a jigsaw puzzle; rummaging around for our pieces of dream and putting them together. Soon after we got married, we came to Dubai for 6 months to know how the whole concept works. While I took a crash course in ice skating, Aish went around meeting important people, making useful contacts in this business and securing agreements for future assistance. We presented our business plan to a few interested parties and it eventually resulted in a tie-up with a group involved deeply into this.

Things weren’t easy after that for the ice rink in the mall concept hadn’t seen daylight back home. This was where some our precious contacts came to use. We were lucky to get a place in the upcoming theme park in the capital. We got the loan but had to wait for a year for the theme park to complete and start attracting people. So another year of patience and things began to look up.

All this while we had been giving numerous presentations and had infinite discussions with the top builders interested in erecting malls in the city. Delhi and Gurgaon were beating themselves in the contest for more and more malls. With luck on our side, in the December of 2012, we got the DLF properties interested in this concept. They planned for two state of the art ice rinks, one each in west and central Delhi. We got the contract of operating those ice rinks. So for two more years we had to hold on.

All this while, our ice rink in the theme park had generated immense thrill among the visitors. A lot pf people had expressed their desire to have more of it. I now had a team of 4 super trainers as we called ourselves in the company. It was more of a friendship as we shared the same passion for this sport. Clubs were formed. Some major shows were organized. Delhi now had its own ice skating culture.

On April14, 2014 Delhi got its first Ice Rink in one of the biggest malls of the city. The ice rink was now a major tourist attraction in the capital. We put in all our efforts to create active participation by the shoppers. Few classes were also started for those very keen about pursuing this sport. We encouraged and invited the experienced skaters to take up part time coaching here while also improving their skills. This proved to be a big hit during the school and college vacations.

As I was thinking this I could see Aish at the entrance directing the students of our ice skating academy for the rehearsals. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for all of us. With sponsorships from a lot of sources, we have invited the finest of the coaches to choreograph and train our students for an ice skating performance that promises to leave each and every soul present there, breathless. The last ticket I was holding – Presenting an extravaganza “The Magpie” … 31st December 2017, 10 pm at “The Capital Mall” ….