Saturday, October 17, 2009

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” ….

Magpie - Part I

It was a Sunday morning. But for me it was not much different from any other day. Seven years year ago I had decided not to be a part of this so called corporate world, leaving my family in a slight quandary. All this while, they had tried their best to give me a direction in life. I was put in a good school, prepared for a top engineering college and had then landed up with decent job. And then the direction changed.

The year I had spent during an MBA course was more like a contemplation camp. Away from my family once again, thinking what and whom to value most, I had acquired enough peradventures about the right way of living a life. The proclivity towards risks has subsided early on. What were left were the memories; some painful recollections of the once vivacious and vibrant dreams. Like a magpie, I had stashed lots of them within me, believing all of them will be true one day.

While most people in the college knew what they wanted next, I simply watched the time go by. It became an unusually favorite pastime; watching the sun set from the hostel’s balcony and hoping for a revelation to strike at some odd afternoon setting the course of my life. The effort to hold on to the dreams had taken its toll. All paths would bring me back to where I started from. Things which made sense one day lost their meaning the very next day. Mere thought of them was repugnant. It became increasingly difficult to believe in something and above all myself. I had chosen to follow a different direction but I didn’t know what it would be.

They say that if you really want to know your passion then look back at your childhood. The thing which excited you most then would be ‘it’. And I knew it all along. The desire surfaced so many times. Each time accompanied with hope and anguish. But I never had the nerve to hold it up against the squall. Each time I turned away from it towards the assigned direction, my faith in self would fade some more.

This went on until a mundane visit to a mall, The Dubai Mall. There, the Ice Rink. And therein, The three performers. What they performed in unison was simply breathtaking. Many people stood by to watch and admire. No acrobats, just simple movements of hand and body stirred by the cadence. It was dance no doubt but that was ancillary, what was primary was the free spirit. And that was what which riveted me to the spot for a long time. I could see in them an open sky; feel an unlimited expanse of emerald green grass, breath a fresh a whiff of extremely pure air … It was so liberating. I was as if staring at my soul. The direction changed that very moment. The signpost of my life now had a destination. My own ice rink and an ice skating academy...

.....contd in part II