My inter IIT Journey - Part 4 (2011)

 2011 proved to be a bigger challenge than 2010. We had won the title, now we had to keep it. We were faced with 3 major problems: 1. Moot dropped out of the institute and joined a sports science course in DU. Bala passed out of the insti. ISI had to do a 6 month intern. The 3 of them were worth 9 points (3 silvers). Lalu wanted to focus on acads and placements the following year and so he left the team. I became the new captain. The first task was to find replacements for Moot, Bala and Lalu. The replacements were not expected to perform on par with the seniors and the rest of us had to make up for the lost points. And I had moved into the next weight category- from under 62kg class to under 69kg class. And so I had to fight even harder to get a gold in the heavier class.

Practice in the even sem wasn't very good. It was in the odd sem that we upped the ante. Moot was very seriously missed. It wasn't just the points, but his general attitude towards the sport, the level of psyche he brings into his lifts. Dropping out of IITM to take Sports Science in DU says something about the guy. Without Moot and ISI, my enthu also went down slightly. And then there were 4 new guys in the team- Manoj, Prudhvi, Devendra and Vinayak. Venu, Riyaz and Sai Chand had to be left out of the team.

We introduced Weightlifting in Sportsfest, and we managed to win the Gold. I actually gave one of my worst performance, second only to my performance in inter IIT 2009, but luckily there were no other good lifters in my category and I won Gold. Then, we also participated in Chennai District competition, where our team came second in the amateurs class. I got a silver there. Since Moot left, me, ISI and Vikrant were the guys competing against each other now. Then came Schroeter. It wasn't as good as it was in 2010 since we had already reached a good level and our lifts started to saturate. In trying to break my personal record, I lost the “Best Lifter” title I held in 2009, 2010 to Balaji. The new guys were promising, but they were not ready yet to make their mark in inter IIT.

Main camp came, and this time it was Asif's turn to get injured during Main Camp. Other than that, our practice was going good. We stopped playing cricket in the mornings. When Moot, ISI and Vikrant were in the team, we had a great time, lots of fun. With ISI busy with placements, Moot not in insti and Vikrant busy with his end sems (IIIT had end sems during our main camp), the general attitude of the team towards inter IIT became more serious, more desperate and less psyched. The time came to leave for IIT Kharagpur. In train, I didn't have as much fun as I had the previous 2 years, but it was still very good. Kharagpur was a proper village and that became very clear when we went in the bus from the railway station to IIT Kgp. I guess I saw some 5-6 hospitals in the route, and very few general stores or such other shops.

This inter IIT was more about living up to the reputation (I held all 3 records- Snatch, Clean n Jerk and total life, in the under 62kg class), retaining the gold and guiding the juniors in the team. I was the captain and I'm a 4^th year guy. This time too, there was one major problem. ISI was busy with his placements. He said he would come in time for the competition. He very well might have ended up having an interview on that day. We just hoped that he'd come on time.

The first few days were not that exciting. We didn't want to do anything crazy till our competition ended. We rarely went for cheering. We spent most of our time watching other teams practice, looking out for the best lifters of each team. I don't know how friendly the teams in other sports are, but in Weightlifting, all members of all IITs are good friends. Especially IITM and IITB teams have a good relationship- we meet the team and talk to their coach, we peace out, we encourage each other and we cheer when someone's lifting. No team puts RG to the lifters of other teams. Everyone encourages everyone else when they're attempting heavy weights. And at the end of the day, we're all like “abe yaar, bahut improve karliya tu ne bhi.. congrats dude, see you next year... is baar to theek hai, lekin next time to bahut fight hoga is medal ke liye..”

Our competition started, in the best way it possibly could. Balaji put Gold in under 56kg. It came till the last call and he managed to complete the lift. And then in under 62kg, Dilli came 4^th. The guy who came 2^nd in under 62kg was after my records. He broke the record I set in snatch- mine was 73 and he did 75kg. And when he did that, the referees called me on to the stage and made me congratulate him- probably the first time something like that happened in inter IIT, and it felt good and bad at the same time. Good since it was acknowledged officially that I held a record, and bad because it was broken just the next year. He couldn't break my other 2 records though. That was day 1 of Weightlifting. ISI was still in insti when Balaji got Gold. He got placed that afternoon. He took the next flight to Kolkata, got on a train to Kharagpur and by the time he reached our hostel, it was about 4 AM. He didn't get any sleep and the competition started at 12 noon.

On day 2, it was under 69kg first. There was something interesting about that category- captains of IITB, IITK, IITH, IITG, IITKgp, IITD, and of course myself, were all in that category. And the competition started- my best competition ever. For he first time, I had to put fight for the medal, and I won it. I had to fight for it in inter IIT 2009, but I screwed up. I was 1kg down in snatch, but it didn't matter, I knew I was too good in Clean & Jerk. I just waited for the rest of the lifters to finish their calls. I had to do 98kg for Gold. I did it. I had a slight back pain I had gotten during warm up and I was a little hesitant in attempting 106kg (which would be a new inter IIT record), I wanted to go for 100kg and be done with it. Then it flashed across my mind that I already won Gold and even failing in that lift or a minor injury would mean nothing, I had lots of time to recover, and I went for it. Ofcourse, there was encouragement from everyone, my team obviously, IITB team, and also all other competitors from other teams. And I broke the new record, created a new one.

In under 77kg, ISI did the best he could. He could only manage a bronze. Considering he didn't practice at all and he was totally exhausted, it was a commendable feat. On the 3^rd day, it was above 77kg. It finally came down to this- both Manoj and Asif had 2 calls left for each of them. If one of them lifts one call, the team gets gold, or we'd be tied with Bombay. In the first attempt, Manoj lifted 87kg, and we got our gold and that's how our story ended. I was also the 'Best Lifter' of the competition. From 2008 to 2011, I came from being a new kid in the team to the captain of the Gold winning team in inter IIT.

When our competition was over, we had realized that Kharagpur was a totally free place, you could smoke right on the roads inside the campus. You could booze too. There were a couple of bars right outside their main gate. I'd just say I made good use of the freedom they offered- after all, I deserved it. And what better time to enjoy the freedom than when celebrating with the team and friends?

The night after the competition, we decided to check out the prison cells and the building beside it, that was supposed to be haunted. We visited that place 3 times and had a lot of fun. It would take too much space to describe it here. The rest of inter IIT was spent a little passively. Winning Gold was not very ecstatic, it was only relieving, like a job well done. Everyone gave their best, it was like a perfectly executed plan. They had very good rasgullas and gulab jamuns for only 4 bucks each in a store which was near their version of GC. We spent our time eating, enjoying, and watching other matches. The hockey team- Milli joule, Ganpathy, Bala and others, joined us in the peacing out and enjoying the freedom part. Especially, ISI and Meena were always in “high spirits”, being placed, final inter IIT and all. And there were some junta from the Athletics team too- Suspi, Kass, Praveen,etc who would often join us.

We won Gold in TT. I couldn't see the match, but I heard that the TT finals was one of the best ever played in inter IIT, Gopal, IITM's captain beating Delhi's best player (I think). Like our team bounced back in 2010, Baski team thulped in 2011. The Basketball final was a treat to watch, our players totally dominating the opposition (and we also had a lot of fun cheering). Unfortunately, the footer team lost to IITK when the Kanpur team played 2 illegal players who were just too good for any inter IIT team (IITD won gold and our team actually beat IITD in the leagues). Volley had a bad run, losing to IITKgp in semis, but they managed to put bronze. In Hockey it went to penalties again. I think Ganapathy finished it, with his funny but extremely effective shoot (or whatever they call it). And then on the last day there was Athletics.

Teacher (Siva Teja) told us that we had to put Gold in 4x100 relay for us to win GC. Me, Asif and Milli Joule (Amit Mastud) were sitting there. We didn't win. We lost GC. We started walking out of the stadium, trying to get out as fast as we can so that we don't have to come across IITB junta shouting and taunting. We were almost near the stadium exit when we saw that our insti junta were celebrating. Confused, we ran back, and we heard “Who won the GC? Madras! Madras!”. It was a great feeling to know that it was actually us who won the GC. Teacher had actually bulbed in counting the points of IITB. In the end, we won GC by 0.5 points. And that half point was because of March Past. This time again, when the GC was given, the contingent ran with the trophy on the athletics track. But I didn't, it wasn't the same feeling as we had in 2010. This time it was not excitement, but a silent pride and relief.

And then there is one more thing I realized in inter IIT 2011. Students from all IITs fight it out, literally, on the field. We taunt and abuse. But when its all over, no one cares about all the rivalries. When inter IIT was about to end, every guy from every IIT we met on the street was very friendly, everyone has the same feeling. We're rivals only on the field, but off it, we are not. The sports sec of IITB said that he did some crazy shit during the matches but that was all in the heat of the moment and we all shook hands and left. Then we met some Roorkee guys and we talked like we were old friends meeting after a lot of years.

I guess the insti Weightlifting team is the biggest part of my insti life and it has made me what I am now. I must thank the hockey team, Saurabhnath, Suspi, Kass, Praveen and especially Meena and Millijoule for making inter IIT 2011 as memorable as it is. I'm really happy that the fifth estate gave me the chance to let me describe my experience. Inter IIT truly is the best part of my insti life.

And this for the inter IIT contingent:

~~~ Ale maangdo... ha, hey hey … hi hi, hi hi.. ha hey hey, he he he... ~~~~