Well.. it says.. "when u want something badly, desperately, the whole universe conspires to
help u get that.." I don't know how badly we all wanted OCCKolkata to grow and do well, but
if the way things are progressing and growing has anything to do with our sincerity.. then we
are really doing great as a team to make OCCKol the next best happening meet possible in
Kolkata.
We had our second meet on Saturday, 29th August.
Here's an account how the second meet went :
I started off early as I wanted to reach on time. A slight goof up and I ended up reaching
Park Street almost 1.5 hrs prior to the delayed start.. spent some not-so-cosy time in Oxford
bookstore in the a company of a good-looking babe by my side on the couch, who gave a
irritated look every time I tapped my feet to the rock number that was being played around.
To both of our comfort she left in 15mins, and after 10 more mins, when I was done
with going through the book -"The Director's Mind", I left too, and walked towards PS CCD, with a lot of hope in my mind.
I entered and found it to be more than half-filled, but I knew I was the first one there to
represent OCCKol. In 15 mins, Sumit dropped in.. I was wondering where others are.
Mitesh arrived in around 10mins.. and 3 of us did the initial technical setup work.
Internet was working but the bandwidth sucked big-time.. we focused on having HTML
mode Gmail, and mobile twitter ! Saikat followed soon, and so did the diminutive Sumana !
Promising Prachi, and decked-up Asmita joined in, while Manish and Pawan dropped in for a
short while and left for some work again. PS CCD buzzing with constant footfall, the management wasn't really very amused with folks chatting and discussing with 6 laptops wide open. We had a short discussion with the manager, and after Manish & Pawan returned, Mitesh & Manish went to have a look a Wood St. CCD.
In this phase we had a short discussion (read: debate) on crowd filtering, and HR folks coming
to OCCKol.. We rallied around each others' points and sometime opposed it too. At the end it
wasn't clear who was supporting whose view though… One phone call and we all packed our
stuff and moved our technical *** out of PS CCD.
One thing's for sure, we're not considering PS CCD as a venue anymore.
As we walked into WS. CCD, most of us instantly liked the open air seating, and those
unwilling few who were sulking moving out from the AC interiors soon had a change of mind.
The techies again quickly did the unwinding part of the stuff and configured the network pretty fast, and in 10mins we had wi-fi laptops enjoyin' fast smooth internet access at our leisure !
Then we had a short intro session, where each of us spoke about our work and current
endeavors. As it finished, people started finding allies.. "I have something to discuss wid u",
"Hey, can do u do this n that"... "I think I can send u a link which should help".. were typical
dialogues heard here n there ! As the day progressed, we lost track of time and spent quality time with each other discussing projects, possible helps, each others' past, background, obstacles and goals..
The complete list of people are:
Sanjib, Sumit, Mitesh, Saikat, Sumana, Manish, Pawan, Prachi, Asmita, Amitav, Shougata, Arunava, Bibash, Pankaj.. (I guess I'm missing out on two names..)
Amitav left early, so did Asmita, followed by Manish and Pawan... (the blokes didn't follow
the lady.. they just left in succession :P) Prachi who was later joined by a friend of hers, was
seen having a busy discussion wid Sumit, who was earlier spotted having a cozy chat-time (or
so) with Asmita.. as twitted by Sumana !
Mitesh and I had sporadic discussions about a number of things.. and I discovered a few
things about this upbeat lad.. most interesting of which was his liking for the 50's Bengali
'chart-topper' - "Ei poth jodi naa shesh hoyy" from the 'blockbuster' - "Saptapadi" !
Prachi left around quarter to 9, and Sumana had a friend who called, willing to give her a lift.
We initially didn't want to be 'qabab-mein-haddis', but then joined her in the white Safari on
our way back. Sumana, Sumit, Mitesh, Saikat and I were the last ones to leave.
We had a great day, followed by a better evening. A lot of experiences, exciting enough to
make u comeback for more.
And as Sumit posted in his first-day experience, I now know why it was so, as I too ended up munching a 'lounge-burger' only after 6PM. I was hungry, but OCCKol gave us a lot of food for thought anyway..
OCCKol is rocking already, and I believe come Wednesday Sep' 2nd, it would be an equally
memorable experience, all over again :)
