Way 2 Mumbai.....

In anyone's life there wud be many ordinary days which wil be easily forgotten and also there wud be days which thrive in our memory always....Jan 11 2008 was one such day 4 me.....d alarm had really alarmed me as i woke up without making quite a fuss to find dat my dear friend Ashwin already awake and staring out of the window into the blackness....I was in the train 2 Mumbai and one can make out wid some difficulty d staggering skyline of Mumbai the city.The day irrespective of its outcome,marked an important journey in ma life..I was 2 make,along wid Ashwin,a presentation of ma paper in IET International Conference dat was dotted wid delegates all over d world...I was not greatly worried abt dat cos i was pretty sure dat even if i flop(on which i was quite confident i wud)it wud not be known 2 anybody I know as an alien 2 dat place!!!Finally we got down at Dadar at 4.45 am and was promptly picked up by my cousin brother along wid his wife inspite of d oddity of the time wen we got down ....He welcomed us wid utmost care and joy and helped us get into his brand new Honda City which was already chill wid d AC turned on....We went to his house in Guregaon,had an hour of sleep filled wid wierd dreams like being chaced by some foreigners wid clubs in their hand!!!!We wer woken up by 6.30 and by 7.30 we wer ready to plunge ourselves into an adventurous game in which we had very little experience and of course very little success.We tuk an auto to the hotel "The Grand" located in Sahar Airport Rd,Mumbai and made a "I feel myself really clumsy"sort of an entry into the hotel.Once into it I immediately realised that we wer d only young ones goin 2 do d presentation apart frm another girl whom i later came 2 know was doin her 4th yr:(...So i really did not hv any expectations abt myself.Infact i expected myself to make d funniest presentation.But still in d bottom f ma heart I wanted 2 perform well and justify d money ma parents spent on me,their prayers and all d troubles ma bro undertook 2 make ma stay in Mumbai cosy and enjoyable.Me and ma frend wer given a ID card,a bag containin several magazines(all scientific 2 ma disappointment :( ... )and their own magazine wid our paper being published in dat....we felt great!!!Then we wer all given refreshments ,a brief talk frm the Head of IET and by d chief guest and by d time they wer finished I found myself searchin 4 a suitable spot 2 attend d nature's cal....It was also d day of me experimenting 4 d first time wid paper and i found myself feelin really awkward....The presentations started wid a gr8 hype and d people wer either professors pursuin PhD or working a reputed company....each paper was followd by a gr8 length of ques and ans along wid heated exchanges knit beneath d skin of professionalism.D lunch break came and ma heart was beatin in ultrasonic frequencies.D chief guest 4 d noon session was frm NASA and he was talkin blah blah blah.Suddenly one word or infact two words which he spoke froze me 2 death...those wer "Shankara Narayan".....followed by ma frend's name.Suddenly we stood up and each and every pair of eyes was focussed on us and I cud feel their stare penetrating deep into ma body....D chief guest asked us 2 sit in d chairs meant 4 d VIPs in d dias and only d table ahead f me prvented others frm seein ma trembling legs.He asked us 2 give ourselves a short intro abt ourselves and ma brain was searchin each and every cell in it 2 remember my name which was uttered by him only a few moments ago!!!Finally i managed 2 pluck words out of ma mouth and i myself proved d theory f relativity wid relative ease as i founds that 1 min to be like 1 hr.Then d chief guest took over ans spoke abt NASA missions and d few min I sat in d dias pumped me wid energy and confidence.
We wer den asked 2 present our paper and as pre discussed wid ma frend it was me who initiated d presentation.I started wid;Dear Ladies and Gentlemen....."and went on presenting d paper til my first part was finished....I did a fairly gud job having spoken wid confidence and authority inspite of having a tornado inside ma stomach.Den Ashwin took over d responsibility wid utter ease until he made us look like clowns wen he managed to shut down d computer which was projecting our slides!!!!An odd comment frm d front row made everyone laugh but he recovered brilliantly to twine dem wid his speech.Finally I completed d rem part f d presentation like a "walk in d park" even though I felt it was more like a "walk in d dark"!!!As soon as i finished ma speech der was a gr8 applause frm all over d auditorium and d feeling within me dat time was undescribable.I felt greatly relieved and was overjoyed when we wer congratulated rite thru our way 2 d seats.During a break after many no. of presentation follwin ours we wer congratulated and swarmed wid ppl havin doubts...I found many delegates talkin abt our project and i cud not forget d moment wen one f d foreigners saw us ,came towards us and bade us well wishes.He was very keen to talk 2 us and asked abt how we came up wid d idea....He was never ready 2 believe d fact dat we finished d entire paper within 5 hrs!!!And d next day wen our paper was announced as the "BEST PAPER" in d sec day of d conference we wer on our way back 2 chennai and never really cud digest d reality of d fact!!!!!!