October – The Roving Quill

The past month has been such a rush.

Ever since I got back from home, I was welcomed by an avalanche of work-related madness.

There was the first Indian Grand Prix which the whole team was excited about. From the moment we pitched for the account, and won it, we realised that this was the biggest event that the country would witness in this year.

Frequent drives to and from Greater Noida, being caked in dust and dirt at the circuit, numerous press conferences – each one surpassing the previous in its magnitude, helping the client to shift offices to spending some hours simply doing nothing were a few of our experiences building up to the most important motor sport event to be held in the country.

Although at several instances we felt that we were in hell or some place really close to it (the three continuous working weekends, absolutely exhausting travel schedule, the excruciatingly uneventful days where we did nothing but still had to be present to list a few), the closer we got to the main race days, the adrenaline began to shoot up. It began to sink in as to how huge the entire affair was and what an experience this was going to be. I felt immensely privileged to be able to walk on the circuit whenever I wanted to, stroll along the pit lane peeping into the individual team garages, be present at the paddock area which was star studded with celebrity sportsmen and all kinds of glitterati and most importantly to be a part of some kind of history being made for this nation. It was such a feeling to be at the venue and watch Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and legends of Formula 1 amble around the paddock area, the Ferrari girls in the brilliant red outfits and the oh-so-many beautiful men from teams, media and goodness knows where!

The three race days (October 28 – 30) were madness extreme, with us reaching the circuit before 7 am and leaving by 9 pm or later, meeting a bunch of new people – making so many friends, dropping dead once we returned home, updating BBM statuses like psychos as celebrities stepped onto the Buddh International Circuit, staring at the huge screens as the racers took their final lap and cheering for Sebastian Vettel as he drank champagne out of his trophy! Followed of course, by the craziness of results declaration at the media centre and the incessant printing and collating and stapling of relevant documents and volunteers running across the premises to get the right announcement in it the correct pigeonhole.

Once it was all done on the Sunday evening, there was this sense of relief and accomplishment as everyone slumped down on chairs, couches, the floor and any place they could rest their poor tired feet.

BIC and memories, in pictures – what an October it has been 🙂