Friday, October 10, 2008

Numero Uno: The Ice Breaker

As the eventful day 1 was about to see the twilight, a motley crew of 22 individuals had gathered at the tranquil surroundings of the the CafĂ© Coffee Day Outlet here at IIM Bangalore. The event was to help the contestants of Numero Uno – the hunt for the next CEO, to break the ice over a cup of coffee (whoever had come up with the idea!) and get to know each other better. These contestants will be pitting their brain and brawn against each other over the next couple of days vying for victory, recognition, ‘phootage’ and of course a fat package of INR 150000 at the flagship event of Vista 2008.

As our very own ‘awesome big fat guy’ and ‘uber cool intellect with an accent’ got on with the proceedings, things went on as hoped and we were able to break not just ice but probably a big iceberg of uncertainty and anticipation brewing within the minds of these brilliant managers. All the participants were asked just one question – Illustrate the stupidest thing ever done by you! We bring some of the interesting snippets from the conversation.

· Quite a few of the participants had found themselves at the other side of the law in their lives including one who was picked up from a shady movie theatre during a raid in one of the morning shows whilst enjoying a ‘off-beat’ motion picture! And trust us when we say this, the experience in lockup was not very pleasing. Also, one of the contestants is a self confessed Kleptomaniac (read: shoplifter). Trust these blokes to lead their MNCs as CEOs in the future :)

· As many of us would agree, interacting with a beautiful soul from the other sex is not a easy job. We got to see a few more who shared this syndrome. One person ate a plate full of hot pepper to impress the elusive one (we wonder how that would have helped anyways?). Another one got the neighbour’s dog sick enough to throw up on his mom’s favorite carpet when he fed it 2-year old stale beer. One is still regretting the day when he turned down the lady of his dreams when she had proposed going to a rock concert together. Well, these situations do make you do strange things. But this strange? Are we missing something?

· As luck would have it, one of the ladies had the joy (?) of saying ‘I love you’ to a zillion strangers. We wonder whether she found any ‘loved ones’?

· One of the guys, also while at a shady theater (what’s with the choice of entertainment with these people?), ran into the ladies toilet. This leak did prove to be very costly for him.

· We also realized that one of the participants really needs this money by all costs because he apparently lost INR 96000 (rich parents or good job?) in a bet! We just hope he can spend an equivalent amount on treating people if he wins the trophy.

· One guy experienced a severe case of mistaken identity when he went on stage to collect a prize meant for a lady! Even the chief guest was confused with such antics.

On a less lighter note, we found a good number of fellow bloggers, some poets, a karate master, a world traveler and theatre personalities among this group of highly talented people.

All said and done, the evening was well spent getting to know the participants in a informal manner. And since we always plan for contingencies, this time it did prove fruitful when the rain gods forced us to move indoors in middle of the interaction. We hope this session will help the contestants stay cool during the next couple of days when they shall be competing against each other in myriad events, testing their business acumen along with mental and physical strength, to be crowned NUMERO UNO!

Get ready to be blinded by awesomeness as you witness 22 personalities battle it out for fame and glory

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