4 days earlier, Batman told me, “Don’t put this on the blog. Yet. The Bombay office will freak. Give me four days to sort this out. Then you can put it up as: ‘4 days ago, this happened...’”
So.
4 days ago, this happened.
The person in charge of the entire physical setup of the festival came to the site with his team. And backed out immediately. Verdict: “This is impossible.”
Two weeks to the festival, and there’s nobody to set it up. They have already wasted two days waiting for this team to show up and commence construction. Frantic calls are made to other vendors.
The next day, they manage to make contact with a vendor they had met earlier but not gone ahead with. He’s going to raise the prices. That’s expected. And he sounds confident. That’s great.
The day after, he arrives with his team. He says he can’t manage a couple of things within this timeframe. But he can do everything else. That’s okay. The Ragasthan team will take care of the rest.
The next day, he says he can’t do a couple of other things. So the team says, that’s okay, we’ll do it. We have to. Then he can’t do another thing. And another. By nightfall, he’s begging to crawl out of the whole deal.
And we come to now. Five hours after the last phone call with the vendor.
It's 5 am. I am checking the temperature online. It says 17 degrees Celsius for Jaisalmer. Deputy R was walking by with his hands stuffed in his pocket and his collar turned up like an early 90s' Bollywood actor. He doesn’t agree with the internet. I agree with him. The cold doesn't agree with either of us.
I’m typing this with shivering fingers. The breeze blowing free across these flatlands feels like dead lizards slithering up and down your spine.
Half the team is huddled around a tiny fire near the Morio stage. The base of the stage has been put up in the last three hours. The other half of the team is setting up the Olun stage. Master and Musician are with them along with some local labourers. I am plugged in to the generator nearby.
Earlier, Deputy D was showing Batman a list of all the things the vendor cannot deliver. Kaptaan gets impatient. He’d rather see the list of the things he can help us out with. That’s a very short list.
Deputy S tells me that they are now constructing 70% of the festival by themselves. After having lost a precious week to professionals who couldn’t handle the scale.
How will they do it?
Well. It's going to be morning soon. And they’re still out there.
So.
4 days ago, this happened.
The person in charge of the entire physical setup of the festival came to the site with his team. And backed out immediately. Verdict: “This is impossible.”
Impossible. That's what they also said about clearing this plot.
Two weeks to the festival, and there’s nobody to set it up. They have already wasted two days waiting for this team to show up and commence construction. Frantic calls are made to other vendors.
The next day, they manage to make contact with a vendor they had met earlier but not gone ahead with. He’s going to raise the prices. That’s expected. And he sounds confident. That’s great.
The day after, he arrives with his team. He says he can’t manage a couple of things within this timeframe. But he can do everything else. That’s okay. The Ragasthan team will take care of the rest.
The next day, he says he can’t do a couple of other things. So the team says, that’s okay, we’ll do it. We have to. Then he can’t do another thing. And another. By nightfall, he’s begging to crawl out of the whole deal.
And we come to now. Five hours after the last phone call with the vendor.
It's 5 am. I am checking the temperature online. It says 17 degrees Celsius for Jaisalmer. Deputy R was walking by with his hands stuffed in his pocket and his collar turned up like an early 90s' Bollywood actor. He doesn’t agree with the internet. I agree with him. The cold doesn't agree with either of us.
I’m typing this with shivering fingers. The breeze blowing free across these flatlands feels like dead lizards slithering up and down your spine.
Half the team is huddled around a tiny fire near the Morio stage. The base of the stage has been put up in the last three hours. The other half of the team is setting up the Olun stage. Master and Musician are with them along with some local labourers. I am plugged in to the generator nearby.
Earlier, Deputy D was showing Batman a list of all the things the vendor cannot deliver. Kaptaan gets impatient. He’d rather see the list of the things he can help us out with. That’s a very short list.
Deputy S tells me that they are now constructing 70% of the festival by themselves. After having lost a precious week to professionals who couldn’t handle the scale.
How will they do it?
Well. It's going to be morning soon. And they’re still out there.
Actually, unwittingly Kaptaan sort of spilled the beans... HMMPHHH
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