It was a scary Saturday night at the campsite this week.
The team had scattered. Some had gone to get drinking water. We keep running out of it. Some had gone to get diesel for the generator. We keep running out of that too. Trucks needed to be directed over dirt roads into the venue. Some had gone to rescue one that had its wheels stuck in a pocket of sand.
The crew camp was plunged in darkness when Batman snuck in to the tent.
“I need to figure out five lakhs cash in ten minutes,” he said in a hoarse Batman whisper. Very unlike him. “I mean, I had to figure out five lakhs in one hour,” he said. “I’ve been trying for the last fifty minutes already. Think, think. How do we do this?”
Holy shit-my-pants, Batman! I don’t think I’ve ever seen five lakhs worth of currency.
So I did the best I could. I held my knees to keep them from knocking, zipped my lips to keep them from hyperventilating, and racked my brain to oblivion.
A couple of weeks earlier, something similar had happened. Batman walked out of the ATM with a grin and said, “There’s no money in the company account.” It was Navratri week. Banks opened and shut every alternate day. Deposits stayed uncleared. But advances paid to vendors had been immediately debited.
At that time, Batman said they would probably need to crowd-source investment for the festival. Sponsors are few and the scale is immense. The partners have been reaching into their own pockets already. Before leaving for Mumbai, Batman had asked Kaptaan, “So should we start looking for alternate sources of money? ...Moms and Dads, I mean.”
Batman laughed then. Not now.
Less than a week to the festival, Saturday night, 45 kms from an ATM, and a vendor is refusing to unload his goods if not paid five lakhs in cash immediately.
This time, Batman hit the panic button. It’s a rare sight. It’s terrifying. But what else can you do at gunpoint? What can you do when one hitch threatens to dismantle everything you’ve brought to the table? What can you do when there are trip wires at the finish line?
Later that night, Batman confessed, “This... this was my lowest point of the entire festival.”
We’re beyond that point now. Things still go wrong every day as they are bound to. And sometimes we’re definitely in the gutter. But, God, we’re looking at the stars again.
The team had scattered. Some had gone to get drinking water. We keep running out of it. Some had gone to get diesel for the generator. We keep running out of that too. Trucks needed to be directed over dirt roads into the venue. Some had gone to rescue one that had its wheels stuck in a pocket of sand.
The crew camp was plunged in darkness when Batman snuck in to the tent.
“I need to figure out five lakhs cash in ten minutes,” he said in a hoarse Batman whisper. Very unlike him. “I mean, I had to figure out five lakhs in one hour,” he said. “I’ve been trying for the last fifty minutes already. Think, think. How do we do this?”
Holy shit-my-pants, Batman! I don’t think I’ve ever seen five lakhs worth of currency.
So I did the best I could. I held my knees to keep them from knocking, zipped my lips to keep them from hyperventilating, and racked my brain to oblivion.
A couple of weeks earlier, something similar had happened. Batman walked out of the ATM with a grin and said, “There’s no money in the company account.” It was Navratri week. Banks opened and shut every alternate day. Deposits stayed uncleared. But advances paid to vendors had been immediately debited.
At that time, Batman said they would probably need to crowd-source investment for the festival. Sponsors are few and the scale is immense. The partners have been reaching into their own pockets already. Before leaving for Mumbai, Batman had asked Kaptaan, “So should we start looking for alternate sources of money? ...Moms and Dads, I mean.”
Batman laughed then. Not now.
Less than a week to the festival, Saturday night, 45 kms from an ATM, and a vendor is refusing to unload his goods if not paid five lakhs in cash immediately.
This time, Batman hit the panic button. It’s a rare sight. It’s terrifying. But what else can you do at gunpoint? What can you do when one hitch threatens to dismantle everything you’ve brought to the table? What can you do when there are trip wires at the finish line?
Later that night, Batman confessed, “This... this was my lowest point of the entire festival.”
We’re beyond that point now. Things still go wrong every day as they are bound to. And sometimes we’re definitely in the gutter. But, God, we’re looking at the stars again.
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