Based on my past two semesters in SMU, Week 10 has been the hell week where you have the cruel combination of midterms, project meetings, and presentations. But this semester things were different. I just got out of Week 10, and I had no midterms, no project meetings, and no presentations. What I did have though, was possibly the best week of my life.
Saturday & Sunday, 20th and 21st October – SMU BP IV’s
My week began with the annual SMU British Parliamentary Inter-Varsity debating tournament. The tournament had teams from Malaysia, Thailand and of course the local universities ie NUS, NTU etc. Being home ground, we had a reputation to protect. SMU had never lost a local BP IV since 2005, and everyone wanted to keep the record intact. Apart from that, this was the first BP tournament that I was going to as SMU A, ie the top team from SMU. So anyways, I prepped quite hard for this tournament by matter loading, training debates etc, and I honestly wanted to win. The tournament began well for us, as Carlo (my debating partner)and I won the first preliminary round.
We went on to break 1st into the semi-finals. We consequently made it to the finals. The final was not the greatest of debates, and I took the wrong burden of proof, which made it dangerous for us as Opening Opposition. But we stuck by our fundamentals, fulfilled our roles, and made our primary arguments. And well, we ended up winning! It was a brilliant feeling. Carlo and I have kept the SMU BP tournament record intact, and now well, it’s up to the juniors to do their job next year. Congratulations to Rajan for winning best speaker of the tournament. You deserve it buddy. As for me, well I’m going to be smiling about winning the tournament for a long time.
Wednesday, October 24th – TATA Crucible International Business Quiz
For those who know me well enough, you know I can’t live without quizzing for too long. It’s been a long time since my last major quiz, and honestly, I didn’t think there was going to be such an opportunity in Singapore. But around mid September, I got a mail from SMU saying that Crucible was coming to Singapore. For those uninitiated, TATA Crucible is India’s largest Business Quiz. It’s conducted by Giri Balasubramaniam, my favorite quizmaster. I’ve been to a large amount of Giri’s quizzes, and Mukund and I have a brilliant track record at his quizzes. Crucible was going international, and chose Singapore as the first venue. So obviously I was ecstatic, and couldn’t wait to sign up for it. I called Bhavya, a third year at SMU, who missed quizzing as much as I did, as he was very active on the Delhi quizzing circuit, and I asked him if he was interested. And quite obviously, he jumped at the opportunity too.
So finally, the quiz was held on the 24th of October. We topped the prelims, jointly with another SMU team, with a 23/25. The questions weren’t that tough, as Giri had no gauge of how tough to make it in Singapore. So it was a question of hitting as much as we could, and not missing the obvious ones. As we were called on stage, I felt brilliant, as this was what I have been missing for so bloody long! 8 teams made it to the finals. The final was perfect, as Bhavya and I scored in every round consistently. We ended up winning the quiz, and being crowned champions! Along came $7000, iPod Video Nano’s, Nikon Dig cams, and a very beautiful trophy. But apart from all of that, just being on stage again, exchanging high fives, cracking Giri’s famous Beyond the Obvious/Think Laterally round, made me feel, like Bhavya said, completely at home. This is where I am the happiest, and this is where I’m at peace. The customary phone call to my parents was made, and it felt great telling my parents after so long that I had won a quiz. The brother of course already has plans for the iPod and the money!
Friday, October 26th – Megadeth
Need I say more? Megadeth played at Fort Canning Park, and it was off the hook! Seeing Dave Mustaine live was an awesome experience. They played all the biggies – She Wolf, Hanger 18, A Tout le Monde, Holy Wars, Tornado of Souls, etc. 2 hours of non-stop mayhem! And of course, the mosh pit was wild. I was surprised that Singaporeans have that much energy in them! We beat the hell out of each other, jumped up and down, somehow managed to shoot pics, screamed our lungs out, and generally were quite mad. I know it sounds insane, but as Mustaine would put it, peace sells… but who’s buying? Hat’s off to Megadeth for a brilliant concert, and a brilliant experience.
Saturday, October 27th – Black Sabbath
Still reeling from the Megadeth hangover, I was looking forward to this concert like hell. Sabbath, with Ronnie James Dio played at Fort Canning Park, touring under the name “Heaven and Hell”. As soon as Tony Iommi walked on stage, I lost it. This was a guy who I’ve idolized for a long long time. Ironman was one of the first riffs I picked up on the guitar. This concert was not as insane in terms of the mosh pit, but the music quality was mind blowing. Dio is positively one of the best vocalists ever. Iommi is, well, he’s just god. They played all the big hits – Heaven and Hell (a kickass 17 minute version), Neon Knights, Falling off the edge of the World, Voodoo etc. What a concert. Sabbath is never going to get too old!
That brought to an end my brilliant week. Now it’s back to project meetings, midterms and presentations. But wait, in the middle of that is the Beer Pong championships, which should be fun as well! But yeah, winning a debating tournament, winning a quiz, and watching two idols at back to back concerts, that’s going to be a very hard week to beat! I’m very grateful. A repeat of this week? A big, resounding Can!
