Debating with the enemy

"Anything I have ever done, at any point of time, under any circumstances, has somehow or the other, backfired."
-Manu Saxena, December 01, 2004

I have been long convinced about the verity of this statement. However to all ye who doubt its authenticity, I give further proof. Yet another incident where what I said at one point of time, came back later to bite me in the ass (For more on the past coming back to bite one in the ass, visit Bhavya's Blah).

On the 3rd of December, I received a call from Joseph Mathew informing me about a debate that was to take place at LSR on the 7th of December.

A brief introduction here, although I am quite sure that most of you don't need an introduction to Mr. Joseph.

Joseph Mathew: Ultra-dude and stud debater. He is one of the ultimate authorities at IIT when it comes to matters such as debating. Studies in the 3rd year. Belongs to the Karakoram Hostel. Also known for putting up less than effective notices when it comes to selling brand new hard-disc drives.

Joseph asked me if I was interested in going for the debate. Having heard quite a bit about LSR, and never having had the good fortune of actually visiting the place, I immediately said yes. But I had a slight problem. My team-mate, with whom I am usually supposed to go for Debating competitions is currently in Calcutta attending his cousin's wedding, which put me in a rather unenviable position of not knowing whom to go with. Not being able to decide on this particular point, I finally left it up to Joseph to find me a team-mate. I was confident that he, being the ultra-stud that he is, will manage to find me a suitable chap.

Joseph did manage to find me a partner a couple of days later. Some 3rd year guy was supposed to go with me for the debate. Everything was fine, and life was moving along happily. Little did I know about what was to come a day later.

I received a phone call from Joseph yesterday (well, now day before yesterday) saying that the 3rd year guy who was supposed to go with me would not be able to make it. He suggested an alternate arrangement. He suggested I go with Rajat Sahani (aka Mr. Kermit).

Now all of you who have read my blog entry dated November 25th, 2004 (Ze pompous grenouille), would know that to say me and Rajat were the best of friends would be to stretching it a bit. At first I did not know how to react to this particular piece of information. For about ten seconds my mind was completely blank. However I did recover after that, trying to convince myself that people like Mr. Rajat Sahani had their own work to do, and weren't exactly interested in the random meanderings of a fresher on his blog. In some time, I did manage to persuade myself that Rajat probably would not even know I keep a blog, let alone him actually reading the post in question.

That was when Rajat called me up in person, and dispelled all my doubts over the matter. He had indeed read my blog entry. However, what came as a surprise was that he handled the entire matter very well. He was very cordial, and stated at the beginning of the conversation itself, in no uncertain terms, that he did not hold a grudge against me, and had no qualms about going to a debate with me. This went against my image of Rajat, and, to be very frank, I was very surprised at his calm and composed attitude towards the entire incident.

We did go to LSR as a team, and the debate went pretty well. Although I had gone as a speaker, I ended up getting the best interjector prize. I thought the arguments that I made in my debate were good, and I spoke pretty well, but some of the debaters there were excellent, and I never really had much of a chance for the best speaker award.

However, we did have a lot of fun, and actually stayed back for the mixed bag event. Rajat turned out to be not at all like what I had expected him to be, and I wouldn't be entirely against going with him to another one of these debating competitions. He does have a bit of an ego, but then, don't we all, especially the Dipsites. We had a good time at LSR. Actually, to be very frank, it is quite difficult not to have a good time at LSR, what with all the hot girls around, and the cool café (mind you, not canteen, but café). After spending an entire semester at IIT, it was nice to be back at a place which abounds with female activity, albeit for a day. All in all, it was a good day, and I didn't even have to spend any money, Mr. Kermit eagerly footing the auto bill.

Just goes to show that appearances can be deceptive, and judging people without adequate information is always a stupid thing to do, only surpassed in stupidity by writing weird stuff about people, on the net, without adequate information.