The Night that was - Blues 2010

-Petrina Fernandes

10th January was The Day. And oh what a day it was. The night that was the Blues. Yes, the Blue Lotus Annual award ceremony truly awarded to each one of us once a year, every year for the past four years.

My first Blues might I add! Yes, been in the company 7 months, I had only seen photos and heard a story too many bout The Blues. My wait only to draw closer to the date.

And yes it did start with the usual procedure, the nominations, the interviews round but must I not bore you with these that you are all well aware of. The nominations were online, where the voter would log in using an exclusive password and cast his vote. After the rigorous process of online voting the final nominations were in. The categories rounded off every facet very carefully. There were 5 categories this time round, and the five signifying factors that add to our better working. Best Debut of the year, as the name suggests is given to a person who has imbibed the spirit and professional values of the Blue Lotus Group. Turnaround of the Year is a person who has demonstrated a marked improvement in his or her professional capabilities. A person who has displayed extraordinary imagination at work, looking at problems from various perspectives to come up with innovative and creative solutions is the criteria for the Best Creativity Award. A person who has shown initiative and drive, along with other entrepreneurial traits like, reinventing the ways that things are done in our organization wins the Best Entrepreneur Award. And last but not the least, The Team Spirit Award - given to the most efficient, most organised, most spirited, most accessible, and the most supportive team.

The weeks following up to the 10th of Jan saw quite a frenzy. The hustle and bustle that followed up to the Blues created quite a bit of suspense. The 10th was just around the corner and the wait coming to an end.

The 10th had arrived and I was all set to go.

The Venue- Joss, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. The 10th of Jan, 2009 - The night to remember. I walked up the stairway dressed in my best, I could hear the faint music getting louder as I approached the hall. The big doors greeted me a long with our fellow beautiful colleagues. This was it.

I stepped in to the ….. Hall. I imagined a mellow calm crowd, seated, waiting patiently for the Blues to begin. How wrong I was! Instead, there was a buzzing in the air, the music filled the room, and the energy hit me in the face. It was far from an uptight office do. The alumni and BL employees blended together perfectly, reminiscing over the past Blue Lotus times, looking forward to the night.

The warmth in the air was refreshing.

It was difficult to settle every one down because the crowd seemed too close knit to break apart but yes everyone took their seat and the Blues began. It started with the Blue Lotus Anthem. Clearly representing the spirit of BL - vibrant, energized, united.

The theme was the angels and demons. Subhash & Wayne and Indira & Shikha were our hosts for the evening. Ironically, three out of four hosts were nominated and also won. Shikha, an alumnus, and Indira were the Angels that evening doing their good deeds while Subhash and Wayne were adorned in the devils outfits and dressed to kill! They kept the crowd awake with laughter. The last award was given away and it was time to parteh!

Nothing at the Blues was amiss. We only saw the best – from the crystal chandeliers to the starters on grills, to the best wine, to the karaoke session which every one participated in quite enthusiastically.

I imagined a hesitant crowd that would have to be forced to dance, but if you had to experience the night of the blues you would have seen no chair occupied. The floor was full, the music blaring the best and the crowd enjoying every bit of the night.

It was truly a celebration. To celebrate the very existence of Blue Lotus and to give us all something to look forward to in the coming year, to strive to be the best and to get that award that we didn’t.

The same amount of fun and extravaganza took place simultaneously in Delhi, Kolkata and the South with Alumni present in full force. The fun element was at its peak at these outstations as well which is much evident form the pics we saw the following day.

The Blues was really a night to remember. I still think we should change the name because the Blues it definitely was not.