The Blue House Captain

"It was not just our hands holding the trophy. It was the whole Blue House."

I started with Class III in N. G. Vartak English Medium School. Students were divided into Red, Yellow, Blue, Green Houses. I was added to the Blue House. During the Annual Function of Year 1999, I had seen Red House students jumping with joy when they won one of the House Cups. Similarly, Yellow House and Green House. I did not like it at all, for even I wanted to jump with joy for my Blue House. Over the years, this situation did not change. And me and my blue house mates always had to hear from other students. I wanted this to change. "Be the change you want to see in others", rightly said by Mahatma Gandhi. When I was in Class VIII, I thought I would get a chance to be the Wise-Captain and learn on how to manage the House, from my seniors (Class IX). Many of my classmates had similar thoughts, but only Yash got the chance to be Wise-Captain for Yellow House. That very moment, I decided to try for Captain next year instead of Wise-Captain. I also realized that till date there had been no girl captain.

Little did I knew that this would not be a cake walk. When we were in Class IX, a change was brought into picture. There would be a School Election to choose the House Captain, Wise-Captain, Discipline Captain, Sports Captain for our respective houses. We nominated ourselves for one of the captaincies and then the nominations were finalized. Then we had to go in each class and say a voting speech (why should the students vote you?). I delivered a motivational speech straight from the heart. The last lines were "I want the blue ribbon on at least one of the House Cups. And I need your support in doing this. Together we will make the change". Finally, the voting day arrived, and we all voted the nominees. The counting was done by the former captains. And the results were out, in the order of Discipline Captain, Sports Captain, Captain.

Red House: someone from Class VIII, Sumeet Vaidya, Pritesh Sankhe.

Yellow: Yash Chaturvedi, someone from Class VIII, Bhushan Vartak.

Green: Vipul Save, Gaurav Arekar, Tushar More.

Blue: Ravi Jain, Pratik Shah, and finally me!!! (It felt so great to be the first ever Girl Captain)

Wise-Captain: Reshma Pandya, Jayalakshmi Shetty, Nikhila Kamath, Kshitij Tandel.

There were a lot of expectations now from the Blue House and we had to fulfil those. We just had one year to make the change. We had to earn points in Academic Competitions in groups and individual, Sports events in groups and individual, Cleanliness, Board Articles, Rankers, Discipline, etc. So, I decided on doing things which were never done before. Each blue house mate should have the feeling that they are doing it for themselves. One way we were earning points and another way we had to see that we do not lose those hard-earned points due to cleanliness penalties and misbehaviors. As a captain, I had to select and short list students for different cultural activities and competitions. It was such a task. There was a boy who lashed out at me in the bus. "I voted you so that you will consider me for a competition". We had to volunteer and maintain the decorum during every competition by managing a set of the audience. I was saved from this activity since I was in the participants most of the time. So being a Captain had its pros and cons. It was an added efforts along with managing studies. Nikhila and me also had the responsibility of Newspaper reading and G. K. Questions. We had to read the newspaper and mark important headlines and get it verified from any of the teachers. We had to go through many quiz books and choose questions which are neither difficult nor easy. I had a picture that we are on right track with a right pace. The Blue House Teachers (Saroj Mangella, Sheetal Koradkar, Kamini Modi, Ranjana Kolwankar) guided us throughout the journey.

The most dreaded part of the journey was Sport Events. When the Captain is zero at sports, how do I set an example for the group. The Blue House folks were too good in academics, all were Rankers, but when it came to sports, we were terrible. I was afraid that the same fear does not make doubtful clouds in my team. As usual, Red and Green were sports champions. I remember the sports captains Sumeet and Gaurav, taking the list of winners, to get the certificates ready. We had not yet won a single match in any group sports on Day One. I remember Pratik kicking the ground in anger and Ravi sitting on the Kho-Kho ground after losing the match. That day I was a bit shaken. Did I expect too much as a Captain from the Blue House? Getting the blue ribbon on one of the Cups was a far-fetched dream? We won only two matches on the last day of group matches: Senior Girls Kabaddi and Junior Boys Kho-Kho. There were individual plus group activities on the Sports Day Event. The Blue House was a laughing stock for the Tug of War. We are the most intelligent but also the thinnest folks in the school. I knew that my team is surely not winning against the Yellow House. I had to say motivational words to the team before the match. "We know we are going to lose. Even though we are mentally strong, our physical strength is limited. So, I just want you to do your best, not let them win easily. Do this much for your captain. Do this much for yourself. This is the change we want to hear; Blue House did not give up easily." And the tug of war started. We were underestimated by the opposite team. They took us lightly, so there came a point where we pulled the center slightly towards ourselves. Sheetal teacher was the happiest at that very moment. We had the hope to win now. But then the Yellow team realized our determination and applied full force to win, and they finally won. Their faces were like they gave a tough fight to us. We were rejoicing that we made the change, I wished every participant for the same.

Finally, it was time for the Annual Function of 2004. The House Cups were covered with a cloth. I was very anxious and so was the whole Blue House. Whether we would win and jump like the other teams or not. The Award ceremony began with prize distributions and ended with the House Cup announcements:

Sports Cup: Red House

Academics Cup: Blue House

Best House Cup: Blue House

The joy of achieving at least one House Cup had not synced in, and I had to go on the stage to receive the Best House Cup. The transformation of my Blue House from least to best and holding it in my little hands along with Pratik Shah, was overwhelming. Watching the blue house mates jumping with joy in the winners and audience was a dream come true moment for me. I am writing this in 2022, but I can still feel the goosebumps of those happy moments. The joy of winning something for the whole team was more than the awards I won for myself that day. I remember my siblings sitting on the chairs, waiting for me to take them home, while I was busy celebrating with my house mates and friends. During Class X, whenever I felt low, I went to see the House Cups and reminded myself that you have got this within. Writing this post after 18years to the event is also a way of reminding myself that I have the courage of transforming from zero to hero.