5 out of the 9 guys in the team passed out that year. We were left with Balaji, Moot, ISI (Rajesh Reddy) and Dilli (Ravikant Karan) and I. Dilli was our captain. Like me, 2008 was his first inter IIT too. We had three new additions to the team. Dilli was extremely optimistic and he made us believe that we actually had a shot at getting the Weightlifting gold in inter IIT that year.
The odd sem in 2009 was an awesome time for us. That was when our team was built, with five 2nd years, two 3rd years and a 5th year guy. We were always in high spirits. We trained hard, we had lots of fun and we would always stick together. One thing was really good about our team in both 2009, 2010- Me, Moot and ISI competed against each other all the time. I was very strong in Clean & Jerk and both of them tried to beat me in that while I tried to equal them in Snatch. It kept increasing the level of fight we put. Schroeter happened, and our lifts were good. I won gold in Schroeter and was declared the Best Lifter. It was all going great. All during Main Camp and till our competition started, I was very confident that I would put gold in inter IIT.
Second Helpings
The train trip to Kanpur was great. IITK is too good, the rooms are bigger than ours, their hostels are really good, the mess food was of better quality, each hostel had its own canteen and a nice lawn in front of it, the sports fields were all new and way better than ours. All of us, except ISI and Dilli, got single rooms. If we wanted to have fun, we’d watch a movie Asif downloaded from youtube, or just play cards. My second inter-IIT was all about having fun and being with the team. It felt more like we were on some kind of fun trip than in a sports meet.
If I must use one word to describe our team in 2009, it would be “naive”. We had an able team, but we failed to gauge the level of the competition. I had a sure chance of getting gold but I messed it up. I missed the bronze by 2kg. It still haunts me. The others, especially Balaji, Moot and ISI, gave their best, but were not up to the mark. Ultimately, nobody in the entire team got even a single point. We were expecting to win gold in Weightlifting. We lost. We realized that we were inexperienced and we needed more time and effort. We knew we had a long way to go, but we had our experience and we weren’t going to screw up again.
Just like in Main Camp, even during inter IIT, our team was notorious for lazing around. We have our competition on 3 days out of the 7-8 days of inter IIT. The rest of the time, we’d just go around watching other sports and cheering our teams. And then there were parties that must not be described on record. Before we left for inter IIT, we told the sports sec that we were going to win gold in Weightlifting. We failed. But then, every other team (except TT, Volley) lost. Inter-IIT 2009 was a complete disaster for IITM. We were placed 5th. Our team was relieved – at least we weren’t the only guys who cupped. And so, the lesson was learnt and the chapter was closed.
Then came 2010. We didn’t practice much in the even sem or during the summer. The odd sem started and we felt like soldiers preparing for battle. The team remained the same. ISI was the new captain and he led by example. Our coach too was very enthusiastic. There was a new addition to the team- Vikrant Singh Punia. He couldn’t compete in inter IIT due to being from IIIT D&M. But he was always with the team; it boosted our morales. We took a printout of the results of inter IIT 2009 and stuck it to the wall in our Weightlifting hall, so we know where we should be at the end of the sem. I am happy to say we made it far before that.
Schroeter 2010 was fantastic. Bala, Moot ISI and I either beat or equaled the previous inter IIT records. I did 73kg Snatch and 91kg Clean and Jerk (inter IIT records in my weight class were 71kg and 87kg respectively). It felt like the golden age for our team. It wasn’t just the lifts, but the way we stuck together. I cannot describe how much the team meant to each of us. And as we neared the end sems and started the main camp, our lifts only got better. Our maxes improved. Mine went from 73kg, 91kg to 75kg, 95kg. And then the other things about the main camp- like the food (and the girls’ teams dining in the same mess), the lack of bothers, everything was too good. We would play cricket in the morning, and when the coach asked why we looked tired, we would lie. We would cook chicken in Asif’s room. We’d play cards and watch movies together- Garam Masala and American Pie (till the 5th one) were the favorites.
The time came to leave for IIT Delhi…
