The other end of the line answered the phone and stated, “This is the Tourism Minister’s Office. How may I assist you? “
“I recently received several calls from this number, but I was unable to answer them. Madhavan is my name “I said.
“You are the one who is organizing the short film festival in Ooty,” the man on the other end of the line said.
“Yes Sir,” I said.
“All right, let me put you in touch with Minsters’ personal secretary; he’s attempting to reach you.”
“What?” I asked.
My heart began to beat faster, and I became nervous.
The phone was connected to reach the Minister’s personal secretary. “Hey Madhavan, Minster received your invite and he is eager to be the Chief Guest at the film festival. Could you come and see him as soon as possible? “remarked the personal secretary.
“Wow, that’s fantastic news, Sir,” I answered, “Where should I come?”
“Now he’s in Chennai, can you come” he continued.
“Sir, Chennai is a long way from Ooty, and with only 5 days till the film festival, getting to Chennai will be incredibly difficult. Travelling alone will take two days, I explained.
“OK,” he responded, “I’ll notify the minister and call you again.”
“All right, Sir, thank you,” I said.
I was pretty disappointed; it would have been incredible to have the Tourism Minister as our Chief Guest. I cursed myself for saying that coming to Chennai is difficult. I should have gone and met him; it would have been a terrific opportunity.
A Missed Opportunity Is A Lost Opportunity!
Pasu created an eye-catching catalogue. The catalogue included information on the film schedule, talk show subjects and times, and contact information. This time, we opted to do everything in-house and in Ooty, and we only travelled to Coimbatore for things that couldn’t be done in Ooty, such as laser cutting for awards, nameplates, and so on.
The decision to do everything in-house and in Ooty cut our expenses saved us a lot of time and helped the local economy.
Time is running out, and now every hour counts.
We held our first formal meeting with PC TV Network in our gallery shortly after becoming partners and collaborators. For the first time, our crew met the PC TV team. We spoke in detail and shared information about the festival.
I must confess that the founder of PC TV Network, Dr. Rangarajan, is a God-sent, He is a young, dynamic media entrepreneur with a lot of energy. He wanted to help us in every possible way he could and make this festival a big success.
I don’t think this festival would have happened without his help. It is not just the money he provided us. He also pledged to provide meals for all attendees for breakfast, lunch, and supper, which I thought was impressive.
Ramalinga Swamigal (Vallalār) said feeding people is the highest form of worship. And Dr. Rangarajan did that.
PC TV Network began their own promotion via their channel. It was already causing a stir in Tamil Nadu. They also promised to broadcast the entire event live.
Everything is going well, and the mood is optimistic. My team was working all hours of the day and night. We used to forgo breakfast in the hopes of eating lunch later, but by the time we looked at our watches, it would have been 4 PM, so we’d simply have some snacks and hope to have dinner later.
The team’s sacrifice was intense; Yoga and Pasu had to refuse numerous assignments in order to do this festival; Stalin’s parents outcasted him, and he also closed his sawarma stall; Suresh did not do any business, and Jai kept postponing a meeting with the film producer council in Chennai. Padhu’s father used to come and pick him up late at night, and he was quite happy that his son was accomplishing something that he himself could not.
Late in the evening, I received a call from the tourism minister’s office,
Personal Secretary to the Minister was on the other end of the phone.
“The minister is travelling to Namakkal, and he wants to see you either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, depending on what is best for you and I hope it is not too far away from Ooty,” he said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and said, “Of course, sir.” I didn’t want to lose out on this opportunity again, so I continued, “Yes sir, I will travel to Namakkal by tomorrow. Please let me know the time and location where I will arrive.”
“Once you get to Namakkal, call my cell number and I will inform you of the location, “ he added.
“Certainly sir, I’ll leave early in the morning from Ooty and be in Namakkal by midday; I’ll phone when I arrive,” I said.
It seemed as though a miracle had occurred.
I was thrilled
In the meantime, we created a festival opening invitation. We’ve decided to start the event at 10 a.m. on December 3rd. Mr. B. Jeyamohan, the writer, was the Chief Guest, and the Guest of honours was Ms. Lena Manimegalai, an independent filmmaker, and Mr. Mohan Ji, the film director.
Since it’s a standard process, we sent the invention it to all three to confirm it before making it public, as we don’t want the names and designations to be misspelt or misinterpreted.
After a half-hour, Jai received a message from Ms. Lena Manimegalai.
Pingback: Chapter 6 - Bye Beautiful
This certainly reads exciting covering up for so many unexpected developments or hiccups the team braved. Does sound like the universe was coming in favor of this endeavour gradually.