Practice Begins

Balancing Act: Angad Singh (foreground) makes it cautiously to the finishing line 

The countdown has begun. With 10 days left for our Annual Sports Day, the practice sessions began in right earnest this morning as contestants pitted their skills in balancing a bag on their heads and making

Rukhsana overtakes Naseem Khan

a dash to the finishing line.
Of course, nobody made a dash since this is supposed to be a ‘slow race’. Moreover, the bags are to be replaced by books. But the idea was to give everyone a feel of the challenge and instill a sense of confidence in them ahead of the big event.
Shekhawat was on a roll even as he dropped his bag twice and kept marching on merrily ahead. But when his pal, Bijoy Gupta dropped the bag for the first time after almost making it, he erupted with joy. That Gupta should ever better him is unacceptable to Shekhawat.
Among the ladies, Saeeda Sayed, Rukhsana Khan, Banoo Apa and Naseem Khan appear to be strong contenders.

Karan Malik (ext rt), a playback aspirant, sings for us in the China Hut 

Although they could try their luck only once (given their unpreparedness and limited time available), their level of confidence was higher than the rest. The same may be said of Angad Singh and Kiran Prakash among the men. But then, tomorrow could be another story.
Many like Zareena Khan, Qadeer Bano and Yusuf Rassiwala did not take part in the practice session today, presumably because they were not up to it. But any one of them could well turn the tables and emerge as the proverbial dark horse in the final race.
Tomorrow, members would be exposed to another exciting contest wherein a bindi will have to be affixed accurately on the forehead of a drawing of a female face -- AFTER being blind-folded. The other three contests – ‘spoon race’, ‘balloon bursting’ and ‘musical chairs’ are carryovers from last year. Nevertheless, there shall be practice sessions for them as well.