The Boston Bonhomie!!!!

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” 

― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Spring was round the corner. It was almost the end of February and Sameer and 3 others in his class were busy preparing for the regional finals of the Hult Case Challenge, a competition for the business schools around the world, to be held at Boston. His team, lead by Damodar was the first to qualify from their university. The others in the team were Anamika and Kevin. After school, it used to be fun, being huddled up in the SAP labs at the basement or presentation rooms in the library, where each shared the others view points and nurtured fruitful discussion. There were times when Anamika and Damodar would flay each other amidst fits of rage and Anamika had to resort to late night Skype chats with Sameer to ease off her temper and keep focused on their team presentation. Finally, the team landed in Boston. All four remained awake the entire night before the final presentation discussing the finer nuances of how to put the best step forward in the available 10 minutes in front of judges. Dr. Dheeler, their academic director, too had accompanied them. Unaided by the gloomy English weather at Boston, the foursome tried remaining unnerved and put up a good show. Due to paucity of time, Sameer had to conclude the presentation hurriedly and realized immediately it was a blemish that could be avoided if Kevin had stuck to his time limit. All the four walked out of the presentation hall in good spirits and Anamika, for one, made it a point to ensure everyone got their share of kudos and appraised each other's contribution as the best. As expected, Riya called Sameer as soon as he was back in the hotel, to hear about the event in detail. In the evening they all headed out to the glitzy award ceremony, where the best team stole the limelight in winning the competition. Finally Dr. Dheeler took them out for a sumptuous dinner where Sameer had Fish & Chips with Boston Lager to his heart's content. They were also elated at meeting a lot of students, some of them from the most prestigious and ivy league business schools in America. Their chat carried on well into the night where they analyzed the pros and cons of their presentation and preparation. 

Sameer, Kevin & Damodar were to drive down to Providence the next day for their flight to Washington, en- route to Houston. Heaving a big sigh of relief that the nerve-wracking day was finally over and at the same time with pride of living up-to expectations in competing with the best, all the four headed out to their respective rooms. It was a very long day. More importantly it ushered in an experience par excellence for a sleep well earned.