An evening where everything went bananas! (Literally to some extent)

To say that the Xtreme Indiblogger meet lived up to its name and was (e)Xtreme, would be an understatement. It would by a long-shot be one of the coolest experiences one could’ve ever witnessed.

I was told that this meet is going to be very different from the ones that usually happen, and boy was it different!

Started off with a few prizes:

While we waited for the rest of the bloggers to show up, we were asked to select a random number out of 10, each number had a special gift behind it, with a task that seemed so simple we all failed to keep track of the numbers picked and the last three digits had everyone floundering.

I, who never really got a chance in any of the interactions in any of the meets I attended, was picked 4^th at random to pick a number. With the number I had in mind already been taken, I picked the next random number I could think of, the one and only (Yes, 1).

‘What could go wrong with number one?’ I thought.
Well nothing says number one like the number one, I rued my choice seeing what I won. 

Hardy har har! Yeah, the first dud of the day was all mine!
It wasn’t the most questionable one though; some dude won a lap dance from Nihal.

60 seconds of Awkwardness:

Here for the first time I had a chance to talk about myself; though not many were interested in hearing about me (I’m not that famous, yet). After getting to know about few of my fellow indibloggers, some more interesting than others, I came to terms with how different we bloggers were from each other. It was exciting as well as scary, exciting because I had never really been amongst such an intelligent crowd. Scary, because I realised that I have a long way to go before I could call myself a genuine blogger. (Well then, challenge accepted.)

Moving forward to what the evening (and this post) was about, we were given information about the beast on four wheels. The Tata Safari Storme!

We were told its specifications and how there were no limitations to the off-roading experience ‘The Real SUV’ was capable of providing. From the power it generated, to some other technical information I was unable to completely decipher, to the most common Indian vehicle related question asked, ‘Kitna deti hai?’ the vehicle was impressive.

What appeared to be a halt between the epicness of the evening, (presentations on Saturday evenings, we are humanly obliged to get a little bored) was actually the…wait for it…

‘The calm before the Storme…!’

Let the Xtremities begin:

We were split into 5 teams, not before we were made to sign the form of consent and how we ourselves were solely responsible for being part of the following activities.

Nothing invites thrill more than signing a document that can prove death to be a suicide.

Hope they disposed off our letters, or else there may be a lot of ‘Baazigars’ waiting to happen!

Man vs. Storme:

Should’ve been renamed to, ‘pull a mammoth vehicle towards you and make sure it doesn’t trample you’ or something like that, a little more crisper perhaps.

A bruised elbow and a dusty pair of jeans later, our team set the time to beat! A time that was quite easily beaten by the winning team, I would like to add.

No prize for guessing, or anything else. NEXT!

Epicness just showed up, it wants you to be a part of it:

We were then given a ride on the two custom-built tracks, designed to test the capabilities of the Safari Storme.

Among various other epic activities, the following made up my highlights package:

Parking the car, sideways at a 45⁰ degree angle…

Nothing tests your faith more than hanging by a seat-belt while the car’s left is facing south.

Climbing up the terrapod and a tall mud-hill without the use of the accelerator…
Piece of cake, right?

Being in the vehicle while the driver goes berserk doing spin-a-roonies like you see in the commercials! (Yogesh dude, you rock!)

Climbing up on a huge-ass see-saw and letting gravity take control. Common protocol.

Okay, enough of the sarcasm from me. At those points I was so scared and excited at the same time that I forgot about my fear of heights, and death (I remembered soon enough, though).

That evening wasn’t your average vehicle inspection, showroom tour that explained you things about a car you couldn’t afford.

It was about going through safely conducted stunts, getting thrills and chills, experiencing a rollercoaster (literally) of emotions and being excited beyond belief, in a car that normally most of us still wouldn’t be able to afford. (err.. nevermind)

It was about the real off-road experience, going mad-max in a ground that is on other days a host to vegetarian weddings. An evening where even the most civilised individuals would shriek out like hoodlums out of excitement (I’m certain I heard someone yelling ‘gele kapaalat’, later on in the eve.)

The epic evening was concluded with a twitter contest I couldn’t take part in for my twitter client couldn’t upload a picture! (Note to self: Hunt for a better app)

As I walked out of the ground with a what-the-hell-did-I-just-witness look on my face, with an indiblogger t-shirt, a banana and a Tata Safari Storme cheat sheet, it felt weird to board a rickshaw back home. (#NowPlaying: Kya se kya, hoo gayaaa!)

Quietly I walked into the shadows, throwing away that foul banana and boarded a bus home (close enough).