A Victory Of Sorts ( Part -1)

“It is a good idea , but I think it’s a bit risky,” Manu pointed out.
“Yup, coz the sandhas are really good at these things (kabaddi to be specific)” added Bhaskar.
“Par try karne mein kya jaata hai yaar”, said Appu (his usual optimistic punch line), who had started the whole hullabaloo. His idea was to unite two age-old rivals, the moonchads(the ones with long mustaches)and the sandhas(the bulls) of the schools.
No doubt a few from both sides have tried to achieve this feat before , but most of them have been afraid of banishment from their respective groups to give it their all. They didn’t have any way to solve this conundrum.
Appu himself was from the moonchad group.
“It is their decent sense of dressing”, he used to say in his defence as to why he joined moonchads in the first place. Moreover he had an inclination towards art and that was part of what being a moonchad was all about.
“…..creativity takes courage”
It was his idea to make this line by a famous person (Henri Matisse, to be specific) the group’s motto. The sandhas on the other hand were all about academics and sports.
“But Misra ji”,interrupted Bhasker.
“Dono pakshon ko manaaoge kaise??”
“Leave it to me” , answered Appu . Then the meeting concluded and all of them decided to be a part of Appu’s plan.
And why not?
As a newcomer , Appu had already made his presence felt in the school by doing well in his exams. Moreover , he had become the co-leader of the moonchad group within three months!
No doubt this meeting – held in hopes of accomplishing a very unlikely union – had a few candidates who outright rejected Appu’s idea , deeming it unrealistic and undoable. And most of the students who supported this idea were amongst those who were otherwise mocked as chamchas. But that wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. There was only one goal here : moonchads aur sandhas ko saath lana .
So far, Appu had not faced any major problem getting his idea accepted by the moonchads, but the real problem was how to present it to the sandhas.
Kaise manaun sandhas ko?
The very next day he approached the group leader of the sandhas i.e. Anim , at a time when the other co-leader Ganesh was not present . Appu will deal with Ganesh later. Divide and conquer, he mused to himself .
“Our group was thinking of having a friendly match of kabaddi with your group. Would you like to participate?” , Appu questioned Anim. (1st rule of implanting an idea into someone’s mind- Start with a Question)
“It awes me how your group -on its own- manages to harvest creative ideas to lose every single time .
Artists in the true sense!”
Anim smiled sarcastically while his group members burst out laughing.
“I’ll spell it out for you, so it gets through your thick skull : we are not interested in playing with amateurs. Our time is precious! I reckon we will end up worsening our skill if we play with you moonchads.” More laughter filled up the room.
Appu had already anticipated this, knowing Anim’s ego will take precedence in any conversation he had with him. So that was precisely what Appu had chosen to employ : the group leader’s ego.
“But don’t you think we can make it a bit difficult?”
“What do you mean?”
“By shuffling……. (Long pause)”
Appu was expecting Anim to fill the gap. (2nd rule – make it seem it’s the other person’s idea)
. “The group members?” enquired Anim.
“Wow, that would be a great idea.” exclaimed Appu, as if the idea was occurring to him for the first time. (3rd rule: Be the listener. Appreciate “his”idea.)
“But I don’t see how it would help my group.”
“Don’t you think it would help your-”
“Actually, I think it would help develop my group’s ability to handle any team better” completed Anim before Appu could complete.
“And this idea I this idea will earn you respect-”
“from my group. A great leader leads his group to better opportunities . Being a great leader myself, I should break these archaic rules and devise something new. Such as this kabaddi challenge I just came up with.”
“I agree with you.”
“Isn’t it a great idea?” asked Anim.
(Idea implanted)
“Yes it is.” confirmed Appu.
Appu left Anim to his thoughts, leaving the group leader in blissful ignorance about “his” new idea.
And thus the first mission was accomplished.
Appu pitched the idea similarly to Ganesh and the remaining skeptical members of both the groups.
“O beloved brothers! Don’t thou think we all should be-”
“All-rounders?” Responded everybody (Ganesh was the loudest).
Even if his speech couldn’t convince enough people, voting will definitely sway the decision of the audience.
How, you ask? LKK was the answer.
When Appu asked the people to vote, the ones who were in favor of uniting the moonchads and sandhas, raised their hands first. Seeing their fellows starting to raise their hands , others started to follow suit.
Call it Inertia, domino effect or simple human psychology.
When someone sees many around him adopting or rejecting an idea , that particular person -who is still in the deciding stage – tends to follow along the group decision.
Log kya kahenge – this phrase ringing in their mind steadily.
The intense desire to not be left out makes the person accept the notion or reject it accordingly.
Sabne yeh kaha toh theek hi hoga.
LKK SYNDROME as Appu has started calling it.
But now it was time for the big game……