Titanomachy – Bidding

The stage is set and emotions are high, as the students of IIFT Kolkata gather for the player auctioning round of the annual sports fest Titanomachy. With colorful team names and high level strategies formed by the team managers that would leave Sir Alex Ferguson to shame, it promises to be a fun ride. The sports to be played this year include Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Chess and everyone's favorite Tug of War.

The teams lined up for the event are Gangs of Keshtopur (GoK), House of Marauders (HOM), Gogo ke Gladiators (GkG) and Tumse na ho Payega (TNHP). Before the bidding, we have seen lot of bickering among the teams, especially on their names, with some tongue-in-cheek comments being made. The overall budget set for each team is Rs. 10,000 (8,000 for guys and 2,000 for girls). Rohit Kumar (2012-14 batch), the Joint Cultural Secretary of IIFT, is conducting the bidding in true IPL fashion. Teams start off cautiously but floodgates soon open as Vishnu Karthik, arguably the best football player in both batches combined is sold for a whooping Rs. 2,000

GkG seems to have a lot of sentimental attachment to some players or a 'player'. They have bid as high as 1,400 for a girl, considering the total budget for girls is 2,000! As an audience member correctly points out, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, to one of the team owners who shall not be named. After few more comments, the Gladiators have justified by stating that the bid was purely due to capability and not personal history!

Gaurav Bajaj (2012-14 batch) is making sure that people who are unfortunately missing out on watching the action unfold live are getting regular updates on Facebook. One of the students from the 2013-15 batch is overly eager to know his bidding price and has vigorously promoted his capabilities to all team owners before the event! Well, the promotion has worked as he is sold for 1,700. As the auction progresses, reputations are made or tarnished, as each player is given a price tag. As the auction ends, each team is going back with a satisfied smile thinking they have the winning combination. Only time will tell who will have the last laugh. Let the war begin!