I'm officially on the MMT payroll now, which means I have a secure job and some awesome benefits. I can join the THM (Town Hall Meet), go on yearly outings, access their online library and more. But the best part is that I can pursue my passion for acting classes without any stress. My last job was a night shift, and trust me, it was not fun. It messed up my sleep cycle and my health. But now, I'm working in sync with nature and feeling great. One of the perks of being a new joiner at MMT is that you get to perform at the THM, where they invite a special guest every year. You can sing, dance, act or do anything you want. I was super excited to join the team and brainstorm some ideas for our skit.
I had a chance to show my creativity at work when we had to prepare a skit for a competition. I was part of a team that had to come up with an idea and perform it on stage. Everyone gave their suggestions and I hesitantly suggested one idea that I had in mind. I also wrote a rough outline of the skit and showed it to my team. To my surprise, they liked my idea and asked me to develop it further. I was not confident about my idea or my skills as a writer or an actor, but I decided to give it a try.
That night, I went to my room and started writing the whole skit with scenes and dialogues. I wanted to make it funny and entertaining, so I chose Nirmal Baba as the main character, who was a popular figure at that time. I also added a live singer and a dance performance on "Lungi Dance" to spice up the skit. The next day, I presented my script to my team and they loved it. Mohit Sardhana, who was the head of some team (I don't remember which one), even bowed before me in appreciation. I felt very happy and proud.
The skit was directed by Aliya Khatoon, who was from the HR team. She did a marvelous job on the direction and improved the skit even more. She also selected amazing costumes for us that matched the theme of the skit. She gave color and life to the play. We had some conflicts along the way, but we sorted them out for the betterment of our skit.
We were competing with two or three other teams for the best skit award. We were confident that we would win because our skit was full of humor and sarcasm. We rehearsed a lot and prepared ourselves for the big day. I was very nervous at first because I was shy and had no prior experience in acting. But with time, I picked up my performance and became more comfortable on stage.
I still remember the day of 16th December, 2013. It was a skit that I wrote and acted in with my colleagues. We had practiced a lot, taking time off from our work, but only within MMT premises. Our skit was the last one on the schedule. We had to wait for a long time as the other performances went on. They even postponed our skit because of time constraint, but they let us perform after the other important parts of the event were done. These included a motivational speech from the chief guest (Mumbai Dabbawala), who shared his insights on their business model and other aspects. Then there was an award ceremony for the best performers of MMT employees who had done phenomenal work throughout the year. Next, we had CEO Deep Kalra's inspirational speech, followed by a Q&A session with him and the L-Team. Finally, we got our chance to perform. We were very nervous backstage, especially me, because I'm a shy guy. I had a lot of anxiety about the performance, even though I wrote the skit myself. I didn't think I did my part very well, but I was happy that I managed to perform in front of 800 people. The audience seemed to enjoy our skit and laughed at my jokes as well. After all the performances were over, they announced the best skit award. Unfortunately, we didn't win it, but I was happy with my stage debut anyway.
After the program was over, there was food and drinks for everyone. We had a blast that evening. The event took place at Epicenter, Gurgaon. It was a lovely place. We enjoyed the drinks, food and music. We danced a lot that night. When the party was over, we took a cab and went home.
That's how I had one of the best perks of being an MMT employee. And I was proud of myself for stepping onto the stage as well.
Nishant B. Kumar, Actor
Comments