An Enthralling Battle of Words

The Behes Season 2018, from the Memoir of Devishi Aggarwal

The Behes Teams: Debaters for Survival and The Incredible Triune

Greetings, my dear readers! Isn't it always great to have a wonderful homecoming after such a long stretch of time? I mean there is tons to be told and a great deal to be expressed about the latest proceedings of life? Isn't it so? That's exactly what makes me exceptionally excited to meet you all after such brief spells of time.

Now since I have spent nearly hours in giving this lengthy introduction, let's directly come to the point. This blog is not only about another amazing journey like PMUN but also about a life remembering lesson which I might never forget. Trust me, the lesson is such that it might turn out to be an inspiration for anyone in the darkest clouds (as it did for me). To get acquainted with the roller coaster voyage of this budding debater do read till the end with attention.

A Grim Defeat

The beginning of this rangy anecdote of mine came somewhere around 21st April. I was to attend the first round of the Behes season 2018, for which I had found a good team at last. I teamed up with two ninth graders, Abhi Nebhani and Aryaman Gupta,. Surprisingly some really unbelievable circumstances occurred which turned out to be responsible for putting our triune into the Lions division, which is the category for senior students belonging to the age group of 14-17. Who knew about the toughest competition, the team of the youngest debaters in the Lions division was to find? After two seemingly eternal days of research and preparation, finally came the first Behes tournament of the season.

 The commencement of the opening ceremony was marked by a small video clip of Maha Behes 2017. Indeed after watching such a heartfelt movie, who would deny having the desire of being a part of a stupendous event just like that one. The movie impacted our hearts in the same way, and jam packed us with the same desire which made us especially determined to perform miraculously in the debates. But wait till I tell you! In the first debate, it was certain that the Debaters for Survival (our team) hadn't performed up to the mark but still had a modicum of chances of victory. The second round of debate with students of our own school was presumably the best one. Then the third round which we had with Analysis Paralysis, was the worst one for us and it turned out to be a complete fiasco. Altogether, we had been flattened by our senior adversaries and all our hopes of making our way to the season finale (Maha Behes 2018) seemed to have vanished. 

The next day when the results of day 1 were announced, all our predictions seemed to come true. Not only, did we fail to achieve our goal but also none of us bagged a medal. Seeing many of my friends in the cubs division who were getting medals, my heart felt like bleeding. After all, I had failed so badly for the first time in my life. But since any dark cloud doesn't come alone but it comes with a silver lining, this grim defeat had something good hidden in it. I got a chance to witness the speeches of some of the really flawless debaters like the Gucci Gang and the Suryas. Indeed they were so brilliant that I got to learn loads from those exceptionally stupendous debaters. I even made a few friends such as Mimansa and Paavni Kaur. 

Moving forward from this shellacking, we tried our best to rebound our thrashed morale and thought of making our way to Maha Behes in other regional rounds of the year.

A Second Chance: Behes at SVIS Dwarka

The next regional round of the season we participated in was the elemental round held at Sri Venkateshwar International School in the distant city of Dwarka. All thanks to the desire of qualifying for the Maha Behes 2018 being back in the saddle, I was destined to be a part of a team where team sprint was not only lacking but the other team members failed to recognize each other strengths. Although the three rounds went well and we managed to qualify for the knock outs (which meant we had made our way to Maha Behes), we lost quarter finals. This was an unforgettable experience of its own type.

I was deeply disgruntled due to lack of coordination and team work and thought that results could have been better. This led to no gains for me and as well as for the team. But hold your horses till I tell you.

A Maha Behas to Remember

Once, probably ages ago before the SVIS round, I had been incredibly desperate of making my way into an enthralling debate; and this turns out to be what makes me feel unbelievable when I think that just after a brief spell of time, I wanted to escape the same stupendous competition either by hook or by crook. My state of mind and my mood had deteriorated to such an extent that I wished the Behes season finale to end even before it commenced. But anyways, the feeling of being jam-packed with the desire of being a part of the mind-blowing Maha Behes 2018 didn't allow me to withdraw and made me give the entrance payment. Moving on, I found myself a cooperative team which at least knew the meaning of teamwork. Another plus point of teaming up with Minaal Hota and Arushi Batra was that each one of us had won a medal in at least one Behes round.

After a long discussion which lasted nearly for 100 decades, we came up with a team name. At long last, we arrived to the consensus of terming ourselves as The Incredible Triune. Then Maha Behes 2018 arrived after a long time which surprisingly seemed to be a short spell of time on the day of 15th December. Oh! The Maha Behes setting at Presidium turned out to be one of the most brilliant set ups. With an enormous stage right in the front of the school campus and two LED displays by its side, the chilled open assembly hall was a perfect spot for the most awaited opening ceremony of the Behes season finale. The bus yard, which used to be so full of buses all the time had instead become a perfect setting of having lots of fun. A mind blowing Behes Open Stage (a grand platform for music lovers) and a ball dance floor, an eye catching mega-size poster of the Maha Behes Debate Police Department (meant for catching debaters entering the incorrect division by lying about their ages), Maha Behes Open Wall (a huge chart paper for Behes participants to pour out their hearts on) and the Maha Behes Rehab had made the humdrum bus yard an awe-inspiring locus. I have got to say that not allowing my bad experience of the past to keep me from attending this splendiferous merry-making, was the right decision because regret would have engulfed me if the case would have been otherwise. After the good opening ceremony which had the performances of Presidium dance folk and the Presidium musical band, we headed for the first round of the debate go-for-the-gold which was The Incredible Triune vs The Revolutionaries. After a never ending duration of waiting for the debate motion, the round commenced finally. Indeed it was great that even after losing the coin toss (an action performed for deciding which team would speak for the motion and which would go against the motion), we got opposition. The topic was "It Is Foolish to Be Honest in This Corrupt World". Seriously, getting opposition saved our necks and probably made us win the round due to our spectacular teamwork and understanding for each other. Alongside our worthy opponents(who gave us a tough competition), the adjudicator was responsible for making this round really congenial by giving us an encouraging smile whenever we got nervous while speaking.

Posterior to an amazing first round, we headed for the second round. The same episode was repeated in the second round as well as despite losing the coin toss, we got opposition and once again we had to wait for long hours for the motion. This time, the motion turned out to be "Minions Would Make Perfect Citizens". An all time helpful online dictionary and some of our own ideas made the opposition team ace this round. But there is little doubt that the government team was superb and despite such a difficult motion, the Parhe Likhe Gavaar gave a great performance.

Moving on from the second round, we headed for the third one which was The Incredible Triune vs Plato from Bihar. We were fortunate because this time there was no ever-lasting waiting for the motion. This round began way sooner than its predecessors. Another plus point was Yash Sir, our adjudicator who made all of us feel comfortable in the debate room and also asked about our beginnings as debaters. This time the motion was "A Little Bit of Fragility Is a Good Thing" and again we were the opposition team (though, we won the toss this time). The adversary was good but probably because the topic favored our side a bit, we had an easy triumph. Nevertheless, Plato had put in real hard work and was good enough.

Now after three great rounds, there came the fourth one which had the best level of competition. Our luck didn't support us much this time as we lost the coin toss and were supposed to take proposition. But since, this was something which couldn't be changed either by hook or by crook, we began researching for the motion "High IQ Might Be a Good Thing for The Society But a Curse for The Individual". Soon the debate round commenced and as it progressed, it became difficult to determine the winner. The Studs, our adversary were 2 years younger than us but they were no less capable. Their speeches inspired our awes and probably ours did the same with them. At some point of time, we even felt that they were stronger than us due to their amazing points. Saharsh Sir, our adjudicator for the round was one of the best adjudicators I ever had as he helped us comfort ourselves in the room and he even had a light discussion with us.

The Maha Behes Socials

After four lengthy rounds of debate, there came the socials which comprised of bravura by rock bands and the Maha Behes dance ball. The socials were something which I had been really waiting for. Even after fantabulous sessions of debate, the light-hearted socials were the best part of the day. They were a great time of enjoyment in the school's bus yard. The Maha Behes Open Stage, was all the rage of the socials as it gathered a lot of public around it. Seriously, there would hardly be anyone who would think of missing the awe-inspiring performance going on the stage. Then there was the Open Wall which was full of words written by the participants and the Maha Behes Debate Police Department's poster which became everyone's favorite posing spot. Relishing sizzling hot dim sums and chili honey potatoes was the icing on the cake.

The Final Day at Maha Behes

Then came the last and final day of the Behes season 2018. Multiple things existed which made this day enthralling. First of all, the morn was unforgettable as around 5:30 am, I woke up in my bed and felt multiple echoes saying "Maha Behes, Maha Behes, Maha Behes, Maha Behes" banging my ear drums. Then there was the result declaration which took place at the starting of day 2. Keeping our fingers crossed, we wished to get into the knock out rounds and bag medals. Though none of our names were announced in the list of top 30 speakers, hope was still there as 140 speakers were to be awarded, though the announcement had really good news in store for us. It was great to know that The Incredible Triune had made it to the top 32 national debate teams. This was great news for us and it meant that we had won all the four rounds which took place on the last day. Drenched in happiness, the team had a warm hug. After the result declaration, we headed for our first round of the knock outs.

This round was against a really robust team and was adjudicated by Yash Sir once again. The motion turned out to be "Growing Old Shouldn't Make Us Sad". The topic was an easy one but the competition between us and our worthy opponents was truly remarkable. The adversary was full of great points and rebuttals and we tried our best to give a tough fight. Soon after the tournament got over, the results were announced. This time, we failed to win the tournament and got eliminated from Maha Behes. But still, it was a learning experience and it was nice to have good sportsmanship between the adversaries (there was a cordial handshake). Yash Sir showed that he was an excellent adjudicator and a friendly person by shaking our hands and wishing us luck for our future lives. He even gave us valuable feedback when most of the debates were over.

Soon after some wonderful time with friends, looking at a flying drone and playing Talking Tom, there came the closing ceremony, which I had most waited for. The final results were to be announced and the best speaker standings were supposed to be applauded. This was the time when my heart came up underneath my jaws and my fingers remained crossed throughout. I was desperate to win a medal. As the names of medalists were read out one by one, the excitement became stronger and stronger. As the names of 100 speakers were announced, there were butterflies in my stomach. Suddenly Naimish Sir (the one who was announcing the names) stopped at the 84th position." From Presidium School Gurgaon, the 84th position has been bagged by...…………………...DEVISHI AGGARWAL!!!!”. I received a silver medal which isn’t what I was expecting (obviously my eyes were on the gold medal) but it was an accomplishment on its own as the competition was so tough. In a mood of celebration, I outstretched my hands gave an excited yell and ran to the medal table. Oh my god! Thanks a lot for giving me success at last.

Silver Medal Won at Maha Behas 2018

An enormous thanks to my family, my school teachers, Salil Sir and his team, the brilliant adjudicators, my supportive friends, Abhi, Aryaman, Minaal and Arushi for making this Behes season really enthralling and special for me. All these people played an excellent role and made this part of 2018 unforgettable. And it was then when I learnt that it doesn't matter how hard or unfavorable things might get in life, there is no point in giving up as there will surely be something great awaiting us. And which is more, every dark cloud has a silver lining, so even the unpleasant circumstances might lead us to the greatest pleasures of life. Had I made my mind of not coming to Maha Behes 2018 owing to my previous abominable experience, I would have regretted my decision as I would have missed a great time of fun and learning.

With this, I bid my readers farewell!!! Hope to see you soon.

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