No sooner did they wind up their acrobatics performance in the Barn Hall of the National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi, than sections of enthralled audience and co-competitors of Pragyan’13’s ‘Talent Show’ rushed to congratulate them.
Members of West Bengal’s Nabadwip Acrobatics team, the first runners-up of Sony TV’s popular reality show “Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega”, are as much enthused by their participation in the event that turned them professional performers overnight.
On the request of the NIT-T Director S. Sundarrajan, the team readily performed for the second time on the subsequent day to a standing ovation by the audience.
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Just imagine! How else could the spectators have responded after witnessing the youngest in the nine-member team, a child all of ten, standing upside down on the top of a pyramid formation to touch the 40-foot high roof of the barn hall?
The Pragyan organisers are a happy lot.
Their expectation of a runaway performance by the team was more than fulfilled. The moment the Nabadwip team opened up a Facebook page, they jumped at the opportunity to establish contact and extend an invitation. Led by Arup Das, an M.P. Ed. student of Kalyani University, Barrackpur, who runs the gymnastics school, the team members: Shubhankar Kundu, Soma Das, Bulti Das, Mausumi Debnath, Giasuddin Sheikh, Kutubuddin Sheikh, Pragna Paramita Saha, and Anish Debnath, are all prize-winners of national-level competitions conducted by the Gymnastics Federation of India. “All the team members are gold medal winners at sub-junior level,” the team leader said.
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Having excelled in two television reality shows, the performance at NIT-T was an extension of the winning streak; they were adjudged the winners of ‘Talent Show’.
For the performers though, it was a cakewalk. For, they had trained hard for one month to perform at NIT-T. Even otherwise, they practise four hours a day, after returning from school.
On holidays, the duration of training is doubled. And that explains why they have overcome fear while excelling in the otherwise risky sport.
The team leader is delighted that gymnastics is gradually being accorded the recognition it deserves. It is common for organisers of entertainment shows in India to invite acrobatics teams from African countries for performances.
“There is talent within. Our objective is to popularise gymnastics across the country,” Mr. Arup Das said.