The date was September 12th. The time was 6:30am. A time where most students would be enjoying what little sleep they had on a Friday morning, before facing the final day of school, before going home to the warm embrace of food, youtube and sleep. But we were already awake, and we wouldn’t see home until 6:00pm at the earliest. Let’s rewind.

 In the middle of August, Mr. Caleb received an invite to attend the annual Music Competition at Singapore International School, with 3 categories of competition, Solo Voice, Solo Instrument and Band. Naturally, with the schools growing emphasis on Music, this was the perfect opportunity to match our progress against the world beyond Ascend. So the sign-ups are sent, and 10 students choose to join. Rishab Ghai, Mira Gupta & Ahaana Gandhi from 10th, Vir Bedi Kaushal & Devikka Kotian from 9th, Ishan Goldberg & Dishana Gala from 8th, Nitya Sriram, Samara Premnarayen, & Malavika Chowgule from 6th. And of course, yours truly.

And so we were off to SIS, in the bus, listening to music, and mentally preparing for the day to come. Up first was the Band competition. There were 2 rounds, and only 3 out of 11 bands would make it to the finals. We had prepared Dream On, with Mira on Guitar, Ahaana and Mira Singing, Vir on the Keyboard, Ishan on the Drums and myself on the Bass. However, due to a mix of confusing wording and incompetence on our end, there was no Bass for me to play. We ended up having me play another keyboard, with a Bass sound font. Needless to say, this minor change threw off our whole game, and we performed well below our peak in practice. 

But there was no time to mourn, the solo categories were up, and we each nervously lined up to play them. Out of 41 voices, and 35 instruments, only 3 would advance to round 2. So we each played our piece, thanked the judged, and returned to wait with baited breath. Vir and Devikka were our 2 finalists, in Solo Instrument and Solo Voice respectively. Funnily enough, Devikka really didn’t want to do the finals, because “The song lowkey sucks.” Yet fate plays its cruel hand anyways. Vir went on to play a beautiful Saxophone piece, and Devikka sang her heart out on stage. 

There was naught to do but wait. And wait we did. The results were in. The best band went to Broken Halo from SIS, (with the best cover of Enter Sandman I’ve ever heard). The best solo voice was not Devikka, and she ended placing 3rd. And so, when the winner of best solo instrument was to be announced, we knew it was our only hope to win something. And Vir Bedi Kaushal walked onto that stage, the best performer the school saw that day. Yet, there was more! Ahana Gandhi received the award for best Band Vocalist, a completely out of left field award, but one we all knew she deserved.

And so the day ended, pleasant surprises, hard earned victories, and a burning desire to come back next year, and win the title of Mumbai’s best school band.