Day 3 . . . Had a discussion with Amit about converting the homepage to flash from HTML . . it is a good option , but might reduce the customisability of it and more so wont significantly lessen the page loading time . . We have decided that we wil give it our best shot . . trying to optimise the page for faster loading (without sacrificing quality) . . . so tomoorow (or rather today) is a going to be long day . . So let me start with narration of the second part of the Mastishk story . .

Soon after Prerana team aproached me with the idea, we started discussions as to how we should go about conducting the event. I was not at all convinced that online games can be simply case studies whose answers are submitted by email. I mean, c’mon just because you are using email doesn’t mean that you call the event online. An online event should be transient, dynamic and fast. The scenarios should change everyday and if possible even in hours….. just like real life. After all the net was an agent of speedy change.
But all this tall talk was not becoming convincing. Somewhere even I realized that the Prerana team was finding it hard to convince themselves of the possibility of the online event. Somehow, the support of the batch was also dwindling. At one point of time it seemed as if I was the only person who believed that such and event could be successful. Nevertheless, I got moral support from many quarters; many of my batch mates encouraged me. But almost everyone was skeptical. The Prerana team also, in spite of their enthusiasm was slowly loosing interest in this venture.
Then on 20th February 2004, I finally asked the Prerana team to allow me to join them in a meeting and discuss a final yes/no for the event. I had a hard time convincing them about the possibility of the event. They also laid bare the problems they foresaw. Finally, I put out a clear proposal – I take up the complete responsibility of this event without any continuous day-to-day support from Prerana team as such.
To their credit, Prerana team agreed to this proposal. As I look back today, I would say it was a courageous decision. Appended below are the first few lines of the document that I made immediately after the meeting . . . the first ever document for Mastishk

“ I had a talk with Prerana team today (20/2/2004), and got go-ahead for Online games. But there are 3 conditions
a. I should come up with a team as soon as possible, especially excluding people who are already working in relation to Prerana.
b. I should come up ideas of games ASAP
c. I should demonstrate that they are possible”
¶ posted by Nikhil Kulkarni @ 4:10 PM