Words by Sharanya Ramaswamy

      It’s raining… for the 100th time this month which is no surprise thanks to the tropical location of Malaysia. I guess there has to be a price to pay for summer all year round. As I sit in my room despising the rain, I ponder about whether I should even bother attending the mid-week mingle now that the blasted rain has ruined my spirits or whether I should just stay dry inside and start a Lord of the Rings marathon. Seeing that I wrote this article, I’m sure you can guess what I decided to do. I courageously mustered all my will power to leave dry land to see what my evening held and I must say it was a great decision indeed.

      When I reached the foyer, everyone was still hanging around their usual clique and you could see chunks of people in their own tiny groups not doing much mingling as the event suggested. However, in just a short while, everyone was registered, grouped and away from their comfort zone of people.

      The activities arranged were very entertaining despite seeming slightly unorganized. The first game was human bingo. I unfortunately did not win and I don’t mean to sound bitter but I bet the winners cheated. I mean how are you supposed to find a stranger who wears contact lenses or a stranger who would do squats for you right? Ok, so maybe I’m a little bitter about it. The second activity was a relay of sorts. Team members had to go back and forth from one end to another while performing a series of tasks with the added pressure of not letting their teammates down. I feel that this activity really helped people break through that initial awkwardness because ‘ain’t nobody got time for dat’ when you’re in it to win it. The last game was just messy and I didn’t even know when the game began or ended but no one minded because we were all getting along just fine. Finally it was dinner time. Good food accompanied with good music really set a good vibe.

      I must really give props to the MUSA members for setting a good atmosphere throughout the event and really helping Monashians, especially newbies like me, break out of their shells. All in all, I had a good time and I’m sure so did everyone else who participated. I’m certainly looking forward to more of such events.

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