Rupesh Samant
There are two names which we would like to place on record and thank them before we actually analyse one of the most important milestones in India’s online Journalism. Kedar Mapxencar and Sid Juvekar.
These two guys, the former is my friend and a business associate and the later is also my friend and winner of Mr India contest, walked into The Neutral View office with two others who later also were added to the list of friends; Pankaj Kharbanda (main organizer of the event) and Akash Chawdhary (winner of Splitzvilla). The meeting was about upcoming 15th Edition of Rubaru Mr India event in Goa.
And that was the beginning of the journey.
Several milestones were achieved during the organization of this event. The first what beginning was the introduction of the contestants on our website www.theneutralview.com. The young handsome men trying their every bit to impress India and the world were given platform on our website.
We carried their detailed interviews with specific questions trying to peep in their lives and aspirations. Everyone was different as they were among the 3,000 people who wanted to win the coveted title.
26 of them had a different story. They may have the ambition to become Mr India, which is parallel to the rest of the contestants, each one had their own way. None had a similar story. They belonged from all corners of India, North, South, East and West.
After their interviews were carried, then began the real task. While the actual contest was 15 days ahead, the challenge was already laid out to them on our website. The challenge was to get maximum votes. And we opened our voting lines, unaware about what would happen.
Within 24 hours, our website server crashed. Our Director Uttam Kumar was alerted immediately and then there was a war-like situation. The technical team led by Alvin Araujo of Pixegia Solutions and the content team of Vinaya Walavalkar Mantri got into action. And they actually raced against the time to restore the server. They did it but by the time they could, Pankaj’s cell was ringing without break.
The website was restored and then we had 30,000 people voting on the first day itself. The count of the visit which is at the end of the website soared in an unprecedented way.
There was a competition between the contestants to get the highest votes. The one getting more votes was supposed to have direct entry into one of the ten finalists. That was the bait and no one wanted to lose the opportunity.
Days after days, we launched series of interviews related to the people involved in Mr India event. Mumbai-based Fashion designer Seema Mehta, motivational speaker Rita Gangwani, Dr Shishir Palaspure and others. Every passing day, we unfolded Mr India event to our readers in a big way.
Then, as any media house would do, we tried to give twist to the entire online voting. The voting on website was closed two days before the event and then we made it exclusively on our App. The android mobiles were able to download the App and vote for their contestants once a day. By that time more than 10 lakh people had voted on our website.
The response was tremendous and the same mirrored into the downloading of the App. We had 10,000 downloads in single day. It was a history and it also indicated the enthusiasm of the people.
The enthusiasm, which we had for the first day when we decided to associate with the event, continued even till the finale and the event was a grand success. While walking the ramp along with the winner and our Director Uttam Kumar, there was a feeling of happiness that could not be measured in any unit.
Now we have more milestones to cross. And we will do it with the team of The Neutral View and Pixegia Solutions, together.
