Alas! The lockdown has been lifted and the restrictions have been eased off to somewhat bring life back to normal. However, during the lockdown period the social distancing was a bummer as meeting friends was a big no no and even entertainment was scarce. The Rotaract Club of Colombo Mid Town came up with Quaran-Tea, the first ever Rotaract Live Talk Show to hit the social media channels with a total of 9 episodes and 10 guests from various parts of the Rotaract Movement.
The idea of Quaran-Tea came up with boredom striking Rtr. Akhila and myself (Chirag Amit) as we were wondering what we can do to have a good laugh and mingle around with our Rotaract buddies but also keep the social distancing part intact. All it took was one good cup of plain tea (with extra sugar and a tad bit of ginger) to give birth to the idea of Quaran-Tea. With the blessing from President Nipun aka Papa Bear, I was given the opportunity to host a number of guests and put them in situations that im sure will come back to haunt me when I meet them again (I will still love you guys hahaha)
It was nerve wrecking to host the first show as the questions that were to be asked had to be PG-13 (everyone knows I don’t have a filter so that’s a task on its own) and to top it all off we had the bubbly and lovely Rtr. Shehani Leo from the Rotaract Club of FMF. To start things off, Rtr. Shehani shared her insights on why she joined Rotaract and she even made the show wholesome when she wanted to save humanity with the 3 wishes that genie granted her (nope we did not have Will Smith make a guest appearance), she even revealed the personality traits that Rtr. Piyumi aka Puma should have if they were to get married.
For the second episode we got the prince of mischief President Rtr. President Keith Mehta from the Rotaract Club of ACBT to join us for one heck of an episode as it was filled with laughter and left people in tears (happy tears ok!) as Keith revealed his to go sleeping position if he was sharing a bed with 2 guys in a prison cell or which Mid Towner he would date (Insaf must have shown him a good time to be picked). He even proved his love for Sri Lanka as he would pick the Sri Lankan Cricket Team over the Indian Team.
The third episode gave me the opportunity to have a chat with Rapunzel as she let down her hair and sat down for a cup of tea. I didn’t hit my head and end up in Disneyland but instead it was Rtr. President Sathma Jayasinghe from the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School as she pretty much gave us an insight on how many floors her house had (Rapunzel indeed) and revealed her unconditional love for Thisura for being her best bud in Rotaract.
The fourth episode was upon us and it was indeed a big show as it was DRR Rtr.PP Krishan Balaji who joined President Nipun to tell us the back story of his IG name and his basketball legacy in the Rotaract movement. He even shared his thoughts on the movement in the future and how Rotaractors around the world are going to bring about the change in the world.
Indeed it was time for the plot twist as viewers were confused as they were left wondering who was going to host the next episode of Quaran-Tea as a public Civil War was put on show between Papa Bear and myself. But it was all just for show (like the WWE) to create some hype as the episode was going to showcase the 2 relics of Colombo Mid Town.
The next set of shows we were lucky to get some good friends of Colombo Mid Town on board as Rtr. President Sahan Gunasekara and Rtr. Milan Smahon entertained us with some good back stories of the things they did in Rotaract which involved a lot of moderated answers (If you really wanna know the stories you gotta watch the episodes on our Instagram page). My favourite moments of these episodes was when Milan dressed up as Sharukh Khan by wearing the signature glasses (they were as big as his face though). ADRR Rtr. PP. Afraa Mohamed joined in too for the 8th episode as we kind of exposed her mischievous wrong doings during the episode and found that the ACBT campus had a secret entrance like the platform in Harry Potter and maybe she also has a future in racing as she travelled from Galle to Colombo in an hours’ time.
It was time for the final episode as it was a double header or some would say a 2 part show as President Elect of RAC Achievers Rtr. Thisura Ramanayake was the first guest and then followed by DRRE Rtr. PP Kasun Sigera hosted by Rtr. PP Akhila Adishwara (can I say DRRN Akhila woot woot). A lot of laughs were shared during these final moments of Quaran-Tea as the DRRE confessed his love for sharing sanitizers in glass bottles with his friends and his skill for cleaning guitars.
The sole intention of Quaran-Tea was to bring back laughs that we lost during this lockdown period as times were looking gloomy. In spite of all that negativity we as Rotaractors will always thrive to brighten up the days of others even in the most innovative methods. So until next time (Not another lockdown please) this is your host Rtr. Chirag Amit signing out!
By Rtr. Chirag Amit | Email: cjamit12@gmail.com
