Date:
Feb. 15, 2015. Sunday. Address: Précis hall. 4th floor. Time:
4.15 pm.
A
board placed at the entrance/reception saying “Get-together of Maharashtra Vidyalaya – 1992 Batch”
A
group of mid-age boys & girls – around 18-19 in number. All of them knowing
each other since last more than 30 years! Yet, a few trying to search for the
very old files somewhere deep down their memory drawers & cupboards… some
found… some not… some struggling to! Staring at each one, trying to recollect
everyone’s face, visualising him/her wearing a school uniform like back then,
starting with surnames, names come out one-by-one… In few minutes, everyone
recollects almost everything & the flashback begins!
Few
seem quite comfortable yet a bit hesitant & reserved for first few minutes.
Messages ping on mobiles saying ‘which floor?’, ‘I will be there in 5-10
minutes’, ‘on my way’. In next 10-15 minutes, all are in & then no-one
literally remembers that he/she is carrying a mobile along with… all phones get
hidden in the pockets & purses and everyone present there enters the world
of memories.
Over
a glass of juice, chats start rolling. The one who has travelled for more than
8 hours for this get-together – literally starts taking interviews (Starting
with me! Gosh!! I never understood why the counting always depends upon the
initials! It’s not my fault that my initials start with A.B.! Damn it!! {Mahesh
Kothare ishtyle!!} :-P). Everyone ends up saying ‘she has got ample time to
think about questions to be asked to everyone as she has nothing else to do in
the train for 8 hours!’, & she takes all these comments with a smile. “Ok…
everyone…. Tell us what did you do after 1992?” – This one question by her
opens the doors of dialogue, conversation and minds as well!
“After
1992…..... “ Almost every story begins with this sentence
& some unbelievable experiences start getting shared. Academic
achievements… affairs… marriage… family… wife/husband… kids… job… business…
career… extra-curricular activities… hobbies… everything gets shared &
receives due respect with an applause! For each one of them, every another
story sounds like an epic. Everyone seems so proud to hear another’s story
& appreciations pour like anything.
A
doctor, a chartered accountant, a stockist, a trader, a cake shop owner, a
recovery officer, a home maker, an insurance agent, a professor, a lawyer, an
engineer, an art director, a businessman, an IT professional, a car dealer
& what not! There is hardly any known field left to hear about. By now,
‘1992’ starts sounding like a point of time, from where all of them, including
myself, who spent more than half a decade together… learning – smiling –
laughing – fighting with each other… departed. Physically separated – I must
say. And now – today is the day, when all of them regain the moments that they
thought they won’t get back. Riding on a time-machine, all of them go back to
those school days – when no-one had much money; when no-one needed a mobile to
chat & a whistle or a ‘ttokkk’ sound was known to be a
missed call; when no-one would really care much about the future; when solving
all sums & questions in the paper was the toughest challenge; when standing
outside the class was either the most insulting treatment or was the best
opportunity to officially go out of the boring class; when throwing paper balls
& rockets & hitting the ‘target’ was equivalent to winning
a gold medal in Olympics; and above all, when no-one really knew what each one
had, written in his/her destiny. Those are the moments that are back to
everyone – here – today – now – on the evening at Précis hall on golden Sunday
of February 15, 2015!!
Suddenly
someone remembers that it’s a place that we have to vacate in some time.
Snacks, sandwiches, tea, coffee, unfolding memories & unlimited chats. Everyone
wishes all clocks & watches would suddenly stop ticking & the time just
catches the moment & preserves it forever! Since stopping the time seems
quite impossible, a couple of cameras & mobiles come back in the picture
& the waiter suddenly transforms into a photographer. (I guess this
would be the saddest moment in any waiter’s life. He is thinking about the
‘tip’ he would get from the party & he gets loaded with cameras &
mobiles to take the group photos! Poor Boy! He still does it with a smile though,
as if he is appointed there to take such pictures.) Everyone comes
back in the present tense & realises it’s time! It’s time again – to
depart! Time to depart with golden memories to cherish!! In fact, time to
depart to re-unite soon!!!
What
an evening! Reuniting – never thought it would be so Refreshing!
Looking forward to Repeat the same again & again &
over n again!
All
you – my long-time buddies…. including the ones who couldn’t join… expecting to
see you all once again very soon!
Cheers!
-
ab
