For years we wait for a special day, but then that special day doesn’t wait for us. It leaves us in a jiffy. Not fair.
I am talking about our 20th-year school reunion. Excitedly, lovingly, nervously, we waited for it for it for almost a year, and now… it’s over... But I am grateful that day didn’t pass away just like that. It left its traces in our heart and booked a forever place in our memories. Before I get emotional again and babble a few thousand words (which I already did in my earlier blog, Overdose of Nostalgia) I should pass on this space to the lovely messages I received from my dear friends about their thoughts on reunion. I am posting the messages as I received them.
Deval Motka:
This reunion was not just a 20-year meeting of friends and teachers. It was an opportunity to touch our alma-mater, experience the traditions of our school assembly and more so, establish a baseline reunion that will now be a reason for many more such events. While only a few of us could make it in person there were a lot of us who attended in spirit. I had an opportunity to meet a few friends who so nicely executed the event. Hope we can have 100 such reunions! A few words from my end to our teachers on behalf of the entire IPCL School 1997 class.
Our Promise to Your Touch!
T is for Teacher,
T is to Teach,
T is to Touch!
Your warm and assertive touch was a chrysalis,
For that’s what a larva like kid to butterfly needs!
Different shapes, different forms and different creeds,
Your touch had an amazing adaptability for our needs!
You played a pivotal role in our life metamorphosis,
We sure owe you gratitude for this lifetime of oasis!
Though we went in two-decade long hibernation,
This reunion is a testament to your dedication!
And here is the 1997 batch with a promise,
We will never again go a miss!
Sudhanshu Pathak:
I really never had any awesome memories about my school, for it me was very depressing place and that’s the reason I struggle to keep up pace with my school friends. In this reunion lot of attendees did not clearly recognize me……… and I do remember couple of years back one of our class 5th or 6th pic was shared at some school related forum and I was most talked about “unknown” face and I guess Vasu or Niranjan highlighted that its Sudhanshu….. I was detained in class 8th hence would have faded out of memories for most. I feel most of the good memories are actually made in class 10th – 12th :)
This reunion will be special for me particularly for two reasons; first, I wanted to break the jinx or nightmare feeling of “Going to School”, even at this age I get an unpleasant dreams of me going back to school and these dreams make me feel uncomfortable but reunion helped me to overcome this feeling, positive words from our class teachers and they taking pride on our success made me feel belonged to this school, hopefully now with this positive mindset I will be able to overcome bad dreams about school..
Secondly, I choose this particular reunion, to thank few of my school friends who helped me in staying connected with my childhood memories, who helped me in keeping my childhood stories alive which I can narrate to my Kids, stories of mad dogs biting 10 ppl in one single go and me been one of the victim, stories of endless cycling and the feeling of “Columbus the great” while exploring any new place (for me) in Baroda... last but not least playing unlimited hours of outdoor games, it may be Cricket, swimming, Tennis, Badminton, basketball or Football… (I still cherish the feeling when my daughter with her astonished face asked me how come you know all these games :)). This reunion made me to connect with lot of my classmates who were always special for my childhood memories but I lacked the guts to connect with them and say thank you. Here I also got the opportunity to meet those classmates who were known names to me but in school days had no/less interactions with them (mainly coz me been introvert), I tried to cover it this time :). This reunion indeed took me down the memory lane and made me think of these lines by Jagjit Singh.
उस मोड़ से शुरू करें फिर ये ज़िन्दगी
हर शय जहाँ हसीन थी, हम तुम थे अजनबी
हर शय जहाँ हसीन थी, हम तुम थे अजनबी
आने लगी है याद वो फ़ुर्सत की हर घड़ी
उस मोड़ से शुरू करें फिर ये ज़िन्दगी
Manoj Nair:
Twenty-20 …Reunite…. Relive .... Reinforce
I call it a twenty-20 because it has passed 20 years we all have moved out of our school and we have been exposed to the crude world since 20 years…
Surely it was a litmus test for all of us who made it to the reunion and who could not .. and to see whether do we still have the innocence, and the urge to be back to our golden days…our .school days…
The dichotomy is between our school days and the real world.
And first and foremost in the world for the 5.7 inch screen we have be restricted to them, all over to our old days, best friends, alma mater etc . But what has brought us together again is the power of networking may it be Whatsapp or Facebook or video calls or whatever. But social fabric is changing through the screen we look around for more than 6 hours a day and the joy they bring us.
If my memory recollects it was around 18 months back that a group was made Reunion Committee and I just got into the group with a sense that let me be in touch with some people. There were no expectations of getting this through since the timeline was 18 months . That means we could see a possible World War III, a small tiff between our Hindi- Chini bhai bhai and possible with our neighbor on surgical strike or an over power region and much more across the work where all live most of our lives.
And this Reunion also saw many entries and exits as the interests varied since there was no fees to enter or penalties to move out. I hanged on and few people kept the flame high by posting things about their personal things, debates, seasonal wishes, and some ideas came like building as NASA centre at our school reunion.
The camaraderie just went on and on with new thoughts and suggestions pouring in on food, gifts, souvenirs, invitations and ofcourse the D-Day making. Few folks joined in the only garden to the heart of the Banyan city of Vadodara the Kamati baug in the hot sun and sometimes adding to the P&L of Barista and to the asset hours to many folks who made some good food and cozy place for this discussions. Without meeting, chatting and sending invitation it looked like an Abandoned cricket match on a rainy day.
Thanks to many many people who gave their valuable time, effort, heart in making this event. But no effort is a less effort which many of us like me who do not stay in Baroda could reap the benefit of such a wonderful day called reunion on 23rd December 2017.
It was like I wasnt able to make it for reunion due to my unwritten bonded labour contract with my employer since I need to finish my commitment but as I shared it is surely something celestial which made me landup in Baroda....on 22 December 2017.
I was eager to pass the night hours to see few faces which I had been for almost 12 years. I landed up with a lot of curiosity on 23rd December 2017 to the school with a strict dead line of 1.30pm which I need to move out for my flight to Bangalore and then the onward journey.
I thought let me wear a blazer then I felt whom a trying to impress ? then I thought let me go as simple as I could since they all are my folks and not professionals getting together to check my pedagogy and my A4 sizes certificates in my archive. I parked my car and just gasped to the gate of our own IPCL school No 2. And the moment I stepped in, it took a thump on my adrenaline and felt am back to school…and few true memories passed my anatomy…. I was a good student at school but I was one who made the teachers work harder in-terms of taming me on the homework end and probably I had few more of my folks who did the same with them.
Met few folks who were the pillars of creating the reunion on the ground working hard at 9.00 to set it up and then meeting them formally and informally . I was straight back to helping them to put things together.
It felt like one by one each friend is getting added…. And I remember a small cartoon video lines …ek gilahari…..anek giahariyaan…..probably one of the first cartoons we all saw…in our school days….
Strength by strength…people by people….face by face…came in some half pant folks from my childhood PAthik, Kumaril, Joshi , Ashish etc etc
The second bunch was like Radha, Alka, Jaba , Priya and many more who just sneaked in during the day….only changes were for all above was in length * breath = formulas we can derive ….but the faces were as innocent as we could see…
One thing best was we all had the same humbleness which we could see ages back when we are in school. Everything felt like miniatures like corridors, the rooms seemed smaller and many of us trying to see our classrooms , toilets and many place where we had fun….
The icing on the cake was our principal and teachers who made subset of reunion for themselves and cherished each moment . Let me thank the people who carved the flow of the programme starting from the prayer to the speeches and to the songs and dance we all enjoy…
I saw few of my friends who had tears in their eyes probably they were overwhelmed and choked with happiness which probable the boys could never roll down …since mard ko dard nahi hota….but yes we all felt the same warmth, the togetherness when we all tapped on the floor with the same innocence.
And gosh it was time to move out …..and I flung the Reunion and was black in flash by 4:00 pm missing my flight and it was packup time.
But surely I was lucky enough to get back to the DEN again and then the we all went for de-tour which would surely is one of the most memorable tour in our life…which could bag a better auctioned price then any Thailand, Europe or US trips we would have made it for…..
We relived the Agarwal store, the cycle mart ,,,HANS emporium….and the close gayatri samosa and the only restaurant Kaveri….
It was time to say good bye for the day but we all regrouped for a dinner and then we all met again as the upmarket place at racecourse.
The time was racing and we all wanted to catchup as much as possible….
Only thing which I still feel strongly is we all are tied to a single umbilical cord called IPCL with a DNA of School No 2….which made us all bring together in person who made it and few who could see the joy through our eyes….moments and posts on all the gigs….
We all are back to our mundane chores but these beautiful moments would make this T-20 year relived in few hours…and we all made a promise to reinforce our alma-mater by giving them what all we call could give back…
Thus it was truly a reunite…relived and reinforced…
It goes like this for all of you…
ऐ खुदा लम्हों की बिसात पर हो जाए एक और आज़माईश मेरी
सोचता हूँ तू जीत ले मेरे कुछ जवानी के दिन
पर शर्त ये है की तू लौटा दे मेरे बचपन के वो दिन
मेरे बचपन के वो दिन
ऐ खुदा लम्हों की बिसात पर हो जाए एक और आज़माईश मेरी
With Love: Manoj Nair
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Once again, a big thanks to my dear friends for their sharing their thoughts here. It really makes this place very special. All these lovely write-ups and the memories of that special day reminds me of a shayari I wrote long back -
