The backstory
It was yet another tiring weekday. I have had my rough day already and was seeking some peace for myself. The disease was known and the symptoms were clear, and I also decided to apply the same old medicine for it. Chat up with old friends. Today, however the term old meant something different. I had caught up with Namrata and Hricha the previous weekend - online. So I pinged Nammu trying to break a meaningful conversation. Which I did, in a while. An hour into our conversation we added Aditya into the chat, and soon Ramana, and soon we said "we should meet, guys!"
In the rest of the pics (in that order) the rest of the story would be summed up. The last one really completes it - the billion dollar smile. :)
Quoting noted activist and politician Jayprakash Narayan's words:
It was yet another tiring weekday. I have had my rough day already and was seeking some peace for myself. The disease was known and the symptoms were clear, and I also decided to apply the same old medicine for it. Chat up with old friends. Today, however the term old meant something different. I had caught up with Namrata and Hricha the previous weekend - online. So I pinged Nammu trying to break a meaningful conversation. Which I did, in a while. An hour into our conversation we added Aditya into the chat, and soon Ramana, and soon we said "we should meet, guys!"
Then someone used the word "reunion" - an irony sort of since Namrata was never in my section and we never had a union while in school. We decided to give it a shot and honestly we have got very nice responses from everybody. Chakri - we loved that email of yours despite its taste. ;)
Over 100 emails, tens of group chats and many phone calls later - the D-day - 27th March arrived.
The D-day
I was 10 minutes late, along with Nammu at our pre-decided meeting spot "the school ground". There wasn't anybody around but soon Shravan came in to join us. We already knew, it was kind of going to be a slow start. An hour later nearly everybody was there with us and we stormed into the school gate - we had written permission from principal - it was only symbolic that the first picture we clicked of was that of me and Shravan kneeling down in front of principal's office. Epic! (pic below)
Within minutes we all became so close as if we have been meeting daily at school over the past 20 yrs. We went down to some classrooms of 6th-8th, and from there down to the assembly area, where we held a mock assembly - and made a mockery of it (pic below). Totally. Me, Ramana and Raghavendra soon took over our role in handling the A&V system - again, only there wasn't any. Some (read many) pics were clicked here, and many subgroups formed and disintegrated - a classic case of a dynamic network behavior. Okay, Rahul - shut up now.
Then we went over to the primary section to meet nobody. But slowly, wryly, I was being reminded of all the tickling events of my life at the time. For instance, in the 5th grade I was punished along with a bunch of others for getting into the scientist hostel behind the school and playing in the pool of water there naked - well almost. We were only swimming. :D
And from the 4th grade, I distinctly remember Rabya Khan madam slapping my test note book on my face. Of course, there after, nothing changed in particular.
In the 3rd grade, I was reminded of very sweet memories of Mini trying her best to make me write my notes and neatly. I did neither of the two.
Two scenes from 2nd class stand apart for me. One was of Mini and Nisha dancing in class in Rama Menon madam's SUPW class. Second was that of Nida. Nida and I were benchmates those days, but I was the lesser benchmate you see. She used to be first to arrive in class and always occupied the bench to the fullest giving me a few centimeters to sit (that allowance, if she wished to be generous!), and again I wasn't supposed to touch her. You see those days, it was a sin, no? (Me and Nida went over to see if our bench by the window still stands - it isn't there anymore sadly.)
I wish there were an easy way to explain the day to you guys who couldn't make it. I wish I had the powers to articulate what I felt today. I wish even deeper we had all guys turned in just so the fun could have replicated.
But for a bubbly angel in the form of Hricha who kept us enthused all along, and but for Shravan's PJs in the latter half of the day (which were not poor at all!) the day wouldn't have maintained its flair.
I wish there was a way in which I (on behalf of all of us) could thank Ramana for taking care in arranging the luncheon. It was special for many reasons including but not limited to: Sowmya's singing talent, SL Aditya's story about the class leaders' punishment, and in many doses the revelation of Ashu-Adi relationship. Okay, not really (pic below). Thanks to Ashu for volunteering for the fun, and Aditya for involuntarily generating much fun. Raghav for the occasional one-liners, Nida for being candid about the sweet corn soup (\m/), Harini and Narayani for those careful stares that reminded me of class 9 and 10. I'm sure at many occasions they had a story to tell and didn't. Waiting for next meet, perhaps? Naresh at his witty best didn't let the flow drift away, Namrata presiding over the proceedings was silently observing and throwing away an occasional tongue-in-cheek one-liner that accounted for her powers of observation and silence.
There was one complaint though, Sreelekha was silent for most part of the day. Most, because, she wasn't silent when we were driving from school to the lunch venue. No, I'm not telling you what she spoke of. It was a secret between her, Namrata and me. :P
Now after all this if don't tell you what I was doing it would be cheating. I was reminiscing good old days at each moment spent with those around me, and those who couldn't come. And whom am I kidding? I was also occasionally stealing a few glances at the ladies who grew up from being young kids over more than a decade.
In the rest of the pics (in that order) the rest of the story would be summed up. The last one really completes it - the billion dollar smile. :)
Quoting noted activist and politician Jayprakash Narayan's words:
భాష కి అందని భావము గుండెను పిండేస్తుంటే మనకి మామూలు మాటలు చాలవు ...Literally meaning: When words fail to represent emotions and squeezes our heart - normal words won't be enough.
Many thanks to everybody for making it memorable to the extant that words fail me in writing this post.
And like I have said before "Brought back many memories. And new ones were made." :-)PS: Despite the hype (read motivation) given by Hricha - I couldn't articulate this post well. I'm posting this in order to make it timely.
PS2: This happens to be one of the poorly written post I wrote in recent times. Where my words fail I hope the adorning pics will complete the true story. :)
PS3: It was fantastic to speak on phone with Mini, Nikita and Sriram Reddy while we were in school.
PS3: It was fantastic to speak on phone with Mini, Nikita and Sriram Reddy while we were in school.
