The Reunion

The Reunion

I parked the car and walked past by the big cage-like rusted iron gates which we would cross every day fifteen years back. And the lush green lawns welcomed us. I could smell the roses, the daisies and the lilies amongst many other beautiful flowers. The aroma of the lush green garden took me back in times. We would sing morning prayer here. We would eat our lunch and then play some games here. I spend the best years of my life on these lawns. Past the lawn stood the main 3-storey building. The main building housed office of the principal and the cafeteria and the junior section. Behind the main building there was the tall 5 storeybuilding which housed primary and high school classes. I spent most of my childhood in this building. And to the left of it, stood a new 5 storey building  on the land where once was a big play garden. We used to play kho-kho & kabbadi and football &cricket. We would play other random games which have no specific names, they aren’t any real sports either. They were fun though, some random activities like passing or hitting with balls.

It was a school reunion which I was attending after fifteen years. How quickly the time flew by, I wondered. I could see vivid visuals of me dressed in white shirt and grey shorts paired with striped blue neck-tie and black unpolished shoes playing with my friends or playfully sharing/snatching lunches beneath the tall tree. Oh Boy, it feels like it all happened just yesterday. 

‘Hey Manish’, a crisp voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to see Rahul. We shook hands and hugged turn by turn with Amit, Nitin and Anil. There were few familiar and few not-so-familiar faces around. Time has unbelievable impact on everybody. The skinny, tiny kids with whom I would play and study have turned into fat, ugly uncles. I looked no different now minus the thick moustache which few other wore. Some wore thick glasses. I greeted many of my childhood friends whom I recognised immediately. I must admit it took me some time to recognize some of the faces, they looked completely different from what I remembered. I was still in touch with my friends but I had lost contact with many of my batchmates and now I was meeting some of them after ten years or with some after fifteen years. The magic number fifteen made me realize that I was getting old.

And there were girls, I had childhood crush on few of them. Oh Boy, they have transformed completely. It’s almost impossible to believe they were the same girls. The average looking girls then looked hot now and the good ones have transformed intobombshells now. Is there some magic behind this transformation, I wondered. Few of them had gain weight but they looked good, gorgeous. Most of them must be mummy by now. 

‘Wssp you fat-ass?’ there was a tall handsome guy with physique that of a fitness model, a perfectly chiselled face. I looked into his dark grey eyes for 10 seconds flat. ‘Fuck You, What have you done to yourself man” I busted into excitement or astonished was I. Here was Jatin. Jatin, the fat-ass, as we would call him during those days. I remember him standing at 140 kilos of fat over a 6 feet tall frame. He was the fattest guy I had even known. A sixteen years guy with 140 kgs of fat! And it was unbelievable what I witnessed just now. It seemed like he had taken half of Jatin out from his body. He was no more than 75 kilos even with a six feet tall body. 

‘Well, side effects of marriage, I guess’ he giggled and laughter busted. ‘Really?’ in walked a beautiful young women towards us. ‘Hi guys!’ she greeted us in sweet, lovely voice. Ritika! Ritika was the dream-girl of our batch, the most beautiful girl I had seen.I could blindly place my bet she must be a model now. Or may be an Airhostess. I weighed different career options for her. Few moments later I realized Ritika and Jatin were married. Jatin lifted his tee to flaunt his six-packs abs and Ritika punched him playfully. Raghav later told me that Jatin proposed Ritika on the day of school. Nobody exactly knows what happened that day but there were stories that Ritika was the reason behind Jatin’s weight-loss. There must be some truth behind the grapevine. For me it was inspiring, Jatin was a prime example of what human body could achieve with determination followed by motivation. Moreover he won the love of his life. 

Later, we meet many other fellow friends and batchmates. We talked about each other’s personal and professional life. And I realized that most of us were doing well for living. It was striking how life had took a 1800 degree turn in many of our lives. I remember Anurag as a rich brat. He was never a spoilt. I remember him arriving to school in a chauffeur-driven car. And they were no ordinary cars, but always an expensive luxury one.And today I saw him riding back home in a humble alto. It turned out that his parents had a troubled marriage and he could no longer bear the horrendous life and then he decided to move out of his parents. His parent’s marriage had such a rotten impact on him that he choose to stay single for the rest of his life. He was still living his life with a lot of pain caused by trauma which he had gone through. 

And then the school topper, Ajit. Everybody was pretty sure we would make it to IIT and so did he. He not only made to IIT but went on to one of the IIM’s later. Now, he was comfortable sitting as a Vice President of one of the multi-billion IT Giant. A VP at a humble age of 33. He was one of the brightest mind who made it big. Like really BIG! Even in the school reunion, he dressed in a grey two-piece suit with a white shirt and shining black shoes. I could see the sixteen years old Ajit walking across with utmost sincerity, adjusting his glasses and totally submerged in his books. He knew what he wanted and worked hard to achieve it.He hadn’t changed a bit, he looked exactly the same as he looked during those days. In a striking contrast, he has turned into analcoholic. I could barely digest it. I remember it was the last exam of secondary school when we all planned to celebrate and we did celebrate, with a lot of beer. All of us were drunk. But the good-boy Ajit didn’t touch a drop of it. He was in fact not happy with us drinking. He didn’t appreciate young boys drinking alcohol. And today, he smelt of alcohol, his clothes smelt of alcohol. His eyes were red, tired. Despite being successful, his eyes looked sad, there was agonising pain in his eyes. Rumour-mills churn out that his wife left him as had no time for family. He was too ambitious to live his dream. His love for his career costed him family as he barely had any time for his wife. And in turn he turned into an alcoholic. 

Later during our conversation someone mentioned about Varun. He was not there but I was so happy to hear about him. Varun was the average guy like rest of us. He was an average student with average academic scores. He was pretty average in sports and other co-curricular activities. He must have completed engineering like most of us and must be living in Bangalore or Pune, I thought. However I was completely taken aback when I heard his story. He did complete his engineering from an average college with an average score. However didn’t succeed in getting any job for next two years. The same year his girlfriend of six years left him. He was shattered, devastated. People told me that he slid into depression. People had seen him walking lonely on the streets in the darkest of the nights. His parents supported him with money to buy food but he had no appetite. He didn’t had any career, his life was finished, he had thought. From there he went on to found a million dollar start-up which was later acquired by a giant making him millionaire and a solid leadership position in the new company. He now has a beautiful wife and 2 adorable kids. 

It was a great evening with old friends. No matter where we have reached in our lives today, our feelings remained the same as it was years back. We was really friends, unlike the acquaintances that we made in later stages of life. I sank in my car seat for few minutes to soak in the day. I was thinking about how life of each of us have transformed over the years. I realized how time changes and so does our lives. The life of some of us have changed for good while some of us were going through tough times. I realized this too shall pass and our lives won’t be same anymore. I brushed-off my sorrows and struggles and bid good-bye to the day with a smile.