Reliving and rejoicing !

I had taken the Coromandel Express from Vizag, on 12th March 1990 … Luckily a delayed train since I had misread the timing in the morning and the slow moving goods train nearly made Appa’s prediction come true that I will miss the train. But life was about to bring us together and what can a train do !! So I reached Chennai on the 13th, stayed at Hotel Maris and Devi and I went shopping to T.Nagar for bindis. Lipton tried denying Krishnan leave but again what can a company, even a great one such as Unilever do, when the Universe had decided ? :):). Krishnan had reached Chennai on the 13th too. 

On 14th March 1990, the program was to start at 9 am and I walked in at about 8.45 am … And Krishnan saw me first. He had reached already and had seen my name board on the same table as his and was wondering who I was. Devi introduced me to a few people and then I met Krishnan and sat down at the table. The only other Krishnan I knew was my eldest uncle and I thought, so this guy must be a Tamilian too :). 

The class progressed and Aporesh was awesome … But there was something else in the air. By evening, Krishnan was already stuck in my heart as I was in his. Then ofcourse a couple of days later, quintessential Khuzem told Krishnan in his inimitable style “you both think, only you are looking at each other, well, the entire class is looking at the two of you looking at each other, so you better tell her”. Krishnan told me and well the rest is history. The unfinished drive to Vandalur Zoo, the dinner at Amravati thanks to SounderRajan, the many flights, the phone calls, the letters,  the many MILT alumni meetings, the move to Hyderabad, the stay with Raji and Mani in Mumbai, the move to Delhi, the house at Gurgaon …. Both fathers passing on, Krishnan’s shaved head, the haircut for me, many many friends, loads of travel, many cycling trips, fractures, headaches, weight gain, weight loss, grey hair, loss and gain of grey matter, new learnings, new beginnings and twenty five years have gone by :):):).

What was Hotel Sindoori then is now Apollo Hospital’s Sindoori Block and here we were 25 years later :). 



And yes the only person we met that day was Subbu our one constant friend through it all. He was at the start of the journey and through every bump and over every hump …. What a classy human being and a very precious friend. 

Then we met with Saify and Tahera on Sunday, and Hathim and yes Khuzema Mamuwala !! According to them, I have not changed much but Krishnan had in his appearance :). Everyone agreed Krishnan’s shaved head makes him look handsomer. We also got reconnected to many other Miltonians – Bakir, Sethu Madhavan, Kavin, Surya, Vijayalakshmi, Sairam, Sathish, Zawahir, Diamond Chandrashekar, Jammi and many others … Oh, there are so many memories and so many things to catch up on. Wait for the several blogs on just these. 

Yesterday’s loooonnnggg conversation with Shashaank and the quick meeting with Vasan, Sumathi and my special friend Sripaad. Shasahaank and we tend to forget other meetings as we get talking :). It happened in the first meeting and it happened in Gurgaon and yesterday too and am sure it will happen this way everytime. V-Shesh and ShikshaDaan are way too interesting for us to just exchange pleasantries :):). I want to meet Sripaad’s school teacher or the headmistress/master… Why did they make him chop off those cool curls ??? Very unfair, I think schools need to loosen up a bit, how does long hair affect the learning ability of a little boy ? Anyway, that’s a fight for another day. 

Today was yet another reconnection … We went to meet Sampath Chitappa and realised that Murari and Krishnan lived closeby. So we decided to just ring the bell and take our chances and good that we did. We interrupted their breakfast but I guess in the process of catching up with each other after nearly 18 years they didn’t realise what they were eating :):). Just a delightful reconnect with two brothers that we are very fond of. 

We still have a few more of the reconnects to do and one very special one … Hopefully tomorrow. 

Now if only Manish keeps up his word of meeting us in Chennai, the rejoicing would be complete.