“There’s something
about childhood friends that you can’t replace.” - Lisa Whelchel
Well, I don’t confess to knowing Ms. Whelchel, else I would’ve congratulated her for never
having spoken a more truer word!
It took one NRI from Singapore to get 20 odd women residing
in India to make plans for meeting up, after more than 30 years! Yes, thanks to
Banita, we were galvanized into action! The date, time and place for the
reunion of Class of 1984 was finally frozen as June 7th. We would
meet at school first and then proceed to Preeti B’s place. And the dress code
would be “Red Hot”!
Even the weather gods were on our side, it was a nice cloudy
day, with a temperature of about mid 30 degrees C, quite a departure from the
scorcher of a summer that we’ve had. As time crept closer to 3pm, I felt the
excitement building up –there were frantic whatsapp messages about who was
where etc. As I neared Ladkipool , the cell began to beep non stop – messages
showed Neeta, the Bangalore Bombshell (BB) had arrived at school and wasn’t too
pleased that she was the first to do so. My suggestion of practicing march past
till rest of us showed up wasn’t appreciated. Talking of BB, she is quite
likely to go down in history for being the first and last person to go to
school directly from the airport! I can imagine the driver’s face when he
picked her up from the airport & asked “where to?”!! Another 10 minutes and
I was at school. Spotted Tauseef outside wondering how to negotiate the second
gate and get inside as it was locked. A couple of quick steps and we were
inside through gate no 1! Seema Goel and Shilpa Kedia had arrived by then –
absolutely unchanged, these two. Seema – only the two braids were missing &
Shilpa ….well, she’s a “saasuma” now and is nowhere in that mould – to me, she
is the same petite Shilpa of 1984!
An SUV drew up and out jumped Bani and her two sisters –
icing on the cake, I hadn’t seen either of them too in 32 years! Whoops of joy erupted;
it was like we were overwhelmed by happiness!
Preeti B arrived next, an emotional moment for Bani and her– these two
hung out quite a bit during school, I felt the lump in my throat seeing these
two hug. In the interim, Neeta BB received a benediction from the tree under
which she was sitting – it was either a crow or a pigeon that discharged it’s
undigested lunch on her palazzo, a sort of reminder from the past – we thought
it only happened during school. While the BB cleaned up, Asra arrived – she was
the tallest in our batch and surprise, surprise..she still is!! Next to show up
was the hot shot lawyer of the twin cities – Preeti R – there was some talk
about Eunice hiring her to sue Bani – apparently in 1979, Eunice pushed Bani
& she fell, Bani says she still has the scar to prove it, Eunice swears she
didn’t but got hauled up before Mrs. Vijayam anyway…so, Eunice is considering
suing her after all these years for “mental distress caused by defamation” for
an undisclosed sum…it’s all very hush hush and Preeti said something about “client confidentiality”
when questioned…
BB then produced lollipops for all of us out of her bag! I
was handed a green one and wanted a pink one. When I protested, BB silenced me
with a “yeh accha hain… tu khaa”. Deepti Vohra breezed in next, looking cool in
her new short, salt and pepper hairstyle followed by Vilma, resplendent in a
red saree, and yes, she still has her trademark long hair! A walk around the
school premises revealed that it is now very different from what it was – the
good old basket ball court and stage have disappeared, new buildings have come
up, all the old ones have been knocked down….well, they say, change is the only constant, thank
heavens the school ground is still intact…the effect was the same – all of us
were weighed down by the time that had passed…The beautiful and stately St.
Georges Church still stands tall, defiant of the changes all around…
We spotted Sharmila from afar as she walked in – the girl’s
gait hasn’t changed in so many years and ofcourse, she is her own lovely self.
Caroline and Hemalata were the tail enders. Spotting Hemalata from a distance
at the gate, Bani whispered hurriedly to me – “Koi aara laal colour mein, kaun
hain nahin maalum….”Of course, once she got closer, we knew who it was. We
indulged in some serious photo ops after that, bossed over a poor soul who came
to check what was happening, Seema and I even climbed into one of the school
buses parked there!
And then….it was time to make our way to Preeti B’s house!
Touseef excused herself due to the fact that it was the first day of holy
Ramadan.
Beating the Hyderabad traffic and simultaneously answering
calls from folks who were calling for directions, we arrived to piping hot chai
at Preeti’s . The beverage restored our energy and spirit and we
enthusiastically awaited the rest of the gang. Hafsa made an quick exit, owing
to Ramadan, with a promise to return after Iftaar.
It seemed like Preeti B had figured chai AND snacks before
dinner, there was quite a spread on the dining table, including some dhokla to
die for. And whats more, she even used
red crockery to match with our “Red Hot” theme! Yasmeen R landed up, in fiery
red outfit – the girl out did all of us. While most of us had also accessorized
in red, what with Bani’s red streak in her hair and my red sandals, Yas took
the cake – she came driving a red car, the colour of which matched her outfit
perfectly! Now, that’s some accessorizing!! The “Teen Deviyaan” – Sudha, Sunita
and Deepa arrived together next. Renu Mathur, who had, earlier in the day, said
she wouldn’t be able to join owing to a bad back sprung a surprise. Apparently
Sunita phoned her and hearing all the background noise, Renu couldn’t help
herself, she just had to come! A car was sent to fetch her and Renu, made it to
Preetis house, despite the pain writ large on her face! Swati Reddy then walked
in, drawing gasps at her slim and svelte self, not to mention her glittery red
slippers!
By this time, I was getting questioned by every other person
about Eunice’s whereabouts, necessitating a call to her. I got a brusque
“Traffic mein hoon…” in response to my “Kidar hain?” The lesser said, the better
about Hyderabad’s traffic but another 10 minutes later, Eunice was in our
midst!
The arrival of every new entrant heralded a “do you remember
me?” or a “bol…main kaun?” followed by much bantering and laughter. In the
midst of all this, Sharmila slunk away, said her namaz, came back and sat at
the table. She swore she just broke her fast, but she was merrily tucking in
for about half an hour, prompting me to ask how long she was going to eat.
The phrase “der se aaye magar durusth aaye” was exemplified
by Tanveer, who true to her word, came after 8pm, dressed to the nines in
really exotic outfit. Hafsa had returned too.
The decibel level in the hall had to be heard to be
believed! It’s amazing how Preeti B stayed so serene and calm – her younger son
who was in his room, must’ve questioned his mother later about the sort of
people she hung out with in school! Memories relived…..the sound of laughter
was all pervasive…many of us connected and formed little groups and talked non
stop. Arguments about who did what didn’t end. Spotted Eunice and Preeti R conferring
animatedly in a corner – presumably they’ve dropped the idea of the law suit
because both of them didn’t say a word about it afterwards…
There is no single reason why this evening turned out the
way it did…was it just the sheer joy of meeting each other after so long? For
sure, there was no other emotion but happiness present in Preetis living room
that evening. Bani’s whacky game of “Body Parts Antaakshari” (which,
incidentally led to Eunice to question “how does one sing about body parts?”)
had everyone in splits – it was Neeta, Hemalata, Sunita and self who were
picked for the participating in this game. Turns out we didn’t have to sing
after all, we had to name parts of the body. Incidentally, Vilma and Hemalata came
out tops – naming parts like duodenum and biliary tracts, proving without a
doubt, that they had either paid attention in Biology classes or they had
bribed Bani earlier to let them in on the game. As the game progressed, we
decided to call it quits as the names of body parts were heading in rather
adult direction. After all, there was a young impressionable mind in the room –
Renu had brought her son along…
Whackier games like “Antaakshari with a twist” and another unnamed
followed, all conjured by Bani. The enthusiasm with which all of us pitched in
had to seen to be believed! On the agenda was also the school song – rendered
by all of us with such gusto that it’s a wonder the roof didn’t develop cracks
– Preeti’s house must be reinforced with lead. Thanks to smart phones, those
that couldn’t remember all the lines just referred to text sent by Ayesha
earlier! Later, we moved to hymns – from
the eternal favourite “All things bright and beautiful…” to “Its bubbling”. Incidentally, the latter hymn couldn’t be
recollected by anyone but Eunice and Seema – so it became a duet, sung by just
them. It crossed my mind to ask if they made it up on the spot but seeing that
they were so perfectly in synch, it didn’t seem possible. Just as we were
trying to recollect what hymn to sing next, someone (I forgot who) piped up
saying “Our father who art in heaven…” Of course, twenty voices put her down
saying “that’s the Lord’s prayer….how can you sing it?”
It wasn’t all group singing though. At our request, Deepti
obliged us with beautiful numbers from Umrao Jaan. They were her favourite and
she’d often sung them in competitions in school. She swore she hadn’t sung them
since then, but her soulful and melodious rendition led us to believe
otherwise. There was pin drop silence as we listened, completely entranced.
The cake had arrived and Neeta and Sharmila who’d had
birthdays in the recent past were called to do the honours, followed by our
gracious hostess Preeti and the brains behind the event Bani. Two versions of
the Happy Birthday song were belted out in full force by one and all – one for Neeta
/Sharmila and one for St. Georges! I stole a surreptitious glance at the
ceiling…it seemed like all was well for the moment. I thought I spotted some
plaster dropping but I could’ve been mistaken…
There was so much catching up to do, it seems, we just
couldn’t get enough of each other. After all, 32 years is a really long time
and most of us hadn’t seen each other since 1984. News, views, stories did the
rounds as did long exchanges over dinner. Preeti surpassed herself with her
Paneer Capsicum and the yummiest Yellow Daal I’ve had in a long long time. As
they say, it was “finger lickin’ good”
It hasn’t been roses all the way for some of us though;
stories of deep personal losses, battling major health issues were revealed.
Yet, the girls have overcome all these tribulations and triumphed against the
odds – listening to their accounts really stirred me – these girls have shown
such fortitude and courage. They have emerged victorious and strong after
passing through the trial by fire! I salute all the brave and beautiful women
of SGGS! God bless them and more power
to them! There’s a lot to learn from them!
More food, more talk, more laughter….it seemed like this
night would’ve lasted forever, had it not been for Old Father Time and familial
responsibilities…Or was it the fear that our vehicles would turn into pumpkins
if we didn’t reach home before midnight like Cinderella? Whatever it was, we
started trickling out of Preeti’s house, albeit reluctantly. Given a chance, we
might’ve gone on till dawn but as it were, we wound down for the day.
With promises to meet again, we parted, signaling the end of
a wonderful and memorable day. The adrenaline rush was at it’s peak and nothing
could wipe the smiles off our faces!
Botox, fillers, anti ageing treatments be damned…..it didn’t
take any of these to turn a bunch of women on the wrong side of 40 into giggly
15 year olds again ! And all this in one single sitting!! Might be temporary
but so are the Botox treatments and fillers! No needles or pain either! Now, I
challenge you to show me one doctor who can beat this…..
