FIR (First Information Report) on the SGGGS Class of 1984 Reunion at Hyderabad on June 7th 2016

“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 7^th. 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…..