Golden Jubilee Reunion: Batch of 1975, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Fort William

While returning from three days of a gala reunion at Khola Aakash, an ecological resort on the bank of the Haldi River at Haldia, West Bengal, I got engrossed in listening to this song being played in our car stereo... Nagme hain... shikve hain... kisse hain... baatein hain... baatein bhool jati hain... yaadein yaad aati hain (There are songs... there are complaints... there are stories... there are words... conversations are forgotten, and only memories are remembered).

- BRIG. SN BHADURI

Yes, the memories of the reunion will be a topic in the future during any get-together.

When we were planning the reunion, a young Turk joked that, in our mid-60s, why were we planning such a get-together, that too at a distant place? Well, I just laughed and told him that for us, such a reunion is reconnecting the past, and embracing the future with a promise for the future. Anyway, I told him sarcastically that he or his generation would never appreciate such events because, today, you live for you and you only.

Before going to meet my classmates—some after five decades—I told my wife, who was also accompanying me...

It is my class reunion; the excitement can be felt in my house.

As I checked in each mirror and begged my poor spouse,

To say that I looked great and my chin is not double,

She did lie with a straight face, just to stay out of trouble.

That beneath my glasses, the eyes hadn't changed,

And I had the same figure, just a bit rearranged.

I swallowed her words—hook, sink, and line—And decided to join my classmates, feeling fine.

I was feeling a bit challenged, as I would be meeting many after five decades, and I prayed that I would not goof up recognising and addressing them correctly. To my surprise, I did not struggle an iota in recognising them as we hugged each other and started conversing with familiar smiles and mannerisms. I must confess that...

Somehow, I had expected my classmates to stay, As young as they were on that long-ago day.

They added grey to their hair or pounds to the rear,

Must have changed like me through the years.