Reunions

This was the second time I was meeting up with my school mates. It was not planned and was decided out of the blue when one of our classmates from Australia visited India and wanted to get together. It was last minute and I was reluctant, moreover I haven't really got to know these people ever since high school (I had changed schools after class X). Finally, I decided to go and meet my friends and did not regret it. So what is it about classmates, that brings back a smile, a happiness, may be a reminder of the hopes one had during childhood?

Is it the fact that we have been together and understood each other and accepted each other blindly at a time when our egos weren't so big.  It was a weekday evening, so only five of us got to meet each other. I tried to place the young, childhood faces that I remembered to each of the matured, grown up faces that were in front of me. The conversation ranged from old buddies, to teachers to our current lives. The topic of marriage and children did come up and it was really funny how each of us was trying to be a responsible parent.

It made us happy to know that we remembered so much and sometimes so little about each other. Our own perceptions of ourselves have changed so much during the past few years that it was nice to be reminded about who we were or are. I am not one for having lavish reunions but such small gatherings are a nice way to look back at the way we have grown, together or apart. Looking back today, after 20 odd years, I just feel that things were good after all and we have turned out alright. It is true, life has a way of balancing things out.