Friends forever Premium

Reunions and alumni meets have surged in past decades. People look forward to them, as they provide a chance to drop the façade and remember old friendships. These events often leave people feeling rejuvenated & younger. Long-standing friendships should be regularly remembered.

A surge is seen in reunions, Alumni meets and so on in the past one decade or two. Resorts and hotels would be able to vouch for this.

I, for one, have been experiencing it over the past few decades. In fact, I will be participating in a 1960-batch high school reunion in January and in a 1966-batch engineering college reunion some time later.

Many former classmates and class-cum-hostel mates, are looking forward to the event. Those living outside Chennai and even those abroad are making their travel plans. The excitement is palpable.

The reasons for our continued camaraderie are not difficult to fathom. At school, we were in our pre-teen to mid-teen years. One hardly thought about the status or family background of the other, though this did emerge over time. In any case friendships were forged on the sports field, where we were spoilt for choice.

Our visionary headmaster furthered this spirit by his practices. For example, for the annual day function, older boys not in the programme were required to carry a wooden chair each from the classrooms for the visitors. A complimentary glass of fresh lime juice in the school canteen was the reward. Further, at the end of every academic year, on the last day of school, all boys together had to sandpaper and wax-polish their desk in the knowledge that they may not get the same desk next year, sometimes not even the same classroom.

At engineering college, being in a hostel with very little alternative, helped. However, a few day students were also welcomed into the fold, if they were so inclined.

There was parity in different ways. Being mostly in mid-teens and having been brought up in a family atmosphere meant commonality in values and also not being set in our ways and outlook. Therefore the traditional differences in society did not come into the picture. Further, being used to people around us made us seek companionship. Initial twinges of home-sickness also nudged us in that direction.