RECONNECT99: From An Observer's Vantage Point

After an eventful road trip, I finally reached the venue of my college reunion, The Raviz Kadavu. Parked my car, got the luggage out, and walked towards the reception. I could already see some of my batchmates greeting each other trying to break the ice, but I didn't find anyone that I knew in particular. I got myself checked-in to the room.

After dropping the luggage, I finally got to meet some of my state mates. This was followed by some awkward customary exchange of information about each other's jobs and families. After a light lunch at the restaurant we headed to the souvenir collection area. This was the next stage of ice breaking where everyone started meeting their classmates from different states.

REC, or NIT as it is called now, is unique in its own way. It's a melting pot of students (and in extension, cultures) carefully chosen from each state (& union territory) of this country, with some NRIs and foreigners added in the mix for good measure. I had always wondered whether this was a well thought out strategy from the government or someone's idea of a Big Boss house mired in the garb of an educational institution. Well, either ways they have achieved their intended purpose.

Souvenir kit collected and everyone changed to the official t-shirts and pinned name tags, it was time for the branch-wise group photos. This was the first place where the entire class(es) got together and whatever ice that remained got well and truly melting. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch when the entire batch assembled for the batch photo. The ice breaking was complete at this point and all the melted water found its way down the slopes towards the Chaliyar river.

From this point on, it was pure fun, nostalgia, and mayhem playing out in the open. Sudden Amnesia took over with everyone forgetting basic facts of life like they were married, had children, were holding positions at reputable organizations, were relatively sane, etc.

I witnessed several strange things happening. For instance, I was part of the communications team and prided myself about sending clear comms leading up to the event. Inspite of that, I witnessed one of my friend, let's call him roll no.3 to maintain his privacy, ended up coming to the 50th year reunion, when it was actually the 25th year. (Mental note to self: remember to apologise to sharmaji).

Another strange thing was the misconceptions that I had about some of my fellow batchmates. Someone whom I thought was destined to be an underworld don was busy talking about corporate business strategies, and someone who used to keep things revealingly blunt, had come back as a reverable sant (Mental note to self: remember to book a meditation session with gaurji).

More photo ops, entertainment (from the past and the present generation), liquid refreshments, and a gala dinner later it was well past midnight when I decided to call it a day. Couple of things stayed with me, which transpired quietly during the course of that evening. One, expressions of an astonished wife who witnessed the boundless care that her injured husband's friends showered on him, and two, young kids seeing a completely different facet of their parents. No camera on earth can capture those emotions except for the human eyes.

With the alarm blaring in the background, I jumped out of the bed at 5am, got ready and changed into my running attire. It was time for a 3km run across the river with the batchmates. True to the word, we had representation from all the states. I was reminded of the scene where Bilbo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings) gives his final speech before he vanishes into thin air. There were the MPs, the UPs, the Nexis, the Mallus, the Gujjus (including couple of fake ones), the Gultis, and the rest.

The run was flagged off after a brisk warm up. We started running out of the resort towards the bridge against the morning traffic. On the way, I noticed a set of locals standing on the bridge discussing something fervently. Curious to know, I slowed down to listen in, it turns out there was a sudden influx of water in the Chaliyar river since the previous evening. Wondering what could be the reason and not to be left behind, I continued my run. At the end of the run, with the way the whole thing was organised including the medals distributed, everyone felt in unison that Dharma did justice (coincidence?! or Tautology).

A quick bath followed by an even quicker breakfast, we boarded buses to our college. There was this long bridge and a longer traffic on the way (sounds familiar?). Nothing particular caught my interest until we reached the outskirts of the college, the approach of Krishna temple, 12th mile, CEDT, and the health center brought in a sudden rush of emotions. Before we got submerged into our thoughts we were jolted by the thundering chenda melam at the main gate of the college.

One after the other the rest of the buses rolled in and the procession started. Some of the professors and the regulars were confused with 200 odd people gathered infront of the college, bemused whether they missed their turn. The short procession through the Rajpath ended at the Main Building with a dance finale - a sight to behold where 45+ year olds overwhelmed with amnesia behaved like 22 year olds.

From here on, smaller groups went on to their respective departments for taking more photos. After a few of our own in different poses, some of us went to the water dispenser at our department to quench thirst. Water was super cold and a technician nearby was complaining about this unusual happening. He was blaming this on melting of ice due to Global (friends) Warming (up).More group photos continued and I witnessed a scene that I had only watched in National Geographic documentaries. I was momentarily transported to Africa where a zulu princess was being crowned into a queen surrounded by her Royal army.

We then moved on towards the hostels and went past some of the labs on the way. Through the glass windows we could see those columns of lathe machines which has stood the test of time rivaling the formidable cannons of the great Chatrapati Shivaji. Light snacks were served on the grounds next to the F hostel. To my great horror, I saw a new G hostel in front of me which prominently had the sign board "Girls hostel". What in the name of God is this abomination, I thought. Understanding my predicament, one of the helpful student volunteers clarified that it was only a PG ladies' hostel. I thought to myself, So?

With that disturbing thought, I ventured into the F hostel, it was visibly apparent that absolutely nothing has changed in all these years - same wooden cot, wooden chair & table, and brown painted glass windows. The only addition seems to be a cleverly designed clothes liner bore into the ceiling infront of the rooms. The other intriguing thing that caught my eye is a clear instruction stuck in the entrance of every common washroom area. Only the room numbers assigned can use those washrooms. Imagine an outbreak of diarrhea in one part of the hostel. Hold that thought while we moved into the mess.

F hostel mess pretty much served the same menu with minor changes. The parotta with peas masala on Sunday evenings continues to give me nightmares till this day. But I have to give it to the innovating minds of the mess staff at that time. They would keep the chicken pieces buried inside the ghee rice and the challenge for us was to find the plate with the biggest piece. A treasure hunt with a clear reward at the end of it.

The hostels tour was wrapped up at the A (first year) hostel. Coincidentally, I had all my first year roommates with me on that day and we used the opportunity to get a photo taken for posterity. The current occupant of the room was not amused by the ruckus that we made. I had mixed feelings of my first year room. I remember being surrounded by all these intelligent people that I often wondered whether I would survive even an year among them. I was as petrified as the boy in the movie The Sixth Sense - I see them (intelligent people) everywhere.

The college visit came to an end after a sumptuous lunch thrown by the college, followed by a refreshing power nap during the presentation (Mental note to self: delete this before posting). The goodbyes slowly started and continued till the next day afternoon with friends gradually getting their memory back and returning to their realities. I was one of the last bunch to leave. I sent off a group who headed towards the city to replenish the liquids lost during the bonding sessions in the last two days and headed in the opposite direction.

On my road trip back to my home town, I got thinking, that in this divided world where we live in, what we need is more of the RECs to bring the sanity back.

Wish you all a Happy & Prosperous New Year!