Yeh Zindagi na mile dobara! Schoolmate's meet @ Lonavla on 23/24th july, 2011

The thought of meeting at Lonavla suddenly erupted when my childhood friend and classmate Raghu (1968, Pusa) called me to say that the weather and scenic beauty of Lonavla was awesome with clouds coming down the hills on to the ghat roads to give you a feel of floating amidst the clouds in the air!  Ravi Krishnaswamy (1968, Pusa) was ever willing to join the fun and accordingly booked his journey to Mumbai.  I travelled to Mumbai and the three of us travelled to Lonavla where Ramesh, yet another schoolmate from DTEA, Laxmibai nagar opened his gated community house to welcome us.  The heart and thoughts of Ramesh was big enough to provide us good food coupled with Somapanam- the Indian equivalent of liquor!!  R Balachander(1968, LE) joined us within minutes of our reaching Lonavla to be with us and give company.  Incidentally, Balu works for a Maritime school at Lonavla teaching Maritime studies to young aspirants.  There were a dozen other friends who had come from Mumbai and were friends of Ramesh and Raghu.

The party started in the afternoon with tasty lunch and music and went on till about 10pm during which time, songs from the 1950s till the 1980s were sung besides ghazals prompting the gathering for more guzzling of drinks!!!  There was a Dolak player who used to record with the famous O P Nayyar and a couple of singers who were at their best singing and entertaining the small gathering.  As if to compliment the moods and flow of songs, heavens opened up bringing down sheets of water and gave added value to the visual treats of green mountains all around with streams flowing from the mountain tops!

The singing session that lasted for nearly 7 hours ended only to begin a new entertainment of Rummy after we all had yummy food!  Some who did not want to or know how to play retired.  The game of cards went on till about 4.30 am when a batch of friends who had retired earlier woke up for a morning walk in the rains within the gated compound.  They finished both their walking exercise and the ritual of morning bath at one stroke and were ready for the next action by 7am on Sunday!  Ramesh had organised a couple of cooks who took care of our appetite well by providing tasty and quality food.  The bread/omelet breakfast was amazing given the cold climate and the Delhi Belly that we were blessed with?

The Mehfil gathered momentum by about 9 am and songs from latest and old films were sung by quite a few who by this time had gathered mental strength to raise their voice to be heard!  The big heart of Ravi opened once again by declaring the Bar-open!  Some who wanted to go for a walk or stroll did that while the others were entertaining their souls with Madira and songs that touched your hearts.  Lunch was served at about 2.30 pm where after the party was over and everyone dispersed exchanging hugs and bear hugs!!  It was a cool, entertaining re-union of friends and specially for the four of us who hailed from Karol Bagh, New Delhi. We could manage to recall those good old days and certain acts of each other which brought in memories of the golden past that lay deeply embedded in our thoughts and lives!

A special mention about our classmates R Hariharan(LB), K N Ashok(Pusa), Shivalingam(Pusa), M R Diwakar(Pusa) who were so thrilled to hear about this meet and wanted to participate but could not due to pre-occupation.  They all sent messages wishing success.    We remembered you guys fondly  during our sessions!!  Salamat rahe dostana Hamara!!