Friendship day: A reunion after 18 years

As he sifted through old photographs that brought back memories of carefree days spent on campus, Sanjeev Jain felt an urge to reconnect with his classmates. “A reunion after nearly two decades felt like an impossible dream initially,” says the 33-year-old businessman, who called Meena Jain and Vineet Barot, two friends he was still in touch with. “They called others they knew and soon we had 80 percent of the Class of ‘93 showing interest in meeting up,” he added.

After exchanging pleasantries and recent pictures of their spouses and children on social networking sites for a few weeks, the former students of the Bangur Nagar Vidya Bhavan in Goregaon finally met last week at a banquet hall not too far from their alma mater. Most of the 40 people who attended were in school together right from kindergarten to Std X but had lost contact over the years.

The heavy rains lashing the city were no deterrent for the group that travelled from all over Mumbai to meet old friends. “While quite a few of us still live in the western suburbs, others have moved away to areas like Byculla, Chembur, Wadala and Khargar,” said Jain who brought his wife and seven-year-old son to the reunion.

Dressed in white shirts and blue jeans for the ‘uniformity factor’, the group spent the afternoon catching up and exchanging tidbits. “Despite our devil-may-care attitude in school, most of us have done well for ourselves,” Jain says, pointing out that classmate Saurav Kabra is now a Bollywood director while Sandeep Thakur is a professional musician. Corporate honcho Vikram Puri, who had a flight to catch to Los Angeles the next morning, showed up too despite his hectic schedule.

The group relived their childhood days by singing poetry and playing games. An especially created crossword had clues such as ‘he was, he is, and will always be shy of girls’, ‘natural beauty of our times’ and ‘hottest teacher in school’.

A projector showed pictures of class picnics and get-togethers. “Our spouses and children were surprised at our enthusiasm and some even got inspired to hold similar functions with their own long-lost friends,” said Jain.

There were awkward moments too when people failed to recognise a few of their former classmates. “Some of the girls had straightened or cut their hair while others looked prettier than their teenage selves. As for the men, some have beer bellies now or are balding,” he added with a laugh.

However, the group hopes to take their reunion a step further. “Next time we meet, we would like to chart out a plan to contribute in cash or kind towards the welfare of our school,” Jain said.

For now, the alumni of the Bangur Nagar Vidya Bhavan are content with happy memories of a rainy afternoon well spent.

“There is nothing like old friends. We may grow up and meet new people along the way but the best times are those spent with friends we had as children.”