Reclaiming life Archives - Page 2 of 2

May 2010
A reunion with Loreto girls.

Wow, though I. It had been over 20 years since I met up with everyone.

It was to have been a rendezvous with three pals, then there were five, another one joined in and then another one. Finally on a hot May afternoon eight of us gathered for lunch.

Time works in strange ways; it changes some things beyond recognition even while leaving others untouched.

It had turned skinny girls into plump women while leaving the smiles intact.
It had (quite magnanimously) allowed the plump ones to keep their curves while taking away their self-consciousness.
It had turned jet black hair silver, while leaving quicksilver tongues untouched.

It had transformed gawky teenagers into lively women, with their ability to giggle intact.

One thing was for sure the teens were far far behind us.

Or were they?

The excitement of the reunion melted the years away and turned us back into rowdy teens. Someone upturned a glass full of water while someone else knocked over the tissue box. The rest chatted animatedly, as comments flew around and camera’s clicked in a bid to savour and capture the moment.

The young couple at the secluded table next to us beat a hasty retreat followed by barely concealed hoots from the rowdier ones, while the others tried unsuccessfully to shush them. Waiters hovered around trying in vain to get us to place an order. Who had time for food when we had a quarter century of tales to consume?

Looks came under the scanner first…
‘You so look the same..’
‘When did you get cholesterol deposits on your eyes?’
‘Why on earth don’t you colour your hair? I hate to be seen with an aunty.’
‘You were so thin in school, what happened?’

…. then the catching up….
‘You? A principal? Unbelievable.’
‘Your son’s 17, how lucky is that! I’m still struggling with my four-year-old twins.’
‘…92 pc in her boards…. Great.’
‘Do you still sing?’
‘An HoD? Can you actually tell off students?’
‘… dad’s real estate business? Woah!’
‘… in Jaipur? Wow great place.’

…. And the unending memories

25-year-old school gossip that still seemed so interesting — the scandals that seemed so huge back then, the shared punishments, the dreaded subjects.

Of course there were the teachers, the quirky and scary, the elegant and the frumpy — all of them doing their bit to make ‘young ladies’ out of us. There was the tough librarian thanks to whom we never could still turn corners down in books, the oh-so-propah English teacher who taught us to appreciate Shakespeare and get the pronunciation just right, the nun who walked around with a pillow to sit on, the music teacher who exhorted us non-singers not ‘slide over’ the notes… the memories were endless.

As we relived them our school days seemed to come alive.

Finally the order was placed.. rather, over placed.. each thought the others were big eaters. Between bites of paranthas and kebabs the talk continued till responsibilities beckoned.. there were businesses calling, kids to be put to sleep, homes to be taken care of.

With promises to keep in touch and meet again we dispersed, each becoming a grown up again leaving behind our teens in the restaurant.

Mama went to the gym today. I would have liked to say ‘mama started going to the gym today’ but she’s so doubtful whether she will be able to continue that she wants to take it a day at a time. She told the entire society that she’d be away for an hour and that they should keep an eye on us, as if Sophia didi wasn’t enough. And that too when she went during our morning nap. It became a tad embarrassing because she was supposed to start a week back but she couldn’t because both of us fell ill and everyone from our doctor to our neighbours was asking ‘Have you started going to the gym?’ I think it was all the pressure that finally pushed her to go today.

Anyway, she came back all sweaty but very happy. As far as I am concerned her absence was quite uneventful but bhai had a crying fit as soon as she left and didn’t sleep at all. Sophia didi says he dreamt that mama would be gone and that’s what made him wake up. I say that’s all rubbish. Sophia didi gets these weird ideas. The other day we overheard her asking the cook, how she can ward off the evil eye from us. She was complaining that when we go down EVERYONE looks only at us. Some one just has to say ‘how cute’ to me or ‘how chubby’ to bhai to get her all worked up. Well some of it might be her imagination but we do seem to be the favourite playthings for a lot of older kids around. Sharvari and Shalmali love to take us in their godi, Ankita likes to swirl bhai and make him laugh, Trija holds our hand and makes us walk, Yash and Jai just love to pet both of us, Tamanna gets a special football keychain that Rit bhai likes to play with and Khushi hangs around us because she’s too shy to say anything… and that’s just some of our older pals…but Sophia didi doesn’t understand that they are our friends, how can they cast an evil eye on us?

Anyway the cook did give her a recipe involving a lemon and she made mama buy it. That irritated mama no end but she did get the lemons.

Category: Reclaiming life

The renuion

Mama’s day out – N