In lofty blue mountains of the Nilgiris, is nestled the more than 120 year old British school - St Joseph's Convent....with its stone buildings , flowering gardens , huge drive ways, wooden floored Chapel, french windows and its spooky ghost passage ....
Its the year 1991 and a group of chatty 15 year old girls are standing in front of the school main hall making a life decision ( at least it seemed so then :-) ) .. to meet after 20 years where ever we are .
Our English Mam Ms Juliet ( who insisted that photographer has to be pronounced as photogripher !!) had just finished O'Henry's famous short story
'After twenty years', where two friends meet after 20 years , one a policeman and the other a hunted criminal. And we decided to do the same - meet after 20 years !! ( Even 18 year old seemed aged to us then )
After high school when we parted ways , it was the Indian post office which kept the communication going ( and what a thrill to get a letter from my friends , who used to start letters as if its the middle of a conversation ) . This too, dwindled after a year.
Years kept rolling by , with each one's life going through a kaleidoscope of colors - hours of endless studying in 12th, college, job, international travel, marriage , kids...... it was the year 2011 and I distinctively remember thinking of our decision to meet after 20 years, but I did not have a single contact with me ( don't ask what happened to FB - I don't even remember having an account then ) .
Fast forward to 2014 and my elder sister who had not gone beyond sending an sms or web browsing , suddenly became tech savvy, went wizzy on facebook and whatsapp, networking to her friends across the globe .. and thud - who came and landed on her friend's list ? my very close friend from kindergarten to high school - yes one among the chatty group - within an hour I was contacted, numbers exchanged and I was pulled into .. ......
yes ! - my school friend's whatsapp group :-) :-) :-)
And oh My God !! what a group - more than 30 girls , 100 odd messages zipping across all time zones and sweetest of all ,chatting as if we had left of yesterday and not after 23 years - I still remember the glow I was walking around with that day :-)
Catching up on our lives , exchanging photos ( and commenting about how young we still looked - hee hee hee ) and most to savour is expressing what is on my mind without a inhibition and being welcomed with open arms , that child rapport mingled with the Coonoor innocence - this is something I guess, all share with childhood friends !!
This group is place I can stay away for days or weeks and just glide in with ease.... this group is where one topic just glides into another..... its a place where even if one or one's family is a little sick, home remedies or get well soon inquiries keep pouring in till its all ok......
Reminiscing about our school days, when my friends remembered details about me , even after more than two decades ( which I myself had forgotten ) , made my step lighter.
With enhanced connectivity shrinking the world, planning rendevouz is obviously on the roll, for which I am eagerly awaiting ...
Thank you dear friends for getting back into my life again :-)
For each of us, where childhood memories are so treasured, plugging into that world again after so many years is indeed precious.. a universal feeling ....
so signing off with the St Joseph's Convent School Song
Hail to our Happy School days ,
Youth with a will to win... ( pomp..pomp !! )
Hail to our Happy Team Days
The Game that call us in...............................
Three Cheers to St Joseph's Hip Hip Hurray !!!!
