Finally we met!

And finally it came to pass…the long anticipated meeting of four guys…guys who have been together since Class 4, who have seen many good and bad days together, who have broken rules and established new ones…guys who knew each other’s dark and bright side…guys who swore to stick together…until the end of Pre-University exam (1996) came, and they had to go their separate ways in their quest for higher learning, a journey each knew they had to take one fine day. We met last night at JNU campus. It was a special night for the four of us and even the weather seemed to arrange its elements to make it most enjoyable for us – the night was cool, the rain was drizzling and the air was wrapping us in a welcoming chill.

Sometime in middle of 1996, Basil went south to Pondicherry to join JIPMER (http://www.jipmer.edu/), Aditya went north to Delhi and found meaning in JNU (http://www.jnu.ac.in/), Vikram went to Mysore’s Central Food Technological Research Institute (http://www.cftri.com/) and I went to RNTMC in Udaipur (only the site, no web!).

As we hugged and greeted each other with so many words and gestures, it was hard to contain the excitement. At that moment we all wished another person was with us. He is Bibek Yumnam, the best artist we have known at school. He is based at Dehra Dun at the Wildlife Institute of India (http://www.wii.gov.in/). We drove to Aditya's hostel and Vikram was kind enough to have bought a bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion. As we settled ourselves comfortably in Aditya's room, I persuaded Basil to narrate to all present some of his amazing 'ward stories'. Basil was meeting Vikram and Aditya for the first time after more than 10 years. Vikram and I met about 3 weeks ago in JNU along with Aditya, and that day we had visited a very dear teacher of ours, Mrs. Gopalakrishna, our favourite Biology teacher in school, who has now just settled in the capital.

So Basil, the great gynaecologist that he is, started telling us his ward stories, one at a time, and with a purposive pace, as we hung on to his every word. As you can see, his stories were truly awe inspiring for Vikram and Aditya. They didn't miss a word, and at times when the terminology in the stories became too 'medical' for them, Basil and I would explain the meaning in, as they say, 'layman's speech'.

So the night went along fine with great stories and wine. For those who are curious or interested to know about the 'ward stories', please catch hold of Basil and ask him. He is usually spotted in the labour room and OT (Operation Theatre) of AIIMS, though he also frequents Nescafe shop near AIIMS Hostel No. 7.

We ended up talking about good old school days, our teachers, our buddies in class and the moments we cherished the most. Then I started telling them about my first experience in the Dissection Hall (DH) of RNTMC, and how it felt like to see a cadaver on the dissection table. Aditya and Vikram, though interested they were in listening to our medical tales, were not quite certain about continuing to hear more about cadavers and dissections. I smile as I remember Aditya's facial expression when Basil and I told him about DH stories...poor chap. I wonder if he slept that night....

Anyway, Aditya was finally a very relieved man when the subject of discussion changed. We started pulling Vikram's legs on some remarks that he made, for Vikram by then, was a very 'high' man indeed, thanks to the drinks. Basil and I finally left JNU at 1:00 am.

We promised ourselves we will meet again on a weekend. It was a meeting well made. Cheers to us.