she was standing looking out of window of her 34th floor corner office, lost in thought. she had just recvd a letter from her school, god , that was ages ago!!, notifying her abt the ten year reunion. that was odd. just wen life ha dmoving at such a fast pace, wen ties with the old world were as good as broken, this came as a weird surprise. good or bad, she didnt know but this got her thinking.. memories that had been locked up in some box stirred, raised their heads and made their presence felt after wat felt like an eternity......
it was a normal morning. but she woke up dreading every single moment.it was her last official day at school. with their exams over, this was one last day, a day of party at school. yes, their school was giving a party,a farewell party. since it was gonna be a day of fun, wat with exams finally over, she felt she cud spare a moment of relief but somehow that was exactly wat she wasnt feeling. her last two years at school had been full of tumult. with tests, deadlines, assignemnts, more tests, tensions all the time to give it ur all, make it to the best place , life had been one bumpy ride. but even amongst all the tyranny, these two years meant more to her than her entire school life put together.cuz while life was throwing volley of troubles at her, she had found wat she had been looking for her entire life- her frnds!!!!!
just wen she was thinking of her life over past two years, she heard her mom calling,"c'mon sakshi, wake up. madhu is on line". then thinking of all those ppl, she felt that eth wasnt over, she had no reason to be sad, not yet!!!
" hey sakshi. u were asleep???" asked madhu inher excited tone. "naah, i was just up. so tell me, wassup?" said sakshi, still half asleep. "okay, actually i wanted to tell u that we all are gathering upat vinisha's house. u be there by ten. and then we will all go together. and also please bring along some red accessories. i dont really have nay good ones. are u okay?? u sound depressed" said madhu. that was her. she was the one who alwys made plans, informed everyone and was first one to sense someone's bad mood. " naah naah, m fine. i just woke up so thats y i might be sounding like that. i will be there on time and will get watever i have to match ur dress. see ya." said sakshi and she hung up.
"helllo aunty, is everyone here?? is vinisha ready??" asked sakshi as she entered vinisha's house, a little late but still within time limits. "hello sakshi.almost evryone is here. but vinisha, well... she is a differnet story, u know her too well. she just got up." said vinisha's mom. smiling, sakshi went in, only to find mehak screaming at top of her voice " how can u not be ready by now?? u just got up??? now plz hurry up. we are all already late. where is pankhudi??? she is always late. comeon ppl, we cant be late to our own farewell party. thats y i said let everyone be ready by nine. tabhi tum log dus baje tak ready hote..." glad that she, atleast was just a bit out of time slot, sakshi went into the room. minutes went by, and soon pankhudi shuffled into the room."late as usual, arent u??" fumed mehak. "yaar my kinetic. it was puncturd. at last min i got my brother to get it repaired. then the traffic, u know na. sorry." rambled pankhudi, knowin her effort was futile since everyone knew y exactly was she late. she, like vinisha, must have woken up late and then spent hours trying to decide wat to wear etc etc etc." yaar sakshi, are my hair okay?? i dont think so. can sth be done now?? i am not looking too good, am i? i am looking alright, haina?" asked pankhudi trying to fix her hair. "u look great pankhudi" said madhu. " nahi, i dont think so. i think m lookiing a bit blown away." replied pankhudi. " wat?" asked madhu and sakshi together. mehak was too busy fuming and supreet was trying to calm her down. "yeah, blownaway. as in,
udi udi. dont u think so??" she said, with a perfectly straight face and then broke into a laughter which continued for some good ten minutes, going from a smile to silent giggles which ended in just her moving crazily with no audible sound coming out to ensure if she was laughing or just choking. finally wen she calmed down, ppl knew, it was just her old hysterical laughter. soon they all got dressed and made it to the spot in time.
party was going on. everyone was having time of their lives."hey guys, lets go see our classroom" suggested sakshi. just as the song was changing. evryone was panting from an hour of dancing, looking flushed but exhilarated all the same. everyone agreed. so they all made their way to their classroom.all went in there. this room had given them some real good and bad memories. " vinisha remember how we always ate our lunch in our botany period on that last bench?" said madhu, smiling. "yeah. and remember wen once we were midway our bag of chips, mam asked me a ques and i had to answer!!" replied vinisha, reliving that moment. "i still dont know how u managed it!!!" said sakshi. " pooch mat yaaar!!" said vinisha. " arrey this
chutki is much more
shaani than she looks" said madhu, broadly grinning now. mehak said, "remember that time wen ur phone rang in the class, sakshi!! i still remmebr look on goldie's face!!" goldie was their physics teacher and happened to be in class at time of that incident. his name wasnt really goldie. but somehow this nickname had beaten him in reaching the school. "but he was really nice yaaar." said pankhudi, after she had controlled her silent giggles, as usual!!" u know madhu, i didnt really like u in beginning. i mean, i used to think u were mean and a bighead" said sakshi, kina confessing."wat?? really??" said madhu, amazed. "u know sakshi, i felt that way abt u. i had even heard ppl talking that u were this big head, pain in the ass." butt in pankhudi, with a wicked smile. "now u r kidding, arent u?? " replied sakshi."m telling plain truth." said pankhudi with innocence to beat a three a year old's. "well, in my defence, now u all know how deceptive looks can be" said sakshi, indignanatly. "thats y i never blv mehak wen she says she sayd she is not mad at us and puts up a matching look cuz i know, looks are deceptive!!" said supreet, grinning from ear to ear. they all roared in laughter, with mehak joining in!!! that was one good moment togehter.
shortly they heard sounds outside the room and knew it was time for princi's speech. so all left the room. sakshi, deep in her thoughts didnt realise everyone had left. she was still thinking abt how that room had changed her life, cuz that was where she had met every single one of the souls that were her treasure now!!! she looke darnd to find herself alone in room. she ran after her frnds, calling 'hey guys, wait up1!!"
sakshi stirred, as if rising from a dream. it was nth short of that. thought of times wen she was with those ppl felt nth else but a dream which was lost now. but the letter in her hand reminded her, the dream wasnt lost, not yet!!!
she made her way to her school. it felt weird. she hadnt been back to the place in ten years. place where she had got virtually her entire education, god, how had it changed. but she wondered if sth of the old buillding wud be retained. most of it had been changed indeeed. reception was much more fancy, gate was much more intimidating, none of the faces looked familiar. eth looked alien and aloof. before she knew, teras were streaming out of her eyes, wondering how much had changed in all these years, worrying if ath wud be same, wondering if anyone wud be same. as she was walking, she saw a familiar corridor and walked along it, forgetting abt the main event going on in the hall. it looked familiar although a lot had been changed here too. paint was different, posters were changed, names of defaulters on notice board were different. she stopped to read some of them and came across goldie's name. god, he was still here!!! maybe he had changed a lot too. wondering if he wud even remember her after so long time, she made a mental note to meet himlater. she proceeded and then, sth more than familiar reached her ears. those were voices she had been yearning to hear like forever now.. with quicker steps, voices growing louder and louder, she made her way to the room. as she took the turn, her heart beating madly within her, she caught the sight she had not thought she wud see in her living moment ever again. as she stopped at the door, five pairs of eyes turned to look at her. her heart skipped a beat. and came back with energy more than she cud handle. the joy was sth she had thought she was incapable of feeling. she had no clue her heart cud show emotions of such magnitude.they were all sitting casually on benches, "we were wondering wat kept u. i was beginning to think u wudnt come at all!!" said vinisha.she was still the same, much older, yes. but still little and blv it or not, she still had her pony tail!!! " i knew u wud come. i kept telling them u wudnt misss it for the world!!" said madhu, as she came forward to hug her. they all came together. god, that was a moment which writers over ages have described as wen the world comes to a standstill. they all felt nth else but the sensation of trembling body next to them, of tears streaming from each eye, of every smile which was curling arnd corners of lips now since the tearful part was over. "i guess we shud go meet the rest of the ppl too. and lets go to my house after this. afterall, our farewell started from my house and our reunion shud involve my house too. wat say??" said vinisha, wiping her face of tears worth ten years. everyone nodded. they all started going out of the room. sakshi was left behind looking for her tissue.
she turned arnd to find her alone in the room. all had left to meet others. thinking things cudnt have changed that much afterall, she rushed after them, smiling all over, calling "hey guys, wait up!!!"....
