Love from friends

The gray colored uniform, the white ribbons on the braid, the black school shoes, suddenly find themselves resting on a corner of the few homes on a fine afternoon. The owners of them don’t need them anymore. Their service is no longer needed. The owners of them are leaving behind, and going to join the outer world. They are not little kids anymore. The running around in the huge playground of the school don’t attract them anymore. They are going to build their career.  Their extended childhood is giving them a farewell, with a smile ,but tears in eyes. The childhood knows that in future they will search me , ponder over and ever in life to get me back. As of now they have colorful dreams in their eyes. They desperately want to get their grown-up life. However, the childhood knows they want me back after twenty years, when they will totally involve in their grown up life. 

This is done by my friend R

 

One more gift

Yes, I’m talking about our last day of grade 10, when we were leaving school and going for higher studies. Some of us stayed back in the same school, for their grade 11 and 12. Some joined different school, and some of them joined in different colleges. Now the system has changed , no college offers 11-12 grade course. Anyway, that was almost twenty five years ago. 

Now all of us have family, responsibility, jobs, and no time to think about ourselves. We are just too much preoccupied with life. Still, when we sit back a little in the middle of piles of tasks, we all, for sure wish to go back to those days. Here comes the good side of social media, when slowly, we got back most of our school friend. We are really blessed that we could connect almost all the friends with whom we can share our everyday life, our joy and sorrow, our ups and downs. 

After social media did its magic, we try to meet together anytime to reminisce our old days. For few hours we can go back to our childhood. We can get back those joy, those laughter for few hours. Though I cannot join all the meet, but I surely join them once a year. Usually all of them try to come to meet me, and we call it mega-meet. So, past few years we usually meet when I visit India. I think that meeting every year is the most exciting part of my annual visit. Almost through out the year we make plans, then abandon plans, then re-plan for my much awaited visit. 

 

Isn’t it amazing to meet the friends who we last saw in school uniforms , again now seeing in there adulthood? Before going in last summer I asked them what they want from, and I got only one answer, “Your presence”. That unconditional love always overwhelms me. The love which I got 25 years back from free those willed kids, the love remained unchanged till now. There is no doubt in it. That very love always drives to create some small gifts for them. It is really beyond any description how much I feel happy and blessed  when I can see the those faces lit up like a child with little gifts from me. So, last year I made some pouches for them, and in return they showered me with so many gifts, just unimaginable. One day jokingly I asked one of my friends to give me a beautiful neckpiece she was wearing , and she gave when we meet for the fist time during my visit to India.

When I went to India last year, that was the pick of the summer, and was unbearably hot. Still, we didn’t change our plan. When we meet, we usually meet in  our traditional attire, sari. In hot summer days it is really difficult to wear 5 yard long sari, but they didn’t say no to me, as it was my wish.
The meeting was extremely fun-filled and refreshing. We talk about our schooldays, how we used to spend those, the funny things happen in those days. When the two hours passed by, we didn’t realize. The clocked ticked 6 in the evening, and again we came to the present adulthood, and went back to do the responsibilities we had. 

These ar from me..