Sitting on the couch, next to the half-open window I inhaled the scent of conifers... My vision was hazy, partly because of tears of joy partly because of the rainwater that trickled down the glass-pane… The rain was whispering a song of its own, a song that even the inhabitants of Himachal could not decipher…The sun was just peeping over its horizon and when a cool wind swept down the snow-covered mountain peaks, I shivered just as I had when we had last come to this place...My soul was lost in the beauty of dawn in this green haven; this abode of the Gods which had beckoned us all to relive those memories of childhood, to fulfill the promise which would bear testimony to our eternal friendship…
I looked down at the mattress on which Dolly, Sneha, Himani and Saloni were sleeping. And smiling to myself I thought, “Nothing’s changed - Dolly still drools in her sleep with her eyes wide open and Sneha- she looks just as dumb as she was ten years back. Himani sleeps totally like ‘heroinie’ with locks of hair framing her pretty (read ‘pratty’) face. As for Saloni (who’s still 2 years old) her ‘Snoopy’ pillow (which she carries around everywhere she goes) is her ‘jaan’.” Shreya, Anchita, Disha and Apurva were sleeping on the bed. Although we had all matured over the years, Shreya was still like my kid sister (my choice) and the most stylish one of us (her Monkey print pjs were not to miss). Anchita had finally made it on a trip with us (Destiny had not given her an opportunity to go for PALS Trips) and Gawd! Had she lost all her baby-fat! Disha was still skinny and staying in the States for four years had not made her any fairer. As for Apurva- she looked like she would just jump out of bed any moment and shout, “Bhaaaasm kar doongi murkh!”
And what can I say about myself? Well, my hair was junglee as ever, I was wearing my black satin pjs (which my kind friends had not forgotten to make fun of, just as they had years back) and even though I had tried to become more lady-like, I had failed miserably in my attempts.
Life in La Martiniere had been a breeze where our friendship had blossomed, grown and flourished. But as we stepped out of school and stood at the threshold of a new phase in our lives, we were scared…We had seen how the best of school-friends simply ‘lost contact’, settled in different parts of the world with no news of one another whatsoever. We certainly did not want that to happen! We knew, only a promise could bring us together…School trips would always be cherished memories; so we decided that ten years from then, we would go for a ‘school trip.’
And here we were! On our so-called ‘school trip’ in Himachal Pradesh- touring Manali, Dharamshala, Dalhousie and Khajjiar- without a cell-phone, without our laptops, without any contraption that reminded us of work and only our small rucksacks which we carried around ourselves (we weren’t allowed to hire porters on PALS trips). We had all brought at least one item of clothing, which we used to wear ten years back and our school shirts on which our school friends had scribbled their messages.
We had already visited Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary only to realize that there was no wildlife there (except Shreya and me). Our next stop would be Khajjiar (we had zorbed there in the meadows) and we hoped to meet Sanjeev Sir (we had named him ‘Good-music Sir’) who had organized our adventure sports. We missed Ms. Ali and Mrs. Dayal terribly as we remembered how much fun they had been on those unforgettable PALS trips. We missed Bhuvan Sir, who had organized most of the excursions.
And as I sat on the couch in the very same room of the hotel in which we had stayed when we were kids, I looked out of the half-open window and blinked a tear, my soul lost in the beauty of this green haven; this abode of the Gods which had beckoned us all to relive those memories of childhood, to fulfill the promise which would bear testimony to our eternal friendship…
(Writer’s note: This article is dedicated to La Martiniere, my Alma Mater; PALS which has given us memories to last a lifetime and to all my friends who mean the world to me… Your madness is a constant source of inspiration for me….LOVE YAS!!!!!)
I looked down at the mattress on which Dolly, Sneha, Himani and Saloni were sleeping. And smiling to myself I thought, “Nothing’s changed - Dolly still drools in her sleep with her eyes wide open and Sneha- she looks just as dumb as she was ten years back. Himani sleeps totally like ‘heroinie’ with locks of hair framing her pretty (read ‘pratty’) face. As for Saloni (who’s still 2 years old) her ‘Snoopy’ pillow (which she carries around everywhere she goes) is her ‘jaan’.” Shreya, Anchita, Disha and Apurva were sleeping on the bed. Although we had all matured over the years, Shreya was still like my kid sister (my choice) and the most stylish one of us (her Monkey print pjs were not to miss). Anchita had finally made it on a trip with us (Destiny had not given her an opportunity to go for PALS Trips) and Gawd! Had she lost all her baby-fat! Disha was still skinny and staying in the States for four years had not made her any fairer. As for Apurva- she looked like she would just jump out of bed any moment and shout, “Bhaaaasm kar doongi murkh!”
And what can I say about myself? Well, my hair was junglee as ever, I was wearing my black satin pjs (which my kind friends had not forgotten to make fun of, just as they had years back) and even though I had tried to become more lady-like, I had failed miserably in my attempts.
Life in La Martiniere had been a breeze where our friendship had blossomed, grown and flourished. But as we stepped out of school and stood at the threshold of a new phase in our lives, we were scared…We had seen how the best of school-friends simply ‘lost contact’, settled in different parts of the world with no news of one another whatsoever. We certainly did not want that to happen! We knew, only a promise could bring us together…School trips would always be cherished memories; so we decided that ten years from then, we would go for a ‘school trip.’
And here we were! On our so-called ‘school trip’ in Himachal Pradesh- touring Manali, Dharamshala, Dalhousie and Khajjiar- without a cell-phone, without our laptops, without any contraption that reminded us of work and only our small rucksacks which we carried around ourselves (we weren’t allowed to hire porters on PALS trips). We had all brought at least one item of clothing, which we used to wear ten years back and our school shirts on which our school friends had scribbled their messages.
We had already visited Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary only to realize that there was no wildlife there (except Shreya and me). Our next stop would be Khajjiar (we had zorbed there in the meadows) and we hoped to meet Sanjeev Sir (we had named him ‘Good-music Sir’) who had organized our adventure sports. We missed Ms. Ali and Mrs. Dayal terribly as we remembered how much fun they had been on those unforgettable PALS trips. We missed Bhuvan Sir, who had organized most of the excursions.
And as I sat on the couch in the very same room of the hotel in which we had stayed when we were kids, I looked out of the half-open window and blinked a tear, my soul lost in the beauty of this green haven; this abode of the Gods which had beckoned us all to relive those memories of childhood, to fulfill the promise which would bear testimony to our eternal friendship…
(Writer’s note: This article is dedicated to La Martiniere, my Alma Mater; PALS which has given us memories to last a lifetime and to all my friends who mean the world to me… Your madness is a constant source of inspiration for me….LOVE YAS!!!!!)
3 comments:
pictureeeeeeeessssssss...chitter cock! lol...blogs looking even better...
just finished re-reading this...makes me realise that I don't want to write in your diaries...you know why? cuz we'll be in touch forever and we wont need booklets and diaries to remember each other. Yeah I kno you're gonna make me fill them neway :P but...this makes me realise how much i love you guys, how much we've grown with each other and closer to each other...to quote the great mridul dua - LOVE YAS!!
yupie duppie.......me completely agrees with my sweet chippy.....even i was thinkin wat WILL i fill in u ppl as in gr8 (but are actually the moronic 9)......newat my honeybun jus want to say i ADORE this article...........or story(right this time na?).......i mean wenever i will read it or wenever i remeber u ppl i will think abt the crappiness,daychuckness,stupidity,moronidity,fartidity(horrible invented words) we have done.i mean i will miss u guys loads(boi ho boi is that an understatement!!...loads of love,tonnes of hugs n barrels of kisses.....shreya
DAIYAM!!!i mean this is like.......AWEFUCKINSOME.....yeah you were right its like this is gonna be always there,frozen in time........sigh.I love it.......its super cool,makes sense,you cant get enough.......I mean its like ME!!!yeah its just the thing i'll read when i'll be weeping after some horrible row wid someone at work......or well with some dick.......and prolli when it'll be be raining outside on some winter night and i'll be feeling homesick or missing my friends or feeling sick of my new friends........heheheheh..........GEEZ!!I YAM SAPPY!!!well i lurve you for this and otherwise ......love and goo or gooey love or lovey goo....UUUURGH.....YOU GET THE POINT!!!
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