25 years later

“Can I add you back on the Whatsapp group for a couple of weeks? We’re planning a getaway for our 25^th year reunion?”, texted N.

I’ve been out of the group chatter on social media in general, but I thought it would be rude to refuse a personal request. So, I agreed.

Am I glad I did! What followed was a heart-warming journey, literally and metaphorically. I came back, humbled.

My mates were lovely. Just lovely. I spent more time talking to some of them in those two days than I had in the whole 3 years in college. They've all turned out to be hardworking, thankful, happy and gracious folks.

We spent time around bonfires, each talking about their individual journeys. We spent time trekking, helping each other navigate hazardous terrain. It rained right through. It was beautiful.

A few things were learnt.

One, not one in a class of 49 ended up with their original plans.

“An M Sc in Electronics was what I’d set my heart upon”, said N.

“I was 2^nd on the waitlist and travelled to the University every single day for two weeks, in the hope that there would be a  couple of dropouts and I would get admission to the course. When I realised I wouldn’t make it, I stood in front of the office and wept like a baby. It was the end of a dream”

What he also went on to mention was that he settled for a Masters in Physics instead, during which he ended up working on crystallography, a nascent field. That, in turn, led him to molecular biology where he ended up being one of the pioneers in using this method to determine the structure of proteins. Take that.

It really isn't about the cards one gets, but how they're used. Cliche, yes - but worth reminding ourselves all the time.

Two, no matter how good or hardworking you are, you need to get a lucky break or three.

V, who’d done an NIIT course after his Bachelors in Electronics, saw a small advertisement in a Coimbatore newspaper calling for software engineers.

“I’d never heard of the company before, and I wasn’t a software engineer. I figured I had nothing to lose. I went all the way to Chennai, only to find myself the sole interviewee. This was the same day when, in another part of the hotel, over 4000 candidates were queuing up for an interview with Satyam. I actually found my interviewer waiting by the door hoping someone would show up. All he wanted to know was if I had a valid passport. Two weeks from then, I found myself in Singapore which became home for the next 5 years. Then, the company sent me to New York where I spent another 5. London was the next stop where  the next half a decade went by, before I decided to come back and settle down in Bangalore”  

Today, V heads one of the more important functions for a glittering company from the Valley.

Three, no matter how good you are or what break you get, you need a guardian angel - someone who'll cushion a few falls.

“I got  got married and went to the United States in 1998”, began Q.

“It was barely two months and my husband lost his job. I also found that I was pregnant. We had no savings at all, since my husband had only been there for a year or so. We were contemplating returning to India, when I happened to call up a college mate of mine, for help.”

To make a long story short, her friend offered them shelter for over a year, while Q and her husband slowly clawed their way back  from the brink - even taking the gut-wrenching decision of sending their one year old first-born back home to her mother because they couldn't sustain themselves. Today, she and her husband stay in Manhattan with their three children. Her family gifted Q a Harley for Mother's Day, earlier this year. 

How's that for resilience and fortitude?

“There’s not a day that goes by when we don’t send out a prayer to my friend and her family”, Q wound up.

Four, there’s no escaping getting knocked over. Life’ll keep dealing everyone that hand.

Every single one who spoke talked about taking life’s  knocks - the kind from where it seemed there was only tunnel and no light. Most soldiered on because there was no other option, mostly on a wing and a prayer, until suddenly, out of the blue, there came an opening. Some operated on faith, some re-calibrated, but they kept at it.

To be sure, it isn't as if any of these are epiphanies. Just that they struck much closer home.

I came back, enriched immeasurably.