Reunion...

Night halts at my friends' place was an integral part of my college life. In the style of Bryan Adams, it is, "And if I had a choice, Yeah! I just wanna be there. Those were the best days of my life!!" and in our local context it is, "Andha Nal Nyabagam Nenjile Vandhadhey Nanbaney."
Though I was in continuous contact with almost everyone through phone, I still had fancied meeting my friends in some place without much planning. It turned true when Pramodh invited everyone for his sister's marriage at Vijayawada.
It was a long time since I met everyone and it was nice to know that Stephen Paul, Solomon, Arun Stephen, Samu, Prasad and Ramkumar were coming along. I dot wish to describe the travel and it is not worth mentioning either. I reached Vijayawada on 25th August by the end of afternoon. Pramodh was there to receive me at the station.
It was great to see him after a long time. My thoughts went through the deep woods of Madras Christian College to the beloved bell tower that stands as a testimony to the happiest moments we had during our college life.
I was a pillion rider on his Kinetic Honda that stopped at Anoo's beauty parlor where the bride's brother was to get a facial and a haircut(but never would change his flirty looks). After hunting for a gift to the groom and successfully buying a cell phone stand, we went to his aunt's home where we were to stay.
The clock struck eight thirty and I was over cloud nine. The Pinnakini Express, scheduled at 2110 hrs, arrived late by an hour-it is usual for Indian Railways to delay but time seemed relatively longer then. Finally the train arrived and I was waiting near the doors of D3 coach. After a while some familiar figures stepped out.
My joy knew no bounds when i saw my friends out there. Everyone was a corporate yet no one had changed. They were the same old bubbly guys with whom I used to tour the locales of Chennai during college days. Ram was still with his mass; Prasad still playful and vetti; Stephen Paul......ssssssssssppppppppppaaaaah; Arun Stephen with his vulnerable mouths and techy jargon and Solomon our beloved mama, silent and stealth as ever.
That night I had a good reason to stay in the room but a better reason to stat out-mosquitoes. They drove us out of the room, which was, in a way adventurous(We were questioned by AP Police on the day of the blasts in Hyderabad) and hilarious to see fast foods and barber shops open at three in the morning.
W greeted the morning sunlight with our sleep-ridden faces and eyelids that were constantly experiencing a force of attraction towards each other. As everyone emptied the rooms, we rushed into those rooms to get our share of sleep. After a short but sound sleep for a couple of hours, we woke up and hastily got ourselves ready for the marriage.
We stepped into the marriage mahal, enlightened by the thought that we had nothing to gift the to-be-newly-weds. So we ventured out into the city hunting for a gift. We would have almost toured the entire city of Vijayawada by the time we made up our minds to present a Fast-Track watch.
We went back to the mahal and had a fun time packing the traditional 'Thamboolam', though my job was only to arrange them. It was evening and the mood of marriage began to enhance. Silk clad women and the music of the Nadhaswaram began to add flavor to it. Little did we recognize that it was time we started until Pramodh came up and called us for dinner.
But we had different plans for dinner. I had to treat my friends for making it into Google. We went to the Comesum Restaurant near the railway station and feasted on the limited dishes available there, reminding my of the times we used to have together in Hotel Rendezvous Nova.
After finishing the desserts, my friends got Tamil Nadu Express and I got into the Godavari Express.
We were back to their old life again-the same old TCS, Sutherland, Ajuba and Google. This was all which was destined for us and we departed with a faint but significant hope that we will meet some day, but with the same spirits as the Physics Students of Madras Christian College.