A decade and a half passes and all of you haven’t been together at any one time. A tit-bit here and a tit-bit there, some Facebook posts, Insta stories and all the other social network seem to keep you updated with a peek in each other’s lives. As a matter of fact, none of you are truly aware of how each one is sailing through. This is evident from the fact that when you connect in the group together, you realise people have switched jobs, switched domains, moved into new homes, new cities, new countries and you are clueless! So, how does this reality dawn on you. Well it takes the pandemic COVID-19 to bring you back to your roots and the longing to be truly connected with each other.
Physical social distancing well maintained, the hypothetical social connection to be weighted. Now was the time to face each other, look into each other’s eyes, see each other’s expressions, hear each other’s laughter while remembering all the resonance and vibrations it used to create when we were all in the room together. Indeed, it was time for the Room No. 52’s reunion! It was time for a virtual connect via a group video call.
And, thus it was Day1 when the ‘Madame Chairperson’ of the group initiated the Zoom video call for the group. Well, don’t be alarmed. No sooner did the government issue its advisory on the usage of Zoom than we switched to other alternatives. But the show didn’t stop! Thrill ran down our spines as we awaited the weekend. Not that we were all not tied up with our weekend chores and family time which needed the due attention; missed over the rest of the weekdays while we work from home. Nor that we had some extra hours donated by Mother Earth from the 24 hours clock! All we had was the enthusiasm, the will and the longing to be together! And yet again, ‘where there’s a will there comes a way from the most unseen of passages’!
Cheerful greetings, incessant laughter, uninterrupted chatter; you bet! Yet there was no disturbance or confusion. When engineers sit at each end of the call, the loops are complete and they know the unsaid protocols very well. They know there have to be turns to speak, no one to be left out, each message to be duly acknowledged when received, and if an interrupt occurs, the processor should resume where it paused the conversation. Thus, it means nothing should be missed. If anything is missed, the team ensures to check their respective broadband connections, switch to better interfaces, repeat telecast and what not! Well, no we were not too many. Only the five of us. The ‘Famous Five’ who spent their hostel lives together through thick and thin. Were we really famous in the hostel, well we don’t care. But we were famous amongst ourselves, we bonded well, we quarrelled well, we had unsaid expectations; which were sometimes shattered, we had no expectations, which came as pleasant surprises when the others in the group showered their love! We ate together, studied together, used only 1 desktop shared together in 2004, and of course we washed utensils together! That defines a family. Indeed, living in our separate worlds with our own small families, there still was a bigger connect which tied us together. That is what Banasthali Vidyapith ensured. Every individual to be independent and geared up for life with the sweetness to share their lives and spread happiness across. No moral lesson classes to preach us these qualities but an ambience provided in the right spirit. Thus, we imbibed!
And weeks pass, but the calls became more regular. Some of us eagerly awaiting the call, while others joining reluctantly and yet not ready to quit. We are now like the infamous characters of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj ke Khiladi’! Come what may, the weekend show goes on! It may for several more weeks until the world outside gets back to normal routine, and then it may cease. Or it may go on! We never know. But for now the moment we enjoy together is inevitable and there is no stopping us! Cheers to friendship! Cheers to life! Cheers to one of the regularly captured screenshots of our calls!
