I now for once realise what it is to be in a Time Machine! We had our MBBS batch reunion last weekend in Delhi. This had been in planning for months! As always in adult lives, we had a lot left to last minute surprises and were always ready for this not to materialize!
So for that we had to first guilt free plan our first solo couples trip! Letting all the caregivers and the kids involved know that this is Mummy and Papa actually going to do something for their own happiness was in itself a task!
So there could be a million things that could have gone wrong, like kids falling sick, kids having an exam, an important birthday party, a last minute emergency in hospital, one of us falling sick and worse....All this was constantly on my mind since a week upto it. Convincing all our friends to make that trip was also a long and arduous task.
Things did go wrong. I fell sick... Our flight got delayed.... But we made it. Getting ready in less than 5 min and going to the place where our reunion was is something our Medical training has trained us to do. Dress, reach OR, dress out, Reach OPD, reach home and dress out and become the "Mummy" So role change is something we were used to. But we were not used to being in a time machine.
I was anxious, "what will I talk?", "will people recognise me?" "I have completely changed!" "I dont know what to say!"
With this I entered the Hall and Lo and Behold, That first smile and hug by Whoever was standing first, just broke the ice. I was the same "coolaloka" again and not the boring dralokahedau.
"Hey Kaisi Hai!!!" "So Nice to see you!!" All the bear hugs that we gave each other that night showed that nothing has changed and all has at the same time. We realised that we were very much our old selves and our Now 'OLD'selves were more outright, more socially free and without the awkwardness that we had as shy and young individuals. There was no fakeness. We genuinely liked the room we were in, liked the people we were surrounded by, loved the music that made sense to our ears and were liberated from the routine Masks that we all wear as Medical professionals.
Spouses (outside the batch) of our batchmates are to be given full credit here. They helped plan, organise and made it happen for peeps amongst us to get sloshed and have a good time. Learnt what "supporting each other" actually meant!
For us, spouses who are married in the batch, Komal-Arpan, Soumya-Jenil, Jindal-Preethi, me and Santosh, it was like Marriage Therapy! It took our grey cells back so many years that we could see how we fell in love with our younger versions, we saw each other smiling and enjoying seeing each other having a good time and how we have hung on and remain committed to the 23.0 version too!
I saw many of us "drunk and not" confessing old crushes too! It was fun to see how people unassumingly said, I used to like you so much to people!!!
I am sure all of us from the Reunion Night are in severe withdrawal of love, familiarity and laughter!
One thing that we all can take from this is that "Love is Constant" We just need to reach out and hold hands and we see that all are in the same boat!
This is a tough season in life for all of us, aging parents, young kids, growing careers and growing angst and darkness!
But what is that bright light at the end of the tunnel is Tiwari giving you Bear hugs, Sahar making sure all the orders are in, Santosh and Jindal discussing Serious stuff, Jaggi and Shivendra dancing away with classic moves, Pooja pulling all and making sure all dance, GPS changing the music, Neeraj and Dolly balancing their glasses on their heads, Dhwani recording it all on her phone, Tania cracking a joke and Darling Mugdha and Komal holding my hand through the night!
As we come back to the kids and patients we realise we are smiling much more and are happier individuals due to that night!
PS: Thanks to all who sat on that table and said I should write more! this turns out to be the first blog of 2024!
C ya guys in 2025!😍💃
