Among all friends in the world, the High school friends are special. High school period is a time the boys and girls get into their youth and develop personality. A teenage boy is a bundle of energy. It is a time of freedom and pranks. It is a time of romanticism and idealism. It is a time of understanding the world around and prepare to be a player in the drama. We cherish our High School years!
The advantage of the old country is that most people lived within a community of twenty square miles and there was much more association through games and extra-curriculum than what is available in the west. The residential prep schools might create such an environment, but it is much different when the parents also live in the same geography. It is a high level social interaction which is unfortunately eroding with the pressure of economy that demands mobility.
My friends were special. Even though we were a co-ed school, there were only a very few girls in the school, there was none in our class. We had two sections of of about thirty students each. The mixing between the sections was less. The class together however had its soccer and cricket teams. The class celebrated drama and social events. The students in the section were together for the whole day and there was a strong fraternity.
In order to be together after graduation, I had helped establish a cultural club which hosted social and cultural events and got people together. Though I had to leave, my friends back at home kept the club functioning and they celebrated the fiftieth anniversary in 2013. It also was the fiftieth anniversary of our School graduation. The organizers helped publish a souvenir and an address book.
Though Ravenshaw Collegiate is an old school, it does not have the tradition of class reunion as happens in the west. A friend of ours has taken initiative to build up a community center which is used for business rental. He also takes initiative to offer his center for our high school friends to meet. The center is set on an acre of land decorated with lawn and palm trees. It has conference rooms, sitting areas and a kitchen. It is an oasis in the dusty city. Mr Raj Kishore (Raju) Agrawal owns the venture. He did studies in Commerce and works as a Chartered Accountant. Mr Saroj Kumar Singh is the prime movers in our reunion effort. Saroj comes from an old established family in Cuttack and is a retired Professor. He has interest in music, played violin in his school days. He also takes care of our cultural club. I was dropped off at the site about 1:30 PM. Friends had gathered already and were waiting. It was the most delightful time during my entire trip.
To me the most interesting was Mr Bikram Mohanty, my childhood friend. We grew up together in the early years. Bikram was a sportsman, eventually represented the State in cricket. Nice, trim and jovial he takes life easy. Then we had Engineer Chaitanya Sundar "Chai" Dash. Chai lost his father in early age and was raised by his pious mother, He was a deeply religious man, had the discipline to bow at any shrine of any denomination. Chai became a Chemical Engineer and retired as the Director of the Fertilizer plant in the State.
We had Mr Prashanta Nanda, the actor. We were doing drama together before he was recruited to the films. He is a successful movie actor and director. He had his debut also in Bollywood. Lately he has gone into politics and is a member in the Legislative Assembly. We had Mr Pinaki Dash, the entrepreneur industrialist. Pinaki helped organize school events and assisted in all stages of work. He himself played drums and participated in the school orchestra..
We had Mr Nrusingha Samal, who continued to college with me like Saroj. We studied Physics, he was into X-ray spectroscopy. Nrusigha served as the manager in our drama practice sessions and also played his role. A happy family man, he retired as a Professor. Then we had Pramod "Pamu" Jesthi, who studied English literature. Handsome, soft-spoken and utterly decent, Pamu works as a lawyer in the High Court.
Also we had the most humble Mr Judhisthir Das, who worked for the Post Office. Finally we had the younger drama director Mr Narayan Singh. Narayan, though not in our class had come to share his dramatic experiences with the group. We were suddenly all fifty years younger with jokes, frolics and nostalgia. Many had gone through some hard time in personal life, nothing was expressed. It was pure joy.
Internally I thought about a few other friends who were not there. Some people were out of town and some had health problems. Three of our friends have passed away. More importantly there could be many others, who do not keep in touch. The society and time move only forward and we do not look back if any one took a little extra time in getting up. I wished to make special efforts to reach out to more friends in my next visit.
Food with friends is most delicious. Cuttack has its own style of cooking. Freshness of grains and the quality of vegetables make the food taste different. After long consumption of processed and refrigerated food, I was enjoying the flavor and the grace of the food from the family farm. My mother was possibly smiling around.
We took a few pictures, but I do not have them yet. I had to leave for my uncle's house to prepare for my return journey. Bikram offered to drop me off in my uncle's house.
