14 years later

We last saw each other in the year 1994, July to be precise! That was in Class Ten, 14 years ago. Naramsimha Murty and I went to school together and in due course became fast friends, only to lose contact!

But technology would ensure that the gap stayed not more than 14 years! So when one day, I saw the name float on Orkut, I did not hesitate once to send out my usual one liner "Dead or Alive?" Imagine my ecstatic surprise when I got an "alive and kicking" response saying that he was in the same city as I! Never before did I experience the power of technology shrinking the world into one connectible space where access to every person could be by way of a simple web page or an email address. So much for the power of the Internet!

One can imagine how 'celestial' an event it is like to meet up a decade and a half later with so many years bygone. Quite surprisingly, we had not been ravaged by the passage of time and connected very well, thanks to the brilliant timeless days spent at school which were undoubtedly the best that I have ever known. We had grown in physique but remained the children we used to be, totally at ease without any restraint whatsoever. It seemed nothing had changed, but for the place and time.

Nature enthusiasts that we were and still are, we decided on an impromptu trip to Khadakvasla . I couldn't help but recollect lines from the evergreen ballad, Wind of Change by Scorpions.., "Walking down the street, distant memories, are buried in the past forever, I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park, listening to the wind of change......."

As a finale, I will leave you with some serene pictures taken at Khadakvasla.











"I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone" - Bruce Springsteen, Streets Of Philadelphia, 1994.