Gajagajaga.... Ghostbusters!

"Gajagajaga!". "Ghost busters!" The sound reverberates across the hall and transports us all to a different dimension of thirty years ago. As our minds float back to the sparsely populated campus at electronics city, there are smiles across the room by those who remember that Ghostbusters was often replaced by other choice words, especially one involving the mother of the recipient. There were only a few buildings and lots of open space. No trees yet - that would come later, planted lovingly by Jacqueline and cared for by many hours of hard work in the hot sun. The hostels are just one floor with barely enough space for all. The mechanical workshop is an imposing structure that dwarfs everything else - imposing until one looks inside and realizes that it is as empty as a drunkard's wallet at closing time. This is the first of many lessons that we will learn here - things that look imposing on the outside not always as sturdy on the inside.

August 15, 1984. India's 48th Independence Day. A bunch of youngsters arrive at NEC to voluntarily lose their independence. This loss is temporary for all except four of them; these are the four that find their wives on campus. It's a motley crew that's gathered there - a guy in a leather jacket, one with hot potatoes in his mouth and one with a perpetual itch in his unmentionables. One has bucket hands while another is so short that he looks taller when he sits down. One boasts of being an expert in electronics thereby earning a lifetime nickname that even his daughters use today. One has glow-in-the-dark teeth while another speaks with a German accent ("Vere is the Vaarden?"). There are a bunch of animals too - buffaloes, camels, cocks, ducks, monkeys, mice, foxes, rhinoceros and chameleons. There were even one who is suspected to be Neanderthal. (Yes, try and guess if all of this is really true).

Life is hard. There is a lot to do and we start with building our own workshop tables. This is a practice that will continue - we get to build every lab as we progress through the years. We have mixed luck with the teachers - from extremely good to sadistic jerks and everything in between. The evening trips to Konappana Agrahara are a pleasure especially the pooris at the little shop or the delightful offerings of Manu. But there is not much money to spare for puris and we are mostly at the mercy of Christie and his cronies. There is an advantage to that - if you survive that, you can eat pretty much anything and still be happy.

There is so much to learn. Our primary teachers are our beloved Principal and his deputy - the Vice-Principal, who is is so named because he is wiser (or so he claims). Then there is Which-un and weekend cricket matches with Fibora. We learn a lot about life and a little about love; or maybe its the other way around. The four years pass quickly and we are eager to go out into the world to prove our worth.

The sound of singing voices brings us back to the present. "Old Jaq Delisle had a farm .... ". The weekend is a roaring success. Fourteen out of the twenty two who passed out of the first batch are present. That's a great percentage. The numbers for the second batch are similar. People have come in from all parts of the world - Brazil, Australia, The United States, Indonesia, Singapore, Chennai, Belgaum, Hyderabad, Kerala and of course the Grand City of Mumbai. There is a lot of fun and laughter and one thing strikes me: there is not even one unpleasant incident during the entire weekend spanning across three days. 

Friday night is campfire night. After a few games by the fire, the children settle down for a game of Dumb Charades. All goes well until our boy from Brazil mishears 'American Hustle' to mean the American posterior. He does his best to describe it, gesticulating wildly and even waving his hands down the middle to better explain his position. Of course, everybody gets it and it leaves them gasping on the floor, laughing until the tears roll down their faces.

Kickboxing

Room 102 is commandeered and turned into an makeshift bar. After a few bottles of Scotch and wine, we find that there is still a lot to learn from our erstwhile Principal. We have come a long way from NEC to necking. He breaks it out into small steps for us. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 are easy to describe but beyond Step 4 are activities that cannot be elaborated in this children friendly blog. Saturday morning sees everyone up bright and early for a kick boxing class. The wives seem extremely interested in learning how to punch and kick. Somehow, this does not bode well for the husbands in the coming months.

After Kickboxing

All good things must come to an end and finally it is time to say goodbye. There are ideas for the next such reunion in 4 or 5 years and our CEO is retained for that period based on the excellent job he has done. It was a great feeling to reconnect after so many years and we are all looking forward to the next reunion.