School Friends

At the banks of Ganga in Patna, June'09,  I clicked this pic ! 

During semester breaks in my 1st year of engineering, I used to reach his home at 6 in the morning everyday to ride his dad's scooter. He rode pinion, giving instructions and cracking jokes. Once, he was seriously hurt when I crashed the scooter into a pole, hurtling both of us on the road. But he continued giving me riding lessons. It hardly mattered to him. He was a stud. A come-what-may guy.

He was a dear friend at high school. His house was a stone's throw away from our school and a domestic help brought him hot tiffins everyday during lunch break. All those years, I ate more out of his tiffin than I did of mine. He was also this hot-blooded guy who was always getting into fights with others. Once he got into a fist-fight with a senior whose sister studied in our class. He had blood all over his face and I, like the coward I always was, did not go to take sides with him.

He got a very decent 87% in his 10th boards. Went to Kota to study for IIT-JEE, could not stand it after 7 months and came back home. It all went downhill for him after that. Scored a 58% in his 12th boards and spent a year at home. Went to Pune for graduation and survived a near-fatal road accident which put a permanent scar on his handsome face. Did his MBA but stayed jobless for a few years. We didn't talk at all those 3-4 years.

I was relieved to hear that he had finally landed a job at the Union Bank earlier this month. He called me up from Chennai to tell me about it, and he sounded his usual self again - confident, cheeky, and slightly presumptuous. We promised to meet at Chennai and recreate the older days. I have another friend from my school days at Chennai. It had be great to meet both of these guys there. Made many friends all these years at NIT and at Tata Steel, but friends from school are different. The bond is that much stronger.