KV Gang – Batch of 1980

A thought just occurred to me as to whether our WhatsApp group is merely meant for exchanging birthday/anniversary wishes or occasionally sharing a few photographs of stray meetings that some of us have? When I delved deeper, the writer in me got provoked and I am penning this for our group.

Thanks to the social media, we are reconnecting with lots of our past connections that we thought to have been lost forever. An enterprising chap amongst us, Kannan, took the grand, but painstaking initiative of finding the coordinates (phone numbers, E mail IDs, FB handle etc) and managed to bring at least a few of us together! And as goes a popular Urdu couplet, “ Main akela hi chala that janib-e-manzil magar, loag saath aate gaye aur karvan banta gaya”, this group has only grown in numbers since then! 

In 2028, a few amongst us will be celebrating 6 decades of togetherness – 1968 was the first time a few of us met, which is by no means a small achievement! Aren’t we lucky to have seen the world in our own ways, discharged our responsibilities (largely), played a long professional innings and some of us now graduating to becoming grandparents, and be  still in touch, rather touching each other’s lives in some way. At least, I am a major beneficiary of maintaining this touch with this group! Ashish is not only a friend and a doctor, but personal physician to my immediate as well as extended family. My mother ends up calling him more often than she calls me! In a way, he seems to be shouldering the responsibility of a dedicated son that I am supposed to! Sunil Babbar was never really out of touch as both of us had Rajasthan as our karmabhoomi for a very long period. His professional and personal struggle is awe inspiring and being a neighbour in Delhi, I know anything to do with my family, especially my aged mother, just requires a call to him. Of course, now with his travel business flourishing, he’s travel advisor to almost all of us. Ashwani has been one of my earliest friends as were neighbours in Sector 2 RK Puram. His occasional visits to Mumbai kept us in touch and his wide ranging interests have benefitted me a lot. Pradeep and I go back a long way having spent some quality time together. In spite of not meeting him very often, I know he’s there if and when I need him. Receiving Aditya and Sanjeev at my residence in Mumbai was such a delightful experience that it exorcised away even the hint of depression that I might have experienced upon my retirement! Sudhir Sharma flies into Mumbai but never stays overnight. The day he does so, we will spend that evening together. Atulya was in Pune and my hopes of catching him there vanished when he decided to relocate to Delhi. Inderpal may be in Canada, but times that we spent together and great favour done by his elder brother, an eminent homoeopath, when I had fallen seriously ill is unforgettable! Vipin, Rajeshwar, Raju, Deepak are all great achievers and give a sense of pride to all of us be their pal. Ajay Wahi got in touch incidentally and since that time we are waiting for the opportunity to be together! 

And outside this group, I am in touch with Sandeep Issar, since retired from SBI and he, in turn, introduced me to Hari Om, who is settled in Indonesia. The beauty of this KV bonding is that I got in touch with Samir Chaturvedi, who was in our KV for hardly 1 or 2 years and is now a big shot in Abu Dhabi ports. During my Dubai visit, he came to my hotel to take me and my wife to his palatial Dubai home in his Hummer. Neither he could place me nor could I him and yet we spent a memorable evening with him and his wife and enjoyed a Hummer ride for the first time and probably the last, unless one of us (I impossible) buys one! 

Pankaj and Anil Seth left us under saddest of the circumstances, probably exhorting us to enjoy the life, share each other’s happiness and get on with life without any regrets, pauses or excuses. I can go on and on. It’s possible that I might have omitted a few names and experiences, but a bit of faux pas by a sexagenarian should be acceptable.

Yesterday was Anant Chaturdashi, the tenth day of Ganesh festival ending with immersion of Ganpati idols. It is believed that with him Ganpati takes all our problems, giving us an opportunity to start afresh! I pray that all of us and our families are beneficiaries of this lore concerning Lord Ganpati.