Welcome back! So after two nights of madness in Bangalore, it was finally time to head for our reunion.
It was still unreal to think that 25 years had gone by since we graduated from school.
We all woke up at 5 AM, alarms blaring everywhere. We quickly got ready and I rushed to the hotel's reception to settle our bills.
The name of our hotel was "Liwa" and I do recommend it. Also, we booked it via agoda.com as it was cheaper than direct booking (two nights, two rooms at ₹ 9104 total, that's just ₹ 2276 per head!).
Our cab was already waiting for us and we headed to the airport, still groggy and still mentally reliving the glorious seafood feast from the night before at The Fisherman’s Wharf.
We met Ujjal and Bei's group outside the departure terminal. Bei had come from Thailand with his fiancée, her brother, and our beloved senior Sam, who tagged along from Thailand to help Bei with all his luggage because there were a lot since Bei had taken up the responsibility of manufacturing and printing our batch t-shirts for the reunion.
Once we were through security check, we decided to have breakfast at La Alta Vita, which, for an airport lounge, had a surprisingly good unlimited breakfast buffet spread and was only just ₹ 829 per head! Sausages, toasts, eggs of our choice, bacon, ham, etc etc,—basically, all the energy we needed to survive the chaotic adventure that lay ahead.
Some people that I will not name decided to order a glass of whisky too, and that ended up being more than twice as expensive as the breakfast buffet, lolzz.
Once the announcement was made for us to board, we headed to our gate, and all of us could fit in one bus, with much room to spare. That's how few we were. As the airport bus dropped us at the tarmac, I couldn't help but look at all the other planes and think, "All these planes in sight, and yet my future wife is hiding in plain sight." :P
Our aeroplane reminded me of the good old Vayudoot days. For all you Gen Z and Gen Alpha out there, Vayudoot was a tiny regional aircraft that used to operate from the now defunct Tuiral airport back in the 90s. The plane was so tiny that we had to crouch while entering, and it flew in any direction that the wind blew. Sometimes the engine would stall during mid-flight and we had to step outside to push it and give it a "running-start". :P
My view, as we took off.
I sat next to Stephen, and there was this really creepy uncle with dark glasses and a mask behind us who kept posing in our selfies. Super weird, you know, like the type you would not want to introduce your sister to. Or your kids. Or your pets. :P
We landed at Salem airport in less than an hour. There was just a single runway and I was unprepared for the heat! I really shouldn't have worn my thick hoodie!
Salem airport was cute. The single pink terminal building stood proudly in the middle of nowhere, exuding small-town warmth, as if it knew it didn’t need to impress anyone with flashy glass facades or moving walkways.
Azuala, our resident aviation enthusiast, eagerly pointed out the red plane that landed beside us, explaining that it was a trainer aircraft—I forgot what name he called it exactly, the kind used to teach rookie pilots how to fly.
I was sweating profusely as we stepped inside the tiny arrival lounge, the humidity hitting me like a warm, unwelcome embrace.
As I glanced around, the signboards written in Tamil triggered a wave of nostalgia—after all, I had spent my entire school life from Class 7 to 12 in Yercaud and then went on to do my engineering in Coimbatore. I still can't read Tamil, but after spending a significant chunk of my life in the South, I can effortlessly tell the difference between Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu scripts—something I'm proud to boast of. :P
Soon, the ground staff manually brought our luggage one by one. No conveyor belts. No announcements. Just good old-fashioned human labour. Once we got all our luggage, including Bei with his 5-6 large suitcases containing our batch t-shirts, we proceeded outside.
We Mizos had initially planned to book an Innova to take us from the airport to Yercaud, but Bei had already arranged a tempo van for just the four of them due to all his luggage. So naturally, being the freeloaders we are, five of us—including Ujjal—happily hopped into their van like stowaways. :D
We all fit in perfectly inside the van, pretty much like those five remaining air tickets earlier. Lady Luck was clearly still on our side. And with that, our road trip to Yercaud kicked off—two hours of pure road-trip vibes, nostalgia, and the thrill of heading back to where it all began.
Now, what’s a road trip without a little booze? It was not yet 12 but it was sweltering hot outside and nothing sounded better than cracking open a few chilled beers. We started looking for a wine shop on our route.
Eventually, we spotted one, and just like I remembered from 25 years ago, there was already a long queue of eager patrons waiting for it to open, lolz. (In Tamil Nadu, wine shops strictly operate between noon and 10 PM only)
Soon the shop owner arrived on his scooty and the crowd buzzed with excitement. Like a superhero, he strutted up to his shop in slo-mo (or at least it felt like one), reached into his pockets for the keys and bent down to open the lock to his shutters. And then he slapped his forehead with his palm and went, "Ayyo!"—because apparently, he had brought the wrong set of keys, lolz lolz lolz!
Other people immediately cursed him and kicked him (jokingly of course, as it looked like they all knew each other, small town after all). Grinning widely, he ran back to his scooty to fetch the correct keys from home while the others laughed. I loved the camaraderie.
Unfortunately, our tempo van was blocking the narrow road, causing a mini traffic jam and so we decided to move on and look elsewhere.
And that’s when we found it—some random roadside shady shop, where we finally got our hands on a case of "SNJ 10000" beer, lolz. It was super strong and, let’s be honest, a bit sketchy. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Cheers!
As we began our climb up the winding roads of Yercaud, memories came flooding back. Jeez, the number of times we used to travel up and down these very hairpin bends to take part in a tournament at one of the schools in Salem, or a dental appointment, or a class outing. And of course, many of us used to get roadsick on the way and puke our guts out from our bus window. Ah good times. :D
And oh, the weather shift! From melting in the Salem heat, we suddenly found ourselves rolling down our windows and turning off the AC as we climbed higher and higher. That’s the Salem-Yercaud road for you—one minute you’re sweating your ass off, the next you’re freezing your ass off.
Finally, we reached the top, greeted by the ever-familiar sight of "Big Lake" shimmering in front of us. From there, we took a turn onto a narrow road leading to our resort.
We were all quite hungry and Sam suggested we stop at his batchmate’s new resort for lunch, as it was on the way to our resort. Unfortunately, when we got there... it was under renovation.
We debated going back to Yercaud town, but Google Maps showed our reunion resort was closer, so we decided to just check in first and then head to Bei’s fiancée’s resort for lunch (ok here's the thing, our reunion was strictly batchmates only. Wives, kids and other fam members weren't allowed, so Bei's fiancée, her brother and Sam were staying at a nearby resort).
Finally, we reached our Reunion destination - Bison Rise Resorts.
As we all ran down from our van excitedly and screamed out names, it turned into an epic Hug-Fest. Batchmates everywhere, laughter echoing, arms flailing. My poor limbs took a beating from the endless bear hugs, back slaps, and overenthusiastic handshakes, but hey, that’s the price you pay for reuniting with old friends after 25 years.
The sheer joy of seeing familiar faces, some unchanged, some… let’s just say, “well-aged,” was absolutely priceless.
As part of the welcome committee’s grand entrance ritual, we were garlanded with pearl necklaces, handed our welcome drinks, and—most importantly—offered the beer of our choice. Priorities.
So many close friends we had lost touch with, all in one place together! And, best of all, even classmates who had left before 12th grade had come!
Tlawmlova, Azuala, and Hminga, who had joined Montfort in 11th, didn’t know some of those who left before 10th, but Stephen and I, having been in Montfort since 7th and 8th grade respectively, knew everyone.
After many more hugs and laughter, we were given our room keys, along with our assigned bunk mates.
Then came the official check-in process. We were given a welcome kit—a cabin-sized strolley filled with goodies, including our batch T-shirts, caps, towels, and other essentials. Huge kudos to the organisers for putting this together!
Our room assignments were on point. Stephen and I bunked together, Tlawmlova and Azuala paired up, while Hminga got his own solo room. And the best part? All three rooms were part of a single cottage, connected internally as well as from the outside.
Just as we were about to leave for lunch at Bei's fiancée's resort as planned, our batchmates stopped us because lunch was already arranged. And so we decided to remain at our resort.
We devoured the most flavourful Tamil-style mutton biryani, legendary Kothu Parotta, and an insanely good gravy that was famous at outlets like Murugabhavan next to our school.
Stuffed and satisfied, we headed back to our rooms to freshen up as more batchmates continued arriving. The greetings and hugs continued.
Soon, it was tea time, and I had these absolutely delicious pakoras along with filter coffee.
As the evening rolled in, an announcement was made—it was time to collect our custom house T-shirts! These were the ones Bei had printed in Thailand, featuring our names and numbers on the back.
But... there was a "tiny" problem.
Apparently, Thailand’s sizing chart is different from India’s, so all our shirts were a bit too tiny, lolz. Let’s just say, some of us looked more like body-hugging fashion models, and others... well, like we had accidentally borrowed a kid’s shirt.
Thankfully, our black batch reunion T-shirts (made in India) fit perfectly. At 6 PM, we all gathered at the resort ground, rocking our matching shirts, ready to kick off our first official reunion party.
The bar was well-stocked with everything from smooth single malts and dark rums to crisp gins and classic vodkas—something for every kind of drinker.
For cocktails, there were plenty of mixers and aperitifs, from zesty lime and bitters to herbal vermouth and orange liqueurs (oh did I not mention we had just launched our new Mixed Reality app called "Mixology XR" which is all about learning how to make different cocktails?).
We even hired our own bartender for the night, ready to take our orders.
And here's the best part. 12 cocktails were selected to be the drinks served that night, and each one was named after one of us along with that person's unique "quirk" that made him famous among our batch. If you look closely, you can find me in that list too. :D
Here's a zoomed in version. Yup, "Kim's Stinky Breeze". That's me. Because I was infamous for farting back in school! I was the undefeated champ of farting, I could let one rip (almost) anytime I wanted, and anybody who dared to challenge me to take away my coveted prize was left humiliated. :D
People had a great time reading through the cocktail choices and deciding which drink to go for.
A great start to a wonderful evening indeed.
Soon it was time for the evening function to begin. Kamalesh and Eshwar (now the current Montfort Old Boys Association President) asked everybody to come and sit in front of the stage.
We began with a solemn moment of reflection, standing in unified silence for one minute to honour and remember our fallen brothers, as their names were read out slowly one by one. Francis Lalhrilhtluanga was one of them. If only he could have been there that night, he would have enjoyed so much too.
The function continued.
All the organising committee members were called to the stage one by one, and they talked about all the "behind the scenes" action that took place, like how they actually visited Yercaud a couple of times to look for the best resort to book, all the food tasting they did at different venues, discussing which memorabilia to get for all of us, contacting all our former teachers and inviting them, budgeting, and so on. A big round of applause to these guys.
And then all those batchmates who generously contributed large sums of money for the reunion so that the individual cost per head could come down were called upon the stage and they were each given a gift of appreciation.
A massive thanks to the organising committee and sponsors for their relentless effort in making this reunion an unforgettable experience. This celebration wouldn’t have been possible without their dedication and support!
After the show of gratitude, Kicha had planned a competitive game for us. We had to log on to a website from our mobile phones and register.
Once we did that, the quiz round started, where various old photos were displayed and people had to choose from multiple choice answers who that person was. And then there were many shenanigans-based questions too, like who bunked classes the most, who got whacked by Sheikh (our study-time warden) the most, who was caught smoking in the toilet in 9th std dorm, who kicked open Brother Susai's door, etc etc.
Correct answers not only earned points but the faster the input, the higher the score, even among people who entered the same correct answers. Yup, it was intense. :D
Some of the photos and incidents really brought back laughter among all of us.
Once the event was over (I came third, urrghh), we continued mingling and catching up. The starters were really yummy too, consisting of boiled eggs masala, prawns, peanuts etc.
And then suddenly it rained heavily. The seasoned drinkers immediately ran to the tent that had the bar. :D
Those who ran to the first tent showed off that they had the music and danced to make fun of us, so we simply showed them that we had the bar and they kept quiet. :D
Once it stopped raining, we headed up to the restaurant, where a grand dinner buffet was waiting for us.
I don't remember very clearly because of all the things we drank, lolz, but I do remember I went for two servings. I started with the biryani and rice...
,,,and then I took another serving, this time consisting of chapatis and uttapams because the gravy was super dillu.
A truly satisfying meal indeed.
Of course that didn't mean the fun should stop, as people continued merrymaking inside the restaurant.
One last drink with the boys, as we all had to sleep soon because the next day was our main Reunion function at school.
It was incredible catching up with everyone, reliving old memories, and making new ones over endless laughter, drinks, and a whole lot of nostalgia. Tomorrow, we step back into our beloved school, where it all began. So stay tuned for the main event and hoping to see you here again. Cheers!
