15 years ago, I was one of the three House Captains in School, and my friend Antony Paul was the School Captain. We discussed about various topics ranging from Sports Day, Exam grading results, which movie to rent for the next hostel “Movie Night”, and of course his girlfriend from the adjoining Girl’s School - Becky.
15 years later, last night, there they were, Tony and Becky, as husband and wife.
I invited the newly married couple over to my pad for dinner. I too had just returned to Mumbai from a week long conference in Pune and I’d rather just relax and take a rest from work, but it was important that I throw a dinner for these two, especially since I missed their wedding as I had to travel to Mizoram then.
We have come a long way since School.
The best part about our school days was that, those were the days before Facebook and Social Media, before we all had WhatsApp and convenient communication. Sending a love letter those days really took an effort. Our attempt ranged from selecting the best (mushy) letter pad, writing down our thoughts and feelings on paper, and of course there was no control+Z, control+C, control+V to edit our letter, and then sealing that letter on an envelope, not before borrowing a stamp from one of our hostel mates and spraying some perfume over the envelope. And then there was the perpetual wait for the reply, filled with suspense and apprehension.
Tony and I experienced all that. So did Becky. Youngsters these days have it too easy I’m telling you. Wanna ask a girl out? WhatsApp her or send her an image on Snapchat. She doesn’t like you instantaneously? Move on. Sheesh, there is no romance at all these days. During our time, we had to stand in a long queue near the PCO/STD booth, and even when we dialed our crush’s number, we used to pray that her dad or mom didn’t answer that call!
Anyhoo, I guess technology changes things. For the dinner, I decided to cook dal, smoked pork, Mizo “bai” and fried potatoes.
Last night’s dinner was also the perfect opportunity to invite my dear friend Loretta, whom I’ve always treated as a younger sister ever since her brother who’s a good friend of mine left Mumbai. Her brother Aldrin (aka ThugAngel) was one of the original admins of a popular Mizo website misual.com we used to run a couple of years back. Loretta’s married to David who is no stranger to my blog comment section either, and it was great finally getting to meet him in person. They all flew down up to Mumbai from Bangalore to attend today’s Ed Sheeran concert.
Once I was done cooking, the ladies moved in, making the necessary changes like adding more salt to the bai etc :D
I’m not going to boast, but everybody loved my bai (I first boiled cubic potatoes, and then added beans and sliced brinjal to it, followed by a teaspoon of soda, and finally a fistful of bekang ro).
And of course a night would not be complete without Charlie and Fela. They brought out the fun side of Mumbai, showing my guests what it’s like to be in Mumbai. Bee was supposed to come too but guess he was too busy playing the role of a chauffeur :D Ben had a marathon to run the next morning so he couldn’t make it either, but it was great Charlie and Fela could make it.
And now I’m off to Pune again for another week long work schedule. Yeah life is tough sometimes, but it is important that we spend some time getting to meet our old friends and catching up on good times. After all, that is what keep us going. Cheers everyone.
