GUNDI HAAKU 88- A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

The reunion was finally happening the next day. One of the friends had taken the responsibility of picking yours truly at the doorstep. Nostalgia had been given a full build up through relentless mailing, facebook posts as well as youtube videos. It was no more a question of months or days. It was just the night between. The palpable excitement deferred my sleep and yours truly rose with the excitement of a schoolboy venturing into college for the first time.

A quick breakfast over as my friend and I went through the motions of reaching the venue, the reticent and shy self that yours truly had been in college days resurfaced. Doubts on the cognitive abilities were expressed and assuaged. The thought of spending time with nearly 80 of the "young" batch of friends with whom we had lost touch was a sense of joy but the agenda set to begin with an ice breaking session was reassuring to clear the air.

Checking in, my friend led me to a few tasks which involved the recollection of the faces as the names were being placed on the memento bags for the enthusiastic crowd which was beating all odds to be there. A tinge of regret for one of the guys who motivated us to the reunion being unable to make it due to ill health only steeled our spirits to do justice to their efforts.

Clad in the T shirt provided, we made our way to the venue of the event. For posterity's sake yours truly chose this blog as a means to record the historic event though several cameras were doing the job even as some videos rolled. A suave compere played the role of moderating even as one of them mimicked our Principal to drive us to our seats as well as to button up as the event was to zip through at a fast pace.

Wristbands were distributed to segregate groups and we were to get the names of all in our group within a couple of minutes in a typical Indian team huddle. Not being one famed for cognitive abilities or memory games, the muttering of names led to three of us being marked aside ( Should I say it was a welcome relief to the open embarassment of not being able to muster even half the names in the given time). The introduction round went hands down to the ones with the Purple bands as they chose to stutter our pa pa pa purple much to the amusement of all. There was one group which incidentally found they had no girls in it. The amusement was beyond control when it was realised that the colour of their bands was red. A danger signal designed by coincidence for the Dostana group. As this went a step further to the merger of the groups, the merger of the purple and yellow group led to its constituents calling themselves Pearly. As this camaraderie was being built up, the lecturers were led in and took the centre table.

Thereafter, the college prayer was recited in unison albeit being led by one truly humble as his name suggests and who still knew it by the rote. A minute's tribute paid to those who left us behind preferring the union with the Ultimate Being. An invocation rendered  set in place the stage for the felicitation of the Gurus who were responsible for our present status in society. No words would do any justice to the presidential addresses. Time flitted past as we gave a standing ovation in gratitude for their moulding as well as accepting the invite and being at the venue providing us the best souvenir of the reunion.

As the lecturers bid us farewells in fond hope for a reunion and assuring of their presence for our golden jubilee celebrations which were only 25 years away, we took a short break to catch up on the sidelines of the event.

Post break it was time to share our experiences at college over the microphone. The icebreaking complete, we reminisced the old days, thanked the core group for putting up the event. A cake was ceremoniously cut by four members. The D- day thus marked, champagne was uncorked and the spirits soared as we also broke into a dance. As all partied, some of us took to a walk and wrapped up in time while a few gals left for the day. Some lived the night with a Mohd Rafi belting all melodies. Nexr day we woke to camaraderie, exchanging contact info which was followed by Housie by a traditional conductor who ducked most numbers with panache. The highlight of the Housie being the non residents winning a prize money. The karaoke and antakshari sent us back to the days of the farewell at college. Yes it was time to say farewell with a promise to meet, keep in touch and share our moments of living.

As one of our lecturers put it the planning, execution and implementation would have left anyone else speechless but for the batch of Gundi Haaku 88!!!

SARDAR PATEL TO TELENGANA

It is said that a proud Indian who answered to the name Sardar Vallabhai Patel told Lord Mountbatten that he had all the 560 apples in his basket even as he handed over a basket of apples to him. The rustic Iron Man of India had picked the gauntlet of coaxing, cajoling, enticing and if it warranted coercing the kingdoms into a union. It was this accomplishment and the simple metaphor used by him that have remained imprinted in my mind from my childhood days. Much later, I had the occasion to read some of the letters penned by him to various rulers and their dewans. The flavour of the book lay in the precise writing of the letters, drawing of attention of the need for co-existence by alluding to a local delicacy. 

Swing from there to the present era, we are on the verge of having one more State. Boundaries are being drawn within boundaries. First it was linguistic sentiment, now it is regionalism within the linguistic flavour and soon other criteria may follow to reach or cross the milestone of 560.

Imagine the consequences. We would have children who would wonder how their parents claim that they knew the names of all the States and their capitals. We may also be baffled to know the names and portfolios of the men in power. Administration would suffer in quality as vision would narrow down to micro issues leaving the national scene far behind. Vision itself may need to be a specialised course imparted in premier institutions. We would have more employment opportunities in the babudom and the netadom.

Well, it could also lead to a situation of requiring passports and visas to travel within our desh mahaan. Or the present Aadhaar may provide us some concession of stamping on entry. 

In an era of consolidation, we should learn from the Russian experience of breaking away or the European experience of integrating on limited counts. The true tribute we could pay this great may on each of his birthdays falling on 31st October, is to start integrating States. Could we start with Telengana and Seemandhra remaining integrated for this year and vowing to realise the dream of the Sardar of a single India.

There may be several questions regarding the need for administration of a growing population, But imagine the kind of facilities the Sardar enjoyed. He travelled in a rickety car which would not race him to any place. The phones he used are of antique value. The manpower he controlled was not sure who was their leader. The citizens he administered were tearing between shifting loyalties. The economic dependence was its pinnacle while the defence was left unspoken about.  The difference was and remains to be the difference is that he defined his work and just did it. Guha does not consider Patel to be a thinker and categorises him as a doer. But with due apologies, yours truly believes, the Sardar remains unmatched in vision and deed. Time did not permit him to go ahead and leave a stronger bond. This is what we should supplement and complement.

Let us hand him a salute he deserves and if we do feel that he does not deserve the salute, let us at least agree that his meritorious work should not be undone.