Disclaimer: This post is specifically written in dedication to the XII-F Batch of 2015-16 (KV Clt-1). None of the characters mentioned below are fictional. Any resemblance to a fictional character is purely coincidental. The events described here are also a little fast-forwarded, apologies for the time warp.
***
“I’m kinda busy, is it urgent?”
“Yeah very! NDTV 24x7,
right now!”
“Fine, will get back to you, bye!”
I look at my watch – okay, I have exactly twenty minutes to
eat my sandwich, check that mail, and rush over to the ISRO headquarters to
meet them. And now she wants me to watch NDTV news. Great.
Stuffing the sandwich in my mouth, I switch on the TV and
flip over to NDTV news channel.
*Backround Music*
A smart, gorgeous lady reporter shows up in her suit. She
still has that air of command in her countenance, like I always knew she would.
‘Welcome back to NDTV Indian of the year awards 2026, and
this is Aparna V K reporting from Gurgaon.’
Wait, did she want me to watch her host an award show?
Urgently? Gulping my sandwich, I almost turn to switch off the TV, and that’s
when I hear this –
“The last year’s seen a dramatic boost in the field of
Fashion Technology and Design, all thanks to this young lady who’s made her
mark in her fashion career. Let’s have a big round of applause for the NDTV
Fashion icon of the year, Farzeena V L! “
Whaaaaaat?!! Wow!! That really is Farz going up on stage! Our
own Farz! I shared seats with her in
school, hell, I shared my chamandi
with her! And Aparna too…that fab NDTV reporter….my own Appz -TRrrrrr TRrrrr-
“Hello?”
“Dashiiieeeee!!”
“Yeah Jacob, check NDTV 24x7 now. Urgent”
“What? Okay listen, there’s an architect meet in Calicut this
weekend…”
“So you mean, Warrier and Kapil-“
“-are already there yes! Is the model still in the
headquarters?”
“Yes, I’m going there now.”
“And I hope Anjitha-Arya duo can make it, their protein
research is underway and responding well, so pretty busy with that.”
“And you, miss Billionaire?”
“Don’t call me that yet Dashy. Anyway Ankit’s found a new
bug in this system, we’re working on it. Will reach once we’re done.”
“Okie-dokie… see yeh!”
Their software company is doing well. Ankit’s been the
bug-finder since forever! Ahh so many people to call! I wonder where Kp is
now…last time I checked he was in Mumbai. Or was it Kolkata? That boy never
does stay put, but his journal sure is quite out of the ordinary.
Uh-oh, five minutes
down already. Need to check my mail!
*Checking my phone*
You have one new mail.
*Opening mail*
Sub : Change of date
The appointment in
collaboration with New Media and Google has been rescheduled to the 26th
of March. The letter of invitation is attached herewith.
P.S. We’re recruiting
two new PJ’s, spread the news.
-Vibhoothi Anand
CEO, Google
*
PJ…programming
journalist; a name that caught up with me. Working full time in the IT
field wasn’t exactly my thing, and thus emerged the profession that suits me
the best - PJ. And now there are more of us of the same kind.
Whoops, ten minutes to go. I hope the ISRO scientists aren’t
very punctual. That reminds me, what was it in the morning news about Arun?
That he was perfecting some formula… based on neutrinos was it? He just might win
the Nobel Prize this time. I wonder if he’s reached the town. Where’s my phone
again?
*FB group chat*
12 F….oreva
Ankit Bossmark: Guys?
Me: Anku maaamaaaa!!!
Ankit Bossmark: Dashhyyy
moleeeee!!
Malavika Jayaraj:
Bhaaaaaaiiiiii!!!
Ankit Bossmark:
Pengaleeeeee!!!
Shaikh Mushrif: (thumbs
up)
Ajesh Vijayan: (thumbs
up)
Arjun Haridas: (thumbs
up)
Deepak Praveen left
the group
Deepak Praveen was
added to the group
*
Sigh. Ten years and the group got no better.
*Beeeeeep*
‘You have five minutes
left to reach the ISRO headquarters’
Damn! That’s my robot, Dodo. Bless Swaroop and his top notch
Robotics Company for it; comes in handy almost every day. I must leave now. My
Harley Davidson, here I come! (And bless whoever made that bike too, perfect
for my height :p)
*Kasturba Road
junction. Signal is red.*
Alright. There goes my last five minutes.
“Darshana?”
I turn around.
“Varsha! Wow hey, long time! When are you reaching Calicut?”
“Within a week…signal’s green…see you soon then!”
And she drove off in her scooty. Things are coming out
right. This is going to work. If Shivani’s back from her MNC, and Malavika gets
a leave from wherever she is, that makes the ten of us. Off I go.
*Reached ISRO
headquarters*
Now where did they say they would be? Oh, there’s the
office.
“Excuse me? I’m Darshana Suresh, here for an appointment at
three?”
“Ah yes ma’am, with the Aeronautical Scientists Kiran D.S
and Akshay E?”
“Yes them”
“Room no.8 ma’am”
“Thank you”
I walk up to room no.8. Someone sneezed. Why did it sound so
familiar? Wait, was he here too?
The door opens, and standing before me is our dear old
laughing Buddha.
“Mushrif!”
“Hi Darshana!”
With a wide grin I’m ushered into the room to see both the other
tall scientists grinning back at me. Standing among my classmates, I’m reminded
of how very small I am.
“Is it ready?”
“Yeah, here it is.”
He gesturs to an irregularly shaped structure veiled with a
golden tunic. Underneath the veil, as I see when uncovered, is a miniature
model of our school building, complete with a tiny playground, the children’s
park and the butterfly garden.
“It’s perfect isn’t it?”
I nod, unable to look away from the intricately designed
structure. Kapil and Warrier got it all right.
“I bet they’ll love it.”
And then, all the four of our phones beep simultaneously.
*FB group chat*
12 F….oreva
Abhishek P Nambissan: My
car broke down, no petrol.
Aparna V K: Go to Arun :p
ArUn S Raj: For the last
time, I don’t work in a petrol pump! I’m the head of the petroleum department of HP gas!
Aparna V K: Arun’s Gas :p
Vibhoothi Anand: LOL!
Me: BTW the model’s great
guys!
Malavika Jayaraj: Wow, so
what time?
Akshay B: 9.30 am, East
Hill. When everyone’s there we’ll go to school.
Abhi Kampurath: The
seminar hall, probably.
Akash KP: And then we’ll
present our legendary masterpiece to the school…
Vigneshnath E.K: From 12
F 2015-16 batch.
Ankit Bossmark sent an
image
*
I look back at the so called ‘legendary masterpiece’ and
smile. Most of us are hardly ever anywhere close to school. And this would be
our first re-union after passing out.
“Alright, let’s get this thing to Calicut!”
And the team gets busy with our little school. Yes, we’re
coming back. And now that I think of it, if we ever do get a chance to meet our
past selves all worried about the future, all we’re going to say is this… ‘Wait
and watch dear, ‘cause you’re gonna move mountains!’
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