Almost 20 Years

I felt great when I received a call from a Chicago-based classmate of mine who had arrived at Mumbai for attending a program. A few of the Mumbai-based classmates decided to meet Saturday evening for catching up with this foreign friend of ours – it has been a very long while since we all met anyway. We all met at JW Marriott at Juhu, wherein the friend was staying, which also happens to be my favourite hotel.

It took an hour on Saturday evening to cover what was all of 12 Kms from my home to the hotel, with a fair amount of deft manoeuvering by my driver who is always under strict instruction not to speed or overtake on Mumbai roads. He is also a guy who would stop promptly at red traffic signals, unlike all his compatriots who ignore traffic signals and then get all jumbled up in the intersections. I have been in this jumble as well, since my driver makes the turn when the signal turns green but the rest of the traffic thinks that signals do not matter. I am still not able to fathom the minds of the Suburbian Mumbaikars who seem to pay scant attention to their own safety. Cars come at great speeds towards the intersections where the red signal does not seem to deter the idiot drivers, they continue driving, while the few drivers who follow the rules get stuck not able to proceed for fear of getting hit. Unbelievable – but this is absolutely the fact on the roads in Mumbai Western Suburbs. Not so bad when you go to South Mumbai wherein people seem to have some respect for policemen and traffic signals.

JW Marriott was looking gorgeous on a Saturday evening. Lots of people and parties……

We all met in the lounge and talked about the past 20 years……with some good red wine. Everyone’s preconceived notion of what the other guy was like 20 years ago, proved to be right that evening ! My Chicago friend mentioned to me that I spoke exactly the same way I did when we were all at IIM-B — difficult to believe, but might be true after all.

All guys had receding hairlines and bald spots, but looked trim due to the educated manner in which they had taken care of their fitness ! Couple of guys declined alcoholic drinks which surprised me !! One of the classmates is deep into philanthropy, taking care of more than 500 destitute families ! I felt I should be doing more in that direction – the bit I am doing appeared grossly inadequate. The group felt that it is true that well-heeled folks in the booming Indian economy do not bother about the people being left behind due to the skewed nature of the growth in knowledge-based and manufacturing industries as compared to agriculture. We discussed about families and kids, corporate life and its pressures, education, etc.,

We all decided to meet somewhere equidistant, meaning Europe, for the 20-year reunion ! Let us see !!

It was an unforgettable evening, hope we can do such evenings atleast once in a quarter……

Have a Great Week Ahead…..

Best Regards

Vijay Srinivasan
18 Feb 2007
Mumbai