Bees saal baad, I say, is a long long time

This weekend, I met old friends, walked in the rain, sat by a mountain stream, splashed my feet in rock cold water, squelched mud between my toes, enjoyed the awesome fish curry and the whiskey, stayed up the whole night chatting of the most inconsequential things, counted the stars, watched a deer in the river at dawn and without any doubt, had an amazing day enjoying old friendships.

From the moment I saw the group lolling on the lawns and heard the familiar cackle, I knew it was going to be an awesome day. Caught ip with a whole lot of old friends.

There was the round tubby one, with his trademark cackle which has come to symbolise the absolute and near decadent delight of our get-togethers.

There was the solid, good-looking, successful one, still singing through the night, still smoking an unending line of cigarettes. He has definitely changed, grown as a person and become one of the nicest people I know.

Then we have the enthusiastic one, who showed all of us how to really enjoy a reunion. It's not about what you can't do, but all about what you can do. Drop all inhibitions, down just enough beers to be happy, and belt out songs at the top of one's voice. He's an inspiration to the rest of us.

The real thanks for this, and any reunion we ever have are due to the persevering, steady one. She's the one who takes the effort to wake us up every time we drop into silence. Every time the reunion mails disappeared from our mailboxes, she kicked us hard enough to wake us up and get moving again. Luckily for the rest of us, she cared enough and didn't give up on us.

It was great to see the smiling, gentle one, still full of her never-say-die spirit. I would never have planned to stay up the whole night if it hadn't been for her and chatting and the memory of catching up while watching the pre-dawn skies is something I'll always treasure.

The pretty elegant one is still the same. She even made swinging on a tree look like a graceful dance. And she doesn't look a day older than when we studied together.

The married ones, obviously still in love. The guy, as mad as ever and the girl has retained her tremendous powers of observation and her talent for quick repartee.Her rapier sharp tongue kept us laughing almost throughout.

The responsible class rep as always, responsible.

The well loved gentleman, had pulled out a 'reunion special version' the last time around. This time the gentleman was back in residence, and very enjoyable it was to have him back.

The talkative one, has become quiet. But still remains a lot of fun.

The government guy who came in a state car. Well, he achieved his ambition and managed to stay his gentle self.

The moody one, who has developed a talent for taking the most speaking photographs. Each shot was framed with precision while the subject was totally unaware and with such amazing results.

The martial one, seems to have discarded the fire but kept the fit body. Still very quiet, but no longer uncomfortable around people.

The organising one, who organised the best ever reunion. Self effacing and quiet but supremely organised.

The ones who didn't make it and were missed.

We met for the first time twenty years ago, and it was great to catch up on each other's lives and to see how much we have changed and how much we have not. We've all grown a little older and lot madder. Which, of course, made the reunion a great deal of fun.