Warhorses of X-C : Re-connecting the Threads of Friendship!!!

I really don’t know why – but I really love the phrase “warhorses of X-C”. There used to be what one can call “wars” – sometimes girls vs. boys, sometimes within themselves. But it was all playing and fooling around. Once we got out of X, guess we really lost touch with each other. And it continued that way for years. But finally, one of my really good friends Mainak decides to come to Bangalore to pay a visit to his old classmates. And I thought – “I ain’t gonna miss this opportunity”. Let’s try to ruffle up the old lot, find whomever we can and we can have a gala time.

Mind, I happen to be the one who’s in touch with majority of the class (I recently read a book “People Power” – I think it’s authored by Diane Fletcher. And my social networking has always been above-average I can say). So it was time to set the wheels in motion. And we managed to get hold of 14 “warhorses” – not a bad number by any standard…….


“10 am is Early??? Are You Insane!!?”
Many complained that 10 am was a little too early. And I had only one thing to say,”If I can travel 50-odd km from Hosur to Bangalore and be there by 10, can’t you travel 20-odd km???” And finally everyone agreed to come at 10am. Though it was past 11 by the time all the 14 showed up.


So I change buses, sprint on the roads and reach Garuda mall, our gathering place, at 9:59 am (lucky me, I don’t like being late when I myself decided the time). And at the same time, Shreyasi alighted from an auto. Then comes Sangeeta after 5 minutes. Rahul, Mainak, G Suraj, Swarna, Philomina and Vindhya walk in a few minutes later. Then come Girija, Shalini and Harini. Vijay turns up at 10:40 or so. Punit said he’d come by noon. So there were 13 of us – guess 13 turned lucky!!!

Quite a few didn’t turn up and I have no intentions of bringing up their names. But I would like to mention two of them – Saurabh, who couldn’t come because he slipped and fell from the stairs and Tarun, who was in Chennai (he said no one told him beforehand or he would’ve come – guess there was a flaw in my planning!)

“No Cameras Allowed??? Just What is This Place???”
Mainak says he wants to have breakfast, so we go to the food court. As it always happens, cameras and mobiles start clicking and then the guard comes and says, “Cameras not allowed!” That really pissed me off and I believe, most of the others too. So we decided to go out – after all it was the mall losing on customers, we had nothing to lose. So we go outside and start clicking – the guards couldn’t say anything. Even though we were in front of the mall, they had no right to boss us around there.


So after clicking around, we decided to take a walk – where, we had no idea. “As long as we are together, anywhere is fine.”

“You Can’t Walk!??”
So we start walking – brigade road, MG road – anywhere and everywhere. It was Girija and me leading the way – guess we fall into the category of “over-energised” people, and tiring us out would really require something. Mainak, Suraj and Rahul were behind us. We were halfway through MG Road when I get a call from Swarna saying they can’t walk anymore and asking us to come back. So we head back and find the remaining eight standing on the pavement.


Then our “bird-brain” (don’t take it seriously yaar) Shalini says, “Let’s go to Cubbon Park and ride the swing.” Everyone was like, “Are you a kid or what?” Nevertheless, we decide to go. Mind, Cubbon Park was around 3-4 km away and I had no idea how all these tired geese would get there. But we had hardly walked a km when we get a call from Punit telling us to wait on MG Road. So we gather him up and then it was time for lunch. Guess I’m eliminating many details, but this post is getting long. I’ll bring them up later in some other post.

“McDonalds – Why is it Always the Same???”
As it always happen, we chug along to McDonalds. I have nothing against it – but I’ve been there so many times and it sort of gets monotonous. Nevertheless , “As long as we are together, anywhere is fine.” Right!?


Then we order and start eating. Then we find fries and coke remaining. Everyone taking a bite, everyone taking a sip – I think in the end no one knew who was drinking from whose glass. Doesn’t matter – we are nothing short of a family, as Shalini said. So we finish our lunch and six of us decide to leave – Rahul, Philomina, Vindhya, Swarna, Harini and Shreyasi. The rest of us stay on – now the question, “Why?” Guess it’ll be answered in some other post.


So ended the fun-filled roller-coaster joyride! It just showed one thing, “We might be all over the place, but when we are together we are one!”