Schoolmates

While my brother was browsing thru the TV channels this Sunday morning, he stopped for a moment at a malayalam channel to find out what was the programme going on. They anchor was going in a car and said she is in Dubai and was going to meet a Malayalee couple settled there. As they showed the couple I felt I know the girl and didnt really read the name that they showed. Then she mentioned her house is at Kalamassery and then i realised that we used to sit in the same bench during my 10th standard.. She was Sumi Thomas, who was one of my good friends while leaving school. After that I lost touch with her as we pursued our pre-degree in different colleges and then I moved to Thrissur and then to Bangalore, never to go back and stay in Kochi for long.. There are lots of friends whom I had lost after school this way.

Another incident happened during my final year study holidays. Lots of my friend had come to Kochi for a test(I dont remember whihc company now). It was being held at the BTH. I had gone to meet my friends as I was staying in Kochi then. While in lift, I met a guy whose face was very familiar but I couldnt place who he was. I think he too felt the same and then I dont know who started but we found out that we studied in the same school.. I asked him his name and he said Jose. Now that was bad. Anytime I was in school or after having left school, I could have talked to anyone as Jose was one of the most popular student among teachers, one of the toppers, a favourite of our principal and all that. But then 6 years out of college, i couldnt recognise him. That was bad. Then later we had a gettogether of our batch in school and then I realised how many ppl I remember about but cant recognise them when I see them and then there is a whole lot whom I recognise by face but cant remember the name..

My best friend from school was Sameena.. We were very close until we finished our school but again as we went to different colleges, I lost touch with her.. We used to exchange occassional letters and greeting cards but that too slowly ended. Then after I finished my college and was working in Bangalore, I once met a friend whose house is near but was studying in Pondicherry and she mentioned that Sameena had passed away. I knew she had some health problems right from the time we were in school but her death is something I still hope is not true.

While during my high school, four of us were good friends. Myself, Aparna, Smitha(Sumi) and Soumya. The thing that brought us together must have been that we used to go to school in the same school bus. Three of us except Soumya used to get into the bus at the same stop and Soumay from the next stop. So we grew pretty close and after school, we went to the same college for Predegree. So the friendship carried on. Aparna's house was near mine. Smitha was a relative as well. So even though she moved away from Kochi after our predegree days, I was still in touch due to the close relationship. Soumya also moved to Chennai for her degree in journalism after predegree. We never went out of touch though it used to be an occasional call or visit, I still considered them good friends. I still get to know about Smitha and Aparna from their parents as me or my mom gets to meet them once in a while. But Soumya was a special friend for me within this group. But it is with her that I am completely out of touch. The last time I met her was the day before my TI interview during my final sem study holidays. We had moved back to Kochi and she had also come to her home suring that time. I still remember the two of us going together to the Ernakulam south railway station to book tickets for me to go to TVM next day for the TI interview. And then i had dropeed her back home and she mentioned that her parents are also moving back to Madras. After joining TI also, I was in touch with her thru occassional mails. Then during my first travel to Japan in Oct 2002, I had a day to spare at Chennai. I badly wanted to meet her and called up and she said she will come to the hotel I was staying and pick me as I was not familiar with Chennai. But sometime later, she called up and said that she is having some guests at home as it is Diwali time and cant come. So I couldnt meet her then and after that she never replied to my mails and slowly the friendship faded away. I am completely out of touch with her now and it was from Smitha's sister that I came to know that she got married to her boyfriend about whom she had mentioned to me earlier when we talked in Chennai.

Those are two friends I am sorry to have lost from my school. Not to say that I am not sad about other friendships..But because they were too close to my heart...

BTW, the school I studied was St.joseph's EMHS at Kalamassery during 1990-1995.