This is the family picture from the reunion. It is almost everyone.
Following is my comments I shared with my fellow batchmates in our Yahoo group after the reunion:
Dear all. Last Thursday when many of the pumps in Charlotte [due to hurricane Katrina] ran dry of gasoline, Veena wasn't too happy about attempting a seven hour drive (to the reunion). It won't be thrilling to get stuck on a highway with an empty tank, especially when she is in her third trimester and we have an active 2+ to take care of - valid concern. In the end, trusting my judgement, she relented. She is very happy, and I am too, that we embarked on that trip to the DC reunion.
The reunion was a resounding success. It simply was great - It was great to see our friends - It was great to see their families - It was great to see how much each of us have grown, how much we have learned, changed and matured. Everyone that was there was impressed by each ones success. It is one thing to share our friendship in this forum electronically, it is a totally different level when you meet face to face. We were able to learn, and be surprised by, the remarkable journeys our fellow batch mates have gone through in these 14 years. Those who didn't make it to DC may be able to catch up on that as we reminisce the reunion in the coming days.
We were able to share not only nostalgia, success, some ideas for giving back, but also establish tangible networks for mutual benefit and shared interests. It is heartening to see some of us were able to find the right friends to counsel on even personal issues. This kind of support network is only possible with our 'old' RECTian friends who understand our many dimensions.
It was also great to see how well the spouses enjoyed. Having no common past as we have, it is highly commendable that they took the effort to come over, share the workload and had fun too. My impression is, each one of them enjoyed the event. They all got to know each other. I got to know some of them too, I feel I found few new siblings. By the way, the kids had lot of fun as they always do.
Except the few who had to leave, most of us had lot of fun at the extended partying - family friendly partying that is - at Gerald's and Gurpreet's places, Saturday and Sunday nights. I am not even going to attempt to put in words how much fun that was. Let me simply say, it was like Sapphire nights. All of us were up until 2 AM, some as late as 5 AM :-) - games, discussion of serious and not so serious stuff, memory lane etc. Those who were traveling to DC area for first time, were even able to do some sightseeing.
Gerald, and Gurpreet worked so hard to pull this off, it is too difficult to express our thanks to them in words. Latha helped out a lot, with the planning and cooked part of the food for the evening. Thanks Latha. Special thanks to her kids and Anand kids for their talent show.
Ann (Gerald's spouse) and Abha (Gurpreet's spouse) were such outstanding hosts. The entire weekend was a joyous, memorable experience because of them welcoming, with smile, a score invaders into their home.
Simply put, this past weekend enriched me more than I thought. (I only expected to have some fun). As some one mentioned, these four days have been more fun than a month long vacation. My only regret was, I didn't prepare for my introductory speech; I was incoherent and went too long.
I am sure you will hear more perspectives on this weekend from others who attended. Plan to attend next time around, let us multiply the joy.
I am sharing this in my blog to encourage others [who are from my batch] to join and for the rest of you to reestablish contact with your batchmates.
posted by Shan R Shanmuganathan at 7:42 AM
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