Bangalore Diary: DTEA Reunion

Six of us from my high school had planned a reunion in Bangalore the evening of November 9. The event was organized by Venky. Venky -- the guy in the middle on the right -- is a former army colonel, and has a membership at the army club RSI (Rajinder Singhji Institute). RSI is located in an attractive enclave off of M.G. Road.

Ganesh had traveled from Chennai to join us for the meet. Raj Narayan, Killi and Raghu were also there (Pic below: anticlockwise from right end: Ramesh, Venky, Raghu, Raj, Ganesh and Killi).

I love clubs in India. On previous visits I have been to the Bangalore Club, and the Gandhinagar Club in Chennai. RSI may not be as well-known as the Bangalore Club, but the food was far better. It's certainly a much cooler place than the Gandhinagar Club.

We started the evening at 7 sitting in the lawn tables for drinks. I haven't seen any of these guys for 30+ years. In a couple cases my memory of the person was foggy. But we had a blast! We were able to connect as though we meet every week. We spent nearly 2 hours over drinks reminiscing, and talking about movies, cricket, business and societal change in India. It's amazing to me that I can connect far, far better with 5 guys in India who I haven't seen, talked to or even thought a lot about for 30 years, than many of the people I see everyday in the U.S.. I suppose I may have left India but India refuses to leave me. This sort of thing has happened before in a few cases with friends from other stages of my life. It never ceases to amaze me that reconnecting is such a snap.