Of Jamboreean Friendships ...

Years (decades to be precise!) have passed.The hairlines have receded a little, waistlines either expanded or shrank, the necks show vivid aging signs,  and the confidence of specialists have replaced the uncertainty of first-year medical students. Some are surgeons now, some physicians, some professors, while others heal patients in pretty towns where everyone knew them by first names. Life has carried each of us in different directions...

Yet, the moment we meet again, all those years disappear...

Remember the hilltop? At times, suddenly, do you wish that we were back there? The evening breeze. The setting sun. Abir strumming his guitar while Moitreyee, Gunabhi, Partha, Dipanwita and a few other melodious ones sang along..Do you miss walking down the steep stairs of the hill? Remember being mesmerized  by the beauty of Shiela's glowing skin, Dutta's rosy cheeks, Sherin's flowing braid?? Do you miss discussing life, medicine, dreams, and love, sitting on the now-vanished playground in the hospital campus, or in the hospital canteen (with aloo-paratha)? 

We thought the future was far away, not realizing that one day those very years would become our most treasured memories.

None of us really remember much about what was taught, but we remember who sat where, who arrived late, who borrowed notes and never returned them, who gave proxy for  whom (Meghalee  for me!) and who spent more time chatting than listening. The classrooms taught us lessons, but friendships were built in the spaces in between..

And the countless movie outings at Apsara Cinema.The hurried plans. The bunked classes.The scramble for tickets. The noisy rows occupied by us. We - who laughed louder than everyone else. 

Today, looking back,  we barely remember the movies. What we remember are the friends sitting beside us, the jokes shared during intermission, and the feeling that life could not possibly get any better.

The wards. The OPDs. The nervous case presentations. The stethoscopes that felt heavier than they really were. The professors whose questions could reduce even the brightest ones to silence.

Our amphitheater-style lecture halls...Rows and rows of students. Some listening attentively. Some sleeping creatively. Some writing notes. Some writing love letters. The lectures may have faded from memory, but the friendships formed there remain vivid.

The love stories. Some survived the test of time and blossomed into marriages and families. Some remained beautiful unfinished stories. Some stayed together, many drifted apart. And some names that once filled our conversations are now mentioned only with a smile.

Do you remember those who you have lost touch with?  Friends who had left this world too early?  Sometimes, for a moment, do you feel as if friendship has a way of making absence visible?

Do you wonder, ever, why do we need to stay in touch?

Not merely to organize reunions. Not to exchange professional achievements. Not to discuss hospital administration, research papers, or medical conferences. We need to stay in touch because Jamboreean friends carry pieces of our lives that no one else does. 

Our spouses know who we became. Our children know who we are. But our Jamboreean friends know who we were. They remember our first failures and first victories. They knew us before titles, before careers, before responsibilities defined us. They remind us of the  young men and women who entered GMCH with dreams in their eyes and little understanding of the journey ahead.

My friends are my anchors. That's why I  try to reach out to all of you..I find pieces of myself in you all..You have enriched my life, you have been invaluable in making me better in many ways...

A single phone call can remind us that we are more than our schedules, degrees, or designations. We understand each other's struggles without explanation. We laugh at stories that require no context. We celebrate each other without envy,  and comfort disappointments without any judgment.

And most importantly, staying connected reminds us that life is fragile and time moves quickly. The friend you plan to call next month may be unreachable next week....The reunion postponed may never happen.

The memories we treasure today were created because someone made time for friendship.

The hilltop guitar sessions are gone. Hurried rehearsals for fashion shows have stopped. Apsara Cinema Hall has changed. There's no adda every evening over singra and milk-tea...The academic lectures are over. The clinical postings belong to another era. There's no random unannounced visit to Anupam's home for home-cooked, yummy lunch..Hours of idle talk are gone... Youth has passed...

But friendship remains. Friends, who walked that journey beside us. Years may separate us, cities may divide us, and life may keep us busy, but meeting proves one simple truth - the best medicine for the heart is often an old friend who remembers your story from the very beginning....

What do you have to say???