24) Alumni Meet

I was very edgy and a bit excited too about the alumni get together. A gala function was organized exclusively for the 1990 batch of IMT at a five star hotel.

It is an odd feeling catching up with the past. The prospect of meeting old friends and re-live the nostalgic moments of an innocent era had its own appeal. When one is young, the mind is carefree without being weighed out by responsibilities. Now, it looks more like a puzzle as to how my old mates had fared under the weight of time and destiny.

It was a cold Delhi evening as we gathered at Intercontinental at Nehru place. The atmosphere was electric as the mind ran amuck. I ran into Lakina and Rahul my bosom pals and so were Vinita and Deepti of my gang; those days of combined studies, group presentations and frivolity in the campus. Meeting these people after 15 years is an indescribable emotion.

After the usual bonhomie and backslapping, we had a private dinner amongst ourselves. Lakina was in a Washington based company that involved in backend operations for IRS while Rahul was an entrepreneur in the export trade. Both had done exceedingly well to afford a rich lifestyle for themselves and their family. Deepti was a Vice President in a top ten agency though a spinster; always an independent streak.

Vinita was content to listen to our tales and when pressed about her pursuits, she quietly said,” I run a NGO and instead of earning money only spend it’. We kept egging her and out came this story in slow drips.

“Yeah, I was a Product Manager at Cadburys and married Arun, an investment banker. It was the same old stuff of meeting targets and running after sales team. And nothing seemed more important in life than promotions and paying those damn EMIs.

One day the entire script changed as my husband after a drink too many at a party drove the car into the pavements mowing down sleeping families there. A man was killed on the spot while a woman in severe trauma care. The police let my husband off the hook with a strict warning after the lawyers ensured that the lab results on alcohol levels were fixed. So, he escaped the charge of culpable homicide to negligent driving and all was well.

In the meantime I kept visiting the ailing wife in the hospital and soon got to know the family better. Her kids were only 6 and 10 and already earning a living; one cleans cars at traffic signals and the other runs errands in the tea stall. They were Bihari labourers in the construction business; an industry that notoriously exploits poor people.

I put these kids in school, arranged private tuitions and hoped that they fare a lot better in life. The sense of guilt soon gave way to ameliorating their lot. Slowly, others sought my assistance and that led to this foundation.

The Kalyani Foundation (TKF) caters to street children from the age of 6 to 15 and it is our responsibility to see that these kids stay through school. We provide them 3 meals a day and sometimes even compensate parents if they are too poor or remonstrate for any loss in earnings. Today, I have 46 children and 4 volunteers in this mission”.

Vinita finally said,’ I want one of these kids to do MBA in IMT and that would really be nice’.

We were moved as Lakina summed up, ’your always couple of streets ahead of us. Do let us know if you need any sponsorship or donations?’