Super(25)conductivity

What is he doing there, Is he doing proxy? What’s there in his bag?

These were the comments I got from my college WhatsApp group when my friend had posted the above picture. Actually, I was looking through the glass at our old classroom and reflecting back on how we all sat in that class 25 years back. We wanted a “touch and feel ” experience of our classroom with a set of classmates for whom I was always a proxy.  Since it was locked I was looking through the glass and was trying to get a glimpse of the old glory.  We were back in college after 25 years.

The entire credit for this reunion goes to the core team of ENCORE that brought 260batch mates together for 3 days. It was a Herculean task and they did it with perfection.

The reunion started off on a Friday, which happened to be my birthday. It was joy unlimited for me as  I met with an old senior friend whose books I used to pick for my classes. He paid the bill and it was so kind of him. He was overwhelmed by our meet up after a gap of 25  plus years.

The next day morning was time for our trial run. I had been running and so it was not hard for me to complete the run except for the last 500m when I was running along with a lady who was outpacing me. I had to get into a running dialogue with her to slow her down! In the end, we managed to finish together for third place. Post the run it was time to share our wit and quirks and we had a great time as we all got our muscles to loosen up for the next 3 days of fun and excitement. After the function in college which was to recognize each of us from the respective departments, it was time to head to the resort. That is where the whole fun was awaiting.

The evening sun had just gone down but our sunny disposition was out in public as I decided to meet people (preferably ladies) whom I had never had the courage to meet in college. I also saw how each one of us was sticking within their circle of friendships and also embracing the new camaraderie which was building up with others. That was indeed a great take off to dance on the floor with some soulful composition by a budding violinist. The spirits obviously were flowing literally to keep the ones animated for some more spirited conversations. I had the opportunity to meet up with a few people and being a blogger it was easy to ease myself into soulful conversations.

One person gave me her life lesson and justified with a story that “Boring is good”, another corporate business leader took a dig at “ceremonial adoption” ( Liked this term as described the way the organization push down orders from top-down) and finally it came from one of my close friend who has teenagers and now rediscovering her life with an emphatic description that “I am now a rebellious teenager” . It was only pertinent that the core committee decided to have a small group within the group to discuss entrepreneurship. I liked the way the sharing was carried and received. To a question on how we have to embrace the next generation, it was nice of a senior director of one of the top US company to mention that “we have to be humble”. That thought sits so nicely at the core of this get together that everyone rallied to make this a big success. One entrepreneur, gave his wisdom like this “My level of understanding wasn’t interesting for the employer” when I asked him ” Why you did not pursue a corporate job”?  He is leading a very successful venture and in his own terms, he is creating his destiny.

What differentiates entrepreneurs? “Every month end we look forward to “take” home our salary but an entrepreneur looks at how to “give” a salary“

What makes a get together after 25 years so special?

It was a kaleidoscope as we saw friends with family and kids sitting with their ex-flames, wives making sure that their husbands hang around with the right set of people and finally forced bachelors reliving their ‘spirit’ual journey.  It was also one of the best moments we cherished as we lingered on with business conversations, silly banter, and priceless conversations. Those moments will endear for some time to come. We prepared ourselves with an afternoon siesta and decided to actively seek sleep deprivation in the night. Some of them went to the seashore and had very soothing conversations. I am sure a lot of friends had slept only in the wee hours of the morning and yet they had loads and loads to talk. They all will agree that sleep which they surrendered was well worth the camaraderie and bliss and it will linger with us for some time to come. As we ready ourselves for our next one in 2023 it will be the age group of 50 which will create another encore. In my view, it is the very fact that we all decided to see each other and have fun becomes a great leveler. The parity of thoughts, comments, and jokes was all with a lot of respect and dignity.

The other day  I saw an article under “The speaking tree” on Superconductivity. Ohms law states that in an electrical circuit, the current is directly proportional to the applied voltage.  The connection involves a parameter known as resistance. Current would be more if either the voltage is high or the resistance is less. This phenomenon is called normal conductivity. There is an extraordinary situation in this phenomenon, superconductivity, which is characterized by, among other things, a resistance less state. After 25 years of reunion that is the “super25conductivity” state reached. It took me 25 years to learn this concept in reality.

Finally, they say, ” The impact of ordinary life is felt as long as it is related to an issue that has current relevance. However, the impact of an extraordinary “super(25) conductivity” life continues forever. Our friendships are meant to be savored and I am sure they will continue to evolve.

In these 25 years, friendships have taken different shapes and forms. I had lost my mustache and hair, the one who was clean-shaven has a nice mustache and beard and finally the one who was good looking continuous be good looking even with or without the beard. 25 years back I wore a cap even though  I had hair, Today I am bald with a metaphorical swag bag.  A bagful  which comprises of a library of learning, a sanctuary of deep work and circle of friends for life”