Fun,friends forever

Partying is hardly my kind of fun,but when I take the trouble to go all the way from Chennai to Mumbai just to attend a party,you guess its serious stuff.
Actually not,its was an invite that came too late but promised to be interesting so why not go over and check it out.Interesting it was,the rest of my weekend also turned out to be great fun and I let my hair down after ages.
The party was a reunion of sorts.Normally reunions are confined to school and college but this one was different in every way.
To begin with it was the brainchild of three or four people who had worked in a company for the better part of their lives.They discovered that most of what they had learnt in their professional lives could be attributed to the culture of this company they had worked for.As discussions progressed they discovered that there were hoards of people who had done exactly what they had,spent around 15 to 20 years with one company,grew up the ranks,shared the many ups and downs of corporate life and lived to enjoy every moment until one fine day the culture changed and everything else with it so at different points people left to greener pastures.Some left in haste,some in anger,some with warmth,some with respect but a lot of people made a shift.
Over the years a single common cord bound a lot of us,we had the common experience of this company and we had built long lasting relationships.Strangely the entire experience revolved around one person.All of us related to this person in different ways.He was the leader.Some of us quaked in our shoes when he arrives,some of us lit up when he was around,but whatever the experience we loved,admired and respected this person so much and benefited from our experiences so well that a reunion seemed like a fitting occasion to meet and chat.
It was slated to start at 8pm on Friday but like the unwritten code in Mumbai we all arrived fashionably late.We had changed in many ways but the group had many high achievers.People who head businesses around the country,entrepreneurs,home makers etc.It was a formidable pool of talent,it was also a formidable pool of people who knew how to have a good time,share a laugh,yell scream,sing and generally go a bit wild.
In the semi dark environment with the background of thumping music we managed to recognise erstwhile colleagues,fall into arms of friends we had lost touch with,do the usual exchange of visiting cards,network and raise a toast.
It was great fun and by the end of the evening we had all found people who we shared experiences with, and across Mumbai a thousand odd people touched base and stayed connected well after the party was over.
It took so little to experience so much.