School friends are your precious gems. How long has it been since you last connected with your school friends? Have you forgotten them or don’t have time for them because of your busy work, family life, and social affairs?
It is always said that do remember the way, the place, and the people whom you have come across in your past years. This will remind you of your true self and where you belong to. You will not be able to change the facts, but you can change something in you. Isn’t that right?
About the school
I studied 11th and 12th at Rajagiri Public School, Ernakulam, and passed in 2002. The school is managed by Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) of the Sacred Heart Province, Kalamassery. This educational institution draws inspiration from the life of Jesus Christ. The school follows the CBSE, New Delhi syllabus and hosts science, commerce, and humanities groups. Along with academics, the school gives equal importance to co-curricular and social commitments.
After we passed out in 2002 from Rajagiri Public School, it was a moment where each one was striving towards one pursuit to become a Doctor or an Engineer, Lawyer, or on the grounds of professional qualifications. Most of them got placed in very good colleges and universities for their graduate programs.
I too went on to pursue my engineering and later business administration. By that time, we lost contact with each other and came to have a better understanding of life outside school. Then completing formal education it was a time when most of us were aiming to get into a job in India as well as abroad.
In the 21st century, it was not as difficult as the previous centuries to stay connected online because of Facebook. However, our friends started working and living in different countries so it was not easy to catch up with them.
How WhatsApp helped us to come closer
Recently, the idea of looking back and recollecting our old memories was a need of the hour. WhatsApp is trending nowadays, so why not come together in the WhatsApp group? I tried creating a new group from a few friends on Facebook. Then got to know there was already a group with 25 members. I contacted the group admin and I got added to the group. With his permission, I too became a group admin, and then added around 11 members to the group. Later, more were added and now we are a group of 54 members.
Members are situated across the globe like the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Qatar, Dubai, Germany, and India working in different professions like doctors, engineers, and lawyers. A few of them have completed their masters and doctorates as well.
Hope you will also be part of one WhatsApp group or the other that makes you stay connected with your friends, colleagues, relatives, or neighbors. It creates a sense of belonging, well-being, and happiness. During this digital era, most people will get used to new ways of being associated online using their mobile handsets. You will feel rejuvenated, refreshed, and revitalized. When online discussions do occur, it is worth noting the 3 A’s – Adjust, Accept, and Appreciate.
When our new friends got added to the WhatsApp group, it became a stream flow of messages one after another non-stop showing our bonding of togetherness and love. The messages were coming in 24 hours as our friends were residing in different places. Batchmates send messages when they are awake as per their geographical locations.
Even though we are in our thirties of age we transformed ourselves to feel that we are in our teenagers. Old memories started taking precedence over our present conditions opening new doors of excitement and cherishment.
There is another plan being coordinated among us to meet each other in person during the Christmas and New Year vacation at the school campus. During this time most of them will reach their hometown to meet their parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Hope we will be able to make it to the in-person get-together with God’s grace.
Get-together Zoom Video Call
Since December is one more month to go, we decided to catch up online in a call. There was a proposal to arrange the call using Google Meet or Zoom call. Finally, we concluded to conduct the online get-together using the Zoom app. As one call will not be sufficient, we planned to go for two Zoom calls to involve our friends from different time zones.
As per the plan, two calls were scheduled on a fine Sunday at 4 pm and 9:30 pm IST when most of us will be off to work. Invite was sent in the WhatsApp group with meeting ID and passcode. A few of them replied saying that they had their commitments and would try to join the call.
Nevertheless, we had a handful of them who proactively joined the call. We casually interacted keeping our videos on and we were interested to know the whereabouts of our friends like where they were residing, working, and about their families.
We were using the free license version of the Zoom app so it was limited to 40 minutes in a single session. Everyone on the call felt happy. Both the calls went smoothly without any technical issues. Also, there was quality time among us. A few screenshots were taken and shared in our group. A couple of them are given below.
The two sessions of 40 minutes each were quite relishing and were meaningful in our lives making the 3 L’s – ‘Live your Life with Love’ practically possible. Some of them were not able to make it because of their busy schedules at home, at work, and on personal notes.
As time passes by things do change in our thoughts, words, and actions. So, I felt the necessity to capture these life-enhancing moments in the form of a blog post and it is right here that you are reading and enjoying. Why don’t you too be a positive driver for your friends organizing a similar digital reunion?
Most of us enjoyed the time in the calls and there is an ask to conduct such online get-togethers periodically to boost our memories and happiness.
The key takeaway of the online get-together is a sense of feeling better and happier than before. There were also positive comments that were sent in the WhatsApp chats regarding this online get-together.
Such digital reunions are required in every walk of our lives in the current world. Mobiles and laptops are now in the hands of most of the people. So, it is much easier than thought.
I would like to thank, appreciate, and express my gratitude to my friends for having participated in this online get-together and making it a moment to cherish our old memories.
Let me thank the Almighty for His grace and His blessings. Special thanks to our teachers, staff, and management.
Hope it leaves a positive impact on you!
Please leave your thoughts in the comments.
