Just as the stars that shine and twinkle
In the sky in tandem with the full moon
A group of students joined an abode of learning,
In the quest for knowledge; Like the members of a family
They always were, in easy camaraderie,
At loggerheads seldom, learning and playing,
Sweating in summer and drenching
During the monsoon; Much water
Flowed under the bridge unknowingly, inexorably;
The rosy days were soon a pleasant memory.
Contacts were lost, boyhood gave way
To adulthood; In the wink of an eye
We became parents and grandparents.
Quite a few left us, never to return.
The gnawing desire to meet old friends
Culminated in a family meet.
Thirty elderly gents, bald-headed,
Pot-bellied, with old stories, songs,
And equally old spouses for company
Spent a memorable day, promising to meet again.
Then there were the three of us,
An inseparable trio as we imagined,
Nicknamed “The Three Musketeers”;
The merciless passage of time
Took away two, leaving me
To pen this story for posterity.
M. Madhavankutty