Today was a special day - an annual friendship meet from Dad's graduation batch of 1966 was scheduled at Ekamra Udyan - the government firm of agriculture department - a perfect place to unite all the agriculture graduates. All these people retired couple of decades back, most have health related issues, but the true call of friendship pulled them, triggering the enthusiasm to remember some great moments, that they lived six decades back, traversing back in time. Dad usually do not wish to go anywhere, but today the glow at his face was different. It was a privilege for me to experience this great moment and capture some beautiful snaps, that will cherish their memories for a very long time.
Prasad, Snacks, Fruits, Tea were served first and then some divine discussions started.
I was amazed to see their energy level to serve each other at this age.
Some family members including me, tried to help as much as possible.
Only ladies, only gents and then all of them together - we had to find the right spot to fit them all in a single frame. Someone said a very funny memory of their time - a tea stall owner would write their credit on an electric poll, so that he did not have to remember them.
A silence prayer was observed in memory of one of their friend who passed away this year.
And then some discussions followed by a delicious vegan lunch - this place does not allow cooking inside, but the organizer did the nice job of arranging it by his known vendor. I utilized the opportunity to capture maximum moments - these are some rare gems for us - who knows who can come next time.
President and Secretary of their batch - Dad was very active at his college time and traveled to Kashmir at that time.
Kudos to Mom who keeps pushing him to come for such events.
Meet the main organizer of the event - Dr Sudarsan Panda, who arranged everything single-handedly. At the age of 80+, I truly admired his zeal to follow up with all the friends constantly and make this possible - I am going to meet him again soon. You can't make certain things possible, even though you might have enough money, but he has control at every place - relationship matters more than money, and their generation knows that best.
To fill this event with love, roses were given to people who started leaving for the day.
A fulfilling day for me - Dad was so happy to see their friends, these precious memories captured on this chain will be a testimony to the fact that a true friend makes you laugh even when you think you’ll never smile again.
I have captured some amazing photographs from the garden, but I will keep them for another post. Here is a short video compilation to share in their group - I am sure, all family members will love to see it repeatedly for a very long time.
More to come from the garden........
Shot with SONY α6400 with 18-135 mm Zoom Lens
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