REUNION: Meeting school friends after 15 years

At the start of 2011, I had set a goal to improve my networking ability and friends circle. For quite sometime I have been thinking that it will be quite fun to meet my school friends from AG Church. I have met many of them on Facebook and wondered it will be really good if we get to meet them personally as well.

I had planned to be in Kolkata during December. I thought it might be a nice time to catch up with old mates sometime after Christmas and before the New Year, when people are in holiday mood and Calcutta gets lit up in Christmas lights and winter festivities. So, I set up a Facebook event with the following message:
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On 30th Nov, I wrote:

Dear Friends,

Am in Kolkata between 24-Dec to 31-Dec and was wondering if we can catch up in person. We have not met in ages and it will be really great to meet up with old pals during the holiday season - Christmas & New Year.

Tentatively am setting 30-Dec (Friday) evening as a possible date. We can change date and decide on venue based on people's convenience. Love to hear back from all of you. Please circulate it among other AG friends in your circle in case they would like to join.

Cheers,

Kaushik

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By the next day, got few messages and one friend suggested that we meet on 25th Dec instead of 30th Dec since he is in town at that time. I was not sure if friends (most of whom are married now) would be keen to on Christmas eve when they would rather prefer to be with their families. So, I set up a quick poll to check the availability of people on Christmas evening and inadvertently my hunch turned true when most people voted for Friday the 30th Dec rather than Sunday the 25th.

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On Dec 1st, I wrote:


Friends .. thanks for all your responses .. 24 hrs into this and we have 10 people confirming for 30th Dec. Not too bad! I believe last year too we had a similar event around the same time - come on guys am sure we can do better than this on the numbers.


Personally I think we may find it very hard to get a table for 20-30 people on 25th Dec because of the rush. However, would like to hear from you guys what would a good place/restaurant to have this meet. Am slightly out of touch with Kolkata kitchens, cuisines and entertainment options.


xxxxx - lets chat up when you are in Kolkata. Amit - being in Kolkata am hoping you can make it to for 30th as well. What abt other friends - xxxx, yyyyy, zzzzz .. those who were at the event last year should not miss this year right?
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Well ones who wanted to have it on 25th Dec were surely disappointed. We are a big diverse group and I knew from the beginning that it will be hard to get everyone on-board. So, we missed out on meeting some dear friends and went with the majority. Many people felt nostalgic that they could not make it and others who encouraged me for taking this initiative. With the date in place, I knew the next front to conquer was the venue.
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On Dec 2nd, I wrote:

Folks .. pls send in your suggestions for good place to hang out in the evening of 30th Dec in Kolkata that is convenient enough to reach, spacious, have good environ, good food and some music at least ..

Also .. am hoping all those guys in Kolkata will surely be able to join in - aaaaaaa, bbbbbbbbb, cccccccc, etc .. pls confirm your attendance by accepting the invite .. and send to some of your other friends as well.

xxxxxxxx .. hope you are connected with few other ladies in our batch .. see if you can rope them in .. yyyyy, zzzzzzzzz etc
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We got number of responses from Tolly Club to Tangra Chinese Restaurants. I knew that we need to have a place that is easy to reach so that ladies in our batch can come on their own. It should have some fun arrangement like good music and possibly a dance floor. It should allow free movement and above all it should be within budget. Anything above Rs 1000 was surely not go well and in that one has to accommodate food and drinks. Tough call! I connected with several friends on phone and got their inputs on possible venue.

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On Dec 13th, I wrote:

Friends ..

Many of you have been inquiring on the final date - well 30th Dec is confirmed and we shall not be changing the date. We have now about 17 days to go the event and we need to quickly finalize on a venue else all will get booked. 30th is a Friday and its just before New Year eve -so there will be heavy rush.

For this we will need to get the final numbers - so pls pls .. if you are att...ending please accept the invite, so that we know and can book accordingly.

Secondly on the venue options xxxxxxxx are checking up and they will get back soon. At a ball-park we are keeping the budget at Rs 500 per head with some additional for drinks. Hope that is fine with all!

Thirdly, I did a bit of googling and got 2-3 options in Kolkata (restaurant chains which I have frquented in Bangalore/Chennai):

1). Barbeque Nation (in Salt Lake) : Unlimited Veg/Non-veg Starters+Main Course+Live Music

2). Mainland China (Gurusaday Rd): Great ambience, Good food

3). Flame & Grill (Park Street): Veg/Non-veg starters+Main course @ Rs 450 per headPlease pour in if you have other good venue options.

Remember its Our Reunion and hence we need to decide what will be best venue to meet our friends after 15 long years.

Cheers, Kaushik

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By Dec 15th, I had a confirmed the list of 20 folks who had accepted the invite and was willing to come for the reunion. I knew 20 was a good number but 25-30 would be better to discount for the one who may not be able to make it in the last minute. I had hectic discussions with couple of friends on what will be a good venue and after much deliberation we thought Red Kitchen & Lounge would suit the bill well. It was the place for our previous reunion, had music and dance floor, good food and bad and above all well accessible. Now we need the exact numbers to go ahead and book it. People cautioned that last time people came but did not pay. Some were of the opinion that we collect a token amount in advance as a token of commitment. I was not sure if that would be the right thing to do and people may just drop out!
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On Dec 15th, I wrote:

Friends,

After much discussion we have finalized the venue. The parameters we used to arrive at the venue:

1). Fun : Have good music, disc or dance floor

2). Food : Good starters, snacks, dessert, ambience, service,...

3). Convenience : Well connected, easy to reach, easy to join tables

Well Red Kitchen Lounge at Alipore fit this very well. This was the venue for previous meet and people who have been to that place had good things to say.So, see you all at Red Kitchen on 30th Dec. We have about 20 people confirmed for this now. If you know anyone who do not frequent facebook please connect with them and let aaaaaaa, bbbbbbb, cccccc and me know by tomorrow.

Thanks,Kaushik

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I knew that I could not possibly handle organizing such a big event all alone remotely. Being away from Kolkata for so many years, I did not have personal connect with anyone at all. So, I decided to form a core group who can coordinate the meet, call up people, arrange for whatever logistics. Also networking is not about just coming and meeting for a few hours but it is more about knowing each other and organizing something together gives you those moments of fun and togetherness. When you make everyone feel part of the event, they own up and can do wonders. I enjoyed interacting with this core group of friends over phone, all of whom showed great enthusiasm.

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On 19th Dec, I wrote to the core group:


Dear Friends,

I believe we now have the min quorum to have a small reunion with old friends. Pls add more people to the list if you know them and they are willing to come.

Secondly, we will need you to coordinate few things around:

1). Food - check what will be served for buffet on that day and the per head cost? xxxx - see if you can handle this.

2). Fun - ensure that dance floor and disc is available at Red Kitchen for that day? From what time to what time is that available? See if tables can be joined? ... I will call them on phone

3). Finance - We may need to book the place or inform them that 20-25 folks are coming on 30th. We will need to give some advance token money for that. XXXX was suggesting we collect some token money from all who have confirmed so that we know for sure they are coming. zzzzzz - see if you can coordinate this.

4). Travel - How many people are coming with their own vehicles? Just in case we may need to drop some folks on their way home..yyyyy see if you can coordinate this ..

5). Time - I had set 6-9 as the time for this but I guess people may walk in only after 7 and it may go on after 10 pm also... so when should we mention as the official time? .. let me know your opinion.

Thanks for all your initiative in making this happen.
Cheers, Kaushik
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There were many a fun moment when someone on facebook chat came up and said "who are you?" and "why are you doing all this" .. read the mail below:

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On Dec 19th, I wrote:

Hey Folks,

Even as the cold numbs us a bit, I hope all of you are gearing up for the event. Guess there are lots of expectation and excitement to meet old friends after 15 long years.

However, just last week I really got stumped - when someone from the invited list asked me "Who are you? I do not really remember you". So, for those of you who may not remember me. I was a student at AG Church for... 12 years from 1982 to 1994. I did up to ICSE and did not do ISC at AG. So, batchmates, if who were in the school during this period and a few junior and senior folks may remember me. Well its quite ok to forget and that is the very reason why we are having the reunion.

Now, as far as the event goes, this Reunion is open for ICSE'94 and ISC'96 batchmates primarily. Others may tag along if you can count upon another ISC'96 batchmate as your friend :-). Well just so that we do not have any more identity crisis - am including names of few others from ISC'96 batch who are enthusiastically participating in organizing this - I hope most of you will be familiar with these names at least - xxxxx, yyyyy, zzzzzzz. In the next few days they will be reaching out to you for specific help. Please collaborate.

We will need more helping us to get this organized and have a gala party. So, please message me in case you can spare some time for all your friends. Remember these are those few moments in 15 years that you may cherish for long.

Cheers,Kaushik

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I think the real challenge happened from this time onwards - that is execution of this promised meet. Someone had to go to the venue, someone had to confirm the food menu, someone had to confirm the numbers. I was not in town and I could not possibly run after so many things. Above all we needed everyone in the organizing committee to be on the same page and resolve their differences and opinions amicably.

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On Dec 21st, I wrote to the core group:

Team,


I called up Red Kitchen & Lounge.


They said they have an offer on 30th by which they will be giving 2 starters each for veg/non-veg, 2 side dishes each for veg/non-veg + desserts + unlimited drinks (we need to check which all drinks). We can finalize the exact menu.


For this they are charging Rs 1200 per head. We can use the lounge, dance floor which has capacity of over 100 people. If there are more than 25 people they can arrange a buffet as well on one side.Let me know your thoughts. Am really relying on all of you to take this forward since am not really conversant with Kolkata now as much as you guys.


Thanks,Kaushik
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I did not get much response from the core group on the above mail. I knew time was running out and if we could not book the venue within a day or two we will just not have the reunion. Just when you think things may not happen at all, that you see a ray of light over a cloud. I wrote to all the folks who had accepted the invite as below.
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On Dec 21st, I wrote:

Dear All,

We have just about a week for the meet and hence thought will connect all who have accepted the invite or said may be.

At Red Kitchen & Lounge, they have an offer on 30th by which they will be giving 2 starters each for veg/non-veg, 2 side dishes each for veg/non-veg + desserts + unlimited drinks (we need to check which all drinks). We can finalize the exact menu.

For this they are charging Rs 1200 per head. We can use the lounge, dance floor.If there are more than 25 people they can arrange a buffet as well on one side.

The other option is just to use the Red Kitchen where they have sitting area and people can order as they like. Then we need to forego the disc and lounge. This may turn out a bit cheaper specially for people who may not want to take drinks.

Please let me know if we should go for the first option or second. We may need to book accordingly with advance token money.

My number is xxxxxxxx (note this is Blore number). Pls call or text me on what you think is best.

Thanks, Kaushik
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The response I got from this mail was overwhelming. People said that they did not much care about the venue or price but the very fact that we were meeting old pals after so many years was a priceless experience that they were not willing to forego. I remembered the master-card add few years back that echoed similar sentiments.

A call came to my mobile the same afternoon I sent this mail. It was from one of my dear friends from school and he said he will conference me with someone else who is on the call with him. Wow - I could not believe that technology can be so useful, bring so much hope, make people come together and make things work so beautifully. After this, there were hectic back-to-back conference calls over the weekend with so many people from venue to time to budget etc. People also said that we should allow invitees to bring their spouses along. I was not sure whether that will go well with all but agreed in principle. I do not think I can replicate that experience in words. By 25th Dec, evening, I I got confidence that yes we are having this meet come what may!!

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On Dec 26th, I wrote:

Dear Friends,

Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas weekend with friends and families!

The countdown for our Reunion has also began. We have just about 3 more days to go and finally we got everything confirmed. Thanks to all who have come forward for this initiative.The Venue as I have mentioned before is Red Kitchen & Lounge at New Alipore on 30th Dec 7 pm onwards.

The food menu includes 2 veg and non-veg starters, 2 side dishes (veg & non-veg), mocktail, dessert etc. In terms of facilities we will have the dance floor and disc. All this at Rs 500 per person (inclusive of tax).

Drinks will be separate and will be paid by people who consume only. We intend to have a tracker where people can put down the number of pegs they have ordered. This is necessary since we will get 30% discount on the overall drinks bill.

Don't you think that's a real deal? So, what are we waiting for? Pick up your mobile phones and text your confirmation to xxxxxxx (nnnnnnnnn) and yyyyyyyy (mmmmmmm) with the following details.

REUNION CONFIRM

On popular request, we are opening up the Reunion meet for spouses also. Note, no kids just spouse. People who may want to have a fun evening with their wife/husband in the company of old friends, are welcome to do so. Note the cost will then be Rs 1000 exclusive of drinks. In that case, your text message should be as follows

REUNION CONFIRM w SPOUSE

Kindly note, we need to pay up for a minimum number of people. So, once you confirm, and for some unforseen reason cannot make it, we will expect you to keep your word of honor and pay up.

We solicit your whole-hearted cooperation and participation in making this event a success. Let me know if you have any further questions/concerns.

Thanks,
Kaushik 
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Just one more day to go, I was very excited and eager to meet old pals. Will I be able to recognize them in person? Some may have become more handsome, some more beautiful, some fatter, some taller and well built. Well well .. almost child-like isn't thats what happens when you meet your school buddies and child-hood friends ..
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On Dec 29th, I wrote:

Friends,

Just one more day to go. If you are coming send an sms to xxxxxx (mmmmm) and yyyyy (nnnnnn) with the following details.... REUNION CONFIRM

If you are coming with your spouse, send your sms as follows.

REUNION CONFIRM w SPOUSE

Looking forward to having a fun time with all of you.
Thanks,Kaushik

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Finally, the D-day came. I reached the venue about 45 min before the event started. Saw the place, looked nice and inviting. Then met the first gang of 3 early-birds. In a minute we started pulling each others legs and I knew we were in for some rollicking fun over the evening. We settled inside the venue which had nice red, orange and black hues and lighting. The seats were comfortable and open for people to freely move around.

As people trickled in and the starters came pouring in, people were in no mood to eat but to have a tight hug from their old buddies. Loud sounds of laughter lightened the night air, while the cameras rolled on for capturing the favorite moments. Even as the drinks loosened us up, few tried a some steps on the dance floor. Then others joined in trying to gyrate with the rhythm of music. As the music got merrier, and the beats louder, our hearts were filled with overwhelming joy. Just when we thought things could not get better, we lost complete count of time. Got a rude shock to know that the disc is closing by 11 pm. While we could have partied the whole night, we quickly finished the dinner, payments and there were these long good byes with promise to meet up as soon as possible. Yes, it was one amazing evening just before New Year - what a way to herald a new beginning.

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On Dec 30th, I wrote:

 Dear Friends,

What an amazing evening it was - fun, frolic and frenzy at Red Lounge. The dance, the dinner, the drinks - AG guys you just rocked!Big thanks to all who could make it and all those who made it possible.

Am uploading a few photos - will request all others to upload other photos. Wishing everyone a happy new year. ... Keep in touch and take care. Till we meet for the next reunion.

Cheers,Kaushik

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On reflecting back, realized that I had never imagined that I will meet so many of my old class-mates after 15 long years - all so successful in their own way. Social networking sites like facebook and technology can bring us together virtually but no greater joy than meeting people in person. Till we meet for the next REUNION - let the bonhomie continue!!