Maktab Duli Alumni Dinner

About a month ago, an old buddy and I decided we should organize a dinner with some of our old friends from sixth form some of whom we havent seen for nearly 20 years! So we began to put the plan into action. During the course of the next few weeks, what started out as a small informal dinner among old friends, became twice that and from a range of batches from 1986 to 1989.

It was pouring with rain when I arrived and on top of that there was a wedding happening in the hotel. Naturally the parking spaces in the basement filled up pretty fast and I was worried about people not being able to find parking spaces. Mental note, next time choose a venue with much larger basement parking. The venue was VIP1 on Level 1 of Orchid Garden Hotel. It was very well laid out and the buffet spread was excellent. It wasn’t much later before people started trickling in as the crowd built up, screams of joy and laughter erupted whenever an old classmate we hadn’t seen in ages walked in.

Throughout the night, it was amazing to see how we had changed and how much we hadn’t changed! Although some of us had changed physically, the camaraderie that we had almost 20 years ago had not changed at all, and came flowing back as if we had not seen each other only for a day! The room was filled with chatter and laughter throughout the night and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as they did in the old sixth form dining room of nearly 20 years ago!

The night ended predictably with a group photo and everyone signing the banner. For me, it was a memorable night filled with reminiscing and laughter, which made for a welcome change from the stress of our daily grind. It was great to catch up with old friends and even get re-aquainted with others from our batch whom we did not get a chance to befriend all those years ago. Contact info were shared and promises were made that another gathering be held much sooner than 20 years from now… and as I bade every one good night, I was elated by that feeling… you know… the kind that only comes with human contact…