Small reunions and older friends.
A few old friends and I had a small reunion yesterday. There were only four of us; Syarifah Nurzuhara, Faezah, Rozainor and me. Two others from the group were not there for different reasons. As for the reasons; well, I suppose there are things that best left unexplained.
We me at La Bodega, a pub, of sorts, in Bangsar. It was a nice place, or so I am told, because personally it is not a place that I will be in a rush to visit again. I suppose it is pleasant in an ‘I wish I was somewhere else’ sort of way. I guess I am a die-hard kedai mamak sort of guy. We went to the upstairs lounge. It was relatively nice. Ah well, I guess I have to resign to my preference of tosai.
Ain asked me who these friends were and I found it not so easy to explain. We went to different schools and lived in different places. We met, I think, when we went to for tuition together and our friendship developed from there. We all went to different places for tertiary education and work in very different professions. Rozainor is the deputy general manager or a golf club, Syarifah is a general practitioner, Faezah is a manager, I think, in a financial institution and I am … well, I’m me.
Before I got to the gathering I wondered what we would have to talk about with our lives being so different and all. There was always the standard reunion discourse of reminiscing old times, talking about what has happened to absent friends, informing each other of our lives and work, and perhaps some thoughts on current issues. True enough, we went through the list faithfully with the addition of some amusing anecdotes. As we spoke, I remembered reading somewhere about how we all live lives of quiet desperation. Indeed we were, we seem to quietly lament the fact that we are older than when we were together last. Our children are growing up fast, their friends call us “Makcik” (auntie) or “Pakcik” (uncle).
I listened and occasionally I added to the conversation. It was nice to see old friends and to see that they relatively happy lives, and that they too quietly share the desperation. While we lament the past and say how nice it was, I wondered if we actually prefer that time to where we are today.
It was raining outside when we met. It rained a little less when we left.
We me at La Bodega, a pub, of sorts, in Bangsar. It was a nice place, or so I am told, because personally it is not a place that I will be in a rush to visit again. I suppose it is pleasant in an ‘I wish I was somewhere else’ sort of way. I guess I am a die-hard kedai mamak sort of guy. We went to the upstairs lounge. It was relatively nice. Ah well, I guess I have to resign to my preference of tosai.
Ain asked me who these friends were and I found it not so easy to explain. We went to different schools and lived in different places. We met, I think, when we went to for tuition together and our friendship developed from there. We all went to different places for tertiary education and work in very different professions. Rozainor is the deputy general manager or a golf club, Syarifah is a general practitioner, Faezah is a manager, I think, in a financial institution and I am … well, I’m me.
Before I got to the gathering I wondered what we would have to talk about with our lives being so different and all. There was always the standard reunion discourse of reminiscing old times, talking about what has happened to absent friends, informing each other of our lives and work, and perhaps some thoughts on current issues. True enough, we went through the list faithfully with the addition of some amusing anecdotes. As we spoke, I remembered reading somewhere about how we all live lives of quiet desperation. Indeed we were, we seem to quietly lament the fact that we are older than when we were together last. Our children are growing up fast, their friends call us “Makcik” (auntie) or “Pakcik” (uncle).
I listened and occasionally I added to the conversation. It was nice to see old friends and to see that they relatively happy lives, and that they too quietly share the desperation. While we lament the past and say how nice it was, I wondered if we actually prefer that time to where we are today.
It was raining outside when we met. It rained a little less when we left.
Comments
That was why i picked the venue. Despite my being a big fan of the kedai mamak cult myself, (mind you, most of my ex boyfriends were mamaks,err..holding malaysian passports...) i chose this place because it is cozy, with sofas and soft music in the background, enough to entertain yet not drown our conversation. Fabulous ambiance for a reunion.albeit perfect would have been them serving tosay and roti canai....i wouldn't want jeopardize the appetite of people who sat around us by conveying my catch up story that partly involved a recalcitrant fungal infection using the suprano pitch fit for "the phantom of the opera" numbers.
It has been more than 10 years since we all sat on the same table having tea and sane conversation. Somehow rather, the whole scenario reminded me of one of our missing member's words of wisdom, "things will change and we will all go our way"...and his absence from our gathering proved him right, things have changed. I guess change is inevitable, albeit we all go through it grudgingly, trying our best to cling on to our little comfort zone. Something familiar. I do not regret the metamorphosis i went through to become who i am today, although i am still as obstinate..well, some call me bossy but i call it leadership..and i see that my dearest friends had gone through changes in life too..and i don't just mean the pants size,(tee..hee..hee) and i like what i see. I am in a new comfort zone, full of my new and my old friends that may not agree with me in my views, but respect them, just as i respect their views in life.
I guess, despite all the path in life that we all had gone through, in our seperate ways, we still share one thing in common..friendship...and i'd like to call it another form of unconditional love...
i went into the joint that evening to meet up with my oldest dearest friends,who bid their farewell,more than 10 years ago in pursue of their own lives....and i left for home 2hours later,knowing they had never actually left me...