The king, the subjects and the old man.

"Bhawrey ki gunjan hai mera dil...
Kab se sambhale, rakhaa hai dil...
Tere liye, tere liye...
luh la la la, hmh hmm hmm hmm.."

sang the old man, jolly, oblivious to everything else and everybody around.

We had just completed a dinner hosted for one of our senior colleagues who was slated for retirement this month end. It was not clear whether he would get an extension, but we had anyway decided to celebrate. It was not clear whether he was happy or sad about throwing in the towel, but we had ordered the rum, all the same.

Earlier that evening, we left from office after work, in pairs or trios as it seemed convenient and met at this really nice, uptown restaurant in this otherwise parched town. One of them had been kind enough to give me a lift and the two of us had gone and purchased a fairly elegant and also large lamp. Let there be light... oh, just hang it.

There were six of us who were still firmly rooted to the job. One on the verge of the final corporate good-bye and this old man, who in his days at work was often referred to as "' loose cannon', by our very own boss.

Speaking of our boss, earlier this year, around this time, he had surprised - no, shocked - our entire team by announcing his resignation. Nobody clearly understood why he did that, although there were many tongues wagging. After his official attendance on April 30, we had tried to arrange dinner with him on several occasions, but it never happened until now. For reasons, best known to the boss himself.

Several things tickled my mind before, during and after this dinner. Because I had initiated this meeting, I was referred to as 'host' several times during this evening. By the end of the first round, the waiters were clear where they'll push the bills.

The team gathered was a strange mix... the only common thread being the boss with whom they had spent lot of good and bad times. Each one was in a different team, but under a common reporting with the new head of department.

Couple of other colleagues invited had not turned up. I guessed, if you can't say your Hellos properly then it's difficult to say your Goodbyes gracefully. These 6, present today, had some respect for the work this person had put in during these years. Another thing that amused me...

The old man, who's contract had expired months ago was a special invitee. He had always liked our man of the moment, probably because he received the needed support and praise (for his singing as well) from this quarter. While the retiree, me and the boss had rum with hot water, others were fairly content with their orange, lime and strawberry juices. There were no women.

As for me, I recalled briefly, the difficult confrontations with each of the other 5 members at different times in the last few years. One of the worst altercations was with the old man himself. And, I remembered the sizzling response sent by our 'best man' of today's occasion which had begun with an 'How Dare You...". Of-course, nothing personal about it.

Probably the absence of the comfort that our team had enjoyed for the last five odd years had forged a silent but certain bond among the six team members who had made the choice to make it to the dinner. The boss, was invited the same morning and for someone who could not get time for 8 months, this time 8 hours seemed enough to say 'count me in.'

So what had changed? in moral science class was one sentence I will never forget... "suffering unites mankind." Sigh, how true... you have to heat the stew to get a good mix. (sic)

Without stating it, I suspect the set of people gathered were re-living those moments and memories of the past. At that time, we had not realized the value and the strength of being united, of working in a single stream to achieve monumental milestones. Once the binding force was removed and once the threat seemed stronger that the individual selves, the need to bond and collaborate, now seemed greater than ever.

Or... maybe I'm over-reading this thing and maybe it was just a simple get-together. I enjoyed the dinner, although I missed catching up on my next plan (cuddling in the name of some late night movie). But these dinners are rare and I will cherish this evening without bothering to dissect it any further.