From Sikkim with Love - Madhu

At 17, I boarded a train from Sikkim, heart racing, eyes wide, headed to a place I couldn’t even pronounce properly—Kottayam! Kerala.
Three days alone. A suitcase full of dreams.
The only North Indian girl in a class of 100.

I made every possible blunder while learning the language, but never once was made to feel like I didn’t belong.
The warmth wrapped around me like home.
Acceptance came unasked. Love came unconditionally.

We lived off hostel mess food and midnight Maggi, danced our hearts out, crammed during combined studies, and shared heartbreaks over tea.
There were secret love stories whispered behind textbooks, now grown into marriages and children who look just like their parents once did—wide-eyed, reckless, and full of possibility.

And then—life happened.
We scattered. Grew up. Got caught in the grind.
Dreams shifted. Priorities changed. Some parts of me got buried under work, roles, responsibilities.
I forgot who I used to be.

And then, July 2025 Elixir happened.

Twenty years later, I walked back into those same buildings.
The same laughter echoed. The same jokes landed.
Even the smell of the air felt familiar.
I watched old videos of myself, performing with my close friends —and suddenly,
I met my old self...So alive. So free. So utterly herself.
I had almost forgotten her.

Friends' parents still remembered me. Their warmth hadn’t faded.
And my friends? They saw me before I could see myself.
They pushed me to dance, to open up, to feel… even when I hesitated.
Because they always knew what I loved—even when I forgot.

We laughed till our sides hurt, hugged like no years had passed, and picked up conversations mid-sentence—like we'd never left.

But we also missed those who couldn't make it to the reunion
Remembered dearly.
Because once you’ve shared a part of your becoming with someone, they never really leave you.

This wasn’t just a reunion.
It was a remembering. A reclaiming. A return.

To the girl I was.
To the people who held me.
To the love that never left.
To the home I never really said goodbye to.

My heart is full—with joy, with nostalgia, and with gratitude.

 

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