Utsav, the high point of a year at Ruia. We swear by it. We adore it. We immerse in it.
This year was different. We were part of it, yet apart. Strangers in a familiar place. Relics from the past. Times had changed, so had people. Like warriors of old, we hung around, competing with the young brood.

But it had its toll. There was joy. There was dance. There was energy. But it was laced with sadness. Sadness that this must all end. Sadness that this is joy on loan. Sadness that this was not living the present but reliving the past.

The innumerable friends, all gone. The girls, the crushes, the inspirations, all gone. The belongingness, the innocence, all gone. All that remained were fading echoes from the past...


It touched the heart as nothing else. There were no tears on the outside, ...