Cherishing Memories by Mehdi Raza She was weeping at the bus stop, where just three weeks ago, everyone was meeting one another with welcoming smiles on their faces. Her name was Ropali and she was from India. It was July 2002. All of us, university boys and girls gathered in Paris from 28 different countries. That was a cultural visit sponsored by LIONS International Club. We all stayed in the university hostel near Paris for two days and visited many unforgettable monuments and places around Paris. We were four--- representing Pakistan there for the first time. Everyone has to perform some songs or tableaus in their mother tongue, for which none of us was prepared. Somehow, we prepared a song of Junoon, which was unfortunately, not presented well before the crowd of more than two hundred Parisians. Then we were taken to Tours, a region in south of France famous for its river and its Chateaux. There we stayed in a motel. Till then France was a strange yet amusing place to me. Clean air, naturally adorned surroundings and civilized people were some of the main attractions for me.
Then we started our real cultural exploration part. We used to go to different chateaux and other monuments in the town daily. That seemed to be some kind of a job to us all. Every morning we had to get up early to take breakfast as it was not served after 8:00 a.m. I loved the bugget (French bread) their national food which they served with every meal. Cheese was another important component of their daily meals and I never disappointed them in that too. Je I 'adore beacoupe. (I loved to eat it).
Days kept passing by with ever increasing unforgettable memories worth-cherishing-forever of international friends, events and places. Until one day we realized that the purpose of getting together has been achieved and time to depart has arrived. The day before the last official day, a mixture of emotions dominated by sorrow and grief made the whole place gloomy. No visit had been planned for the day which gave us plenty of time to sit together and share our feelings.
I sat by a Palestinian girl. With some wet clouds in her eyes she was about to break into tears. She was one of the Muslims in our group who had been herself trying and helping others to keep Islam alive in practice. We had established an unbreakable bond with one another. Now, since it was the end of the beautiful fantasy, she was feeling sad while thinking about getting departed. I tried to help her dissipate the clouds (rained or un-rained), although it did rain in the end.
We took autographs from one another on the club's flag as a souvenir and exchanged our contact numbers to remain in touch. Although many of us knew it will not happen again yet invitations for the visits were extended to every one. Last farewell was held and all of us
performed together in some new and unique activities before the diplomats and the senior members of the club.
The return journey back home started off the next day. We left for the railway station by bus and many friends still left behind came along to bid us goodbye. A Hungarian friend sang a melodious Hungarian song to say good bye in her unique way. On our way back to the airport we (Rupali, Kamran and I) recalled the good memories. From there we parted our ways as we had to take separate flights to our respective countries.
It's been more than two years now and I can still remember kicking the football in the river while having picnic at the bank of Loir, the birthday celebration of one of the girls from Marceil, making fool of one another- childish games, all the little and cherishing memories making me smile whenever I see the pictures or just simply recall them. Most of us in the group are still in contact with one another.
One thing I would like to share with all of you reading this is that one ought to have some common activities that he or she may share in any group at some forum. As the year after I returned, I learnt swimming and have intentions to learn some musical instrument as well.
