Decent Burial

At seventy two, eighteen is only a quarter of your life but at eighteen, it is the whole of your life. The three friends from the Marshal International School were born ordinary or so they thought. They had their share of problems but since they were born to them, they had learnt to deal with them in their own ways.At eighteen, they had hardly seen the world but they were forced to decide what they wanted to do the rest of their life. Only time will tell whether they had made the right choice, for the three good friends were now going to part ways and move towards different time zone.The three friends Nancy Panacotta, Adeleka Natraj and Steve Baren had come together on the first day of the school by circumstance and then they had remained good friends. But would they cross the fine line and become the best of friends for the entire class always thought them to be so.They had ordinary dreams and they wanted almost nothing from life. They wandered around the campus and bumped into each other and then the next day came together for a group assignment. Then nobody could take them apart and slowly their fear of staying away from home or living in a new environment had become invisible in their behavior. Their life in the dormitory had made them share their deepest fears and the worst kept secrets.That they had been raised in a different environment but that had not deterred their friendship. Nancy had always wanted to take on the stage and be an actress. She had been cradled backstage and had watched camera lights more than sunshine. Steve, on the other hand wanted to save the world and join the United Nations. He had been inspired by Mr. Wilson, a diplomat who had visited the campus to inaugurate the newly launched student journal at the campus. Adeleka had the whole world advising her on what she would do. And then suddenly it was the last day of the school. They were eighteen, eager to conquer the world and to see what lay ahead of them. The three friends parted ways with promises to keep in touch but then the promises were never fulfilled. Nancy moved to Paris to study theatre in Candril Dias School of drama and theatre.Steve had won a scholarship to the Yale Law School and Adeleka had gone home to an unknown surprise. But at eighteen, dreams rule the world. But can anyone walk against fate? Will their lives be tales of ordinary people leading extraordinary lives or will they be distinguished individuals for the institute had an history of generating world leaders who would tomorrow rule the world. They had said au revoir as good friends but will they meet again to be best friends. Adeleka is about to find out when exactly fifty four years later, at the age of seventy two, she decides to walk into the alumni meet.