Friends united

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Long lost friends, Jo, Tiru and Tiger, reunite after almost 40-yearsFRIENDSHIP is a beautiful relationship.

And it don’t matter how many years pass by, the connection and the bond stay alive

Tiru Pillay and brothers, Parmendra (Jo) and Arun (Tiger) Singh have been childhood friends.

Attended the same Kindergarten, Elementary and High school between 1970- mid 80s, later the passionate footballers rubbed shoulders representing the same club.

The brothers migrated to Vancouver, Jo in 1985 and Tiger in 1987.

And that was the last time the trio had met and or talked.

Pillay, migrated to Australia in 1992, who always held hope of meeting his friends, however long it took.

“We were great friends, never a day went by that we didn’t meet in Lautoka town, during football games and family gatherings,” said Pillay.

“We had an army of friends, but Jo and Tiger were the live wires.

"These were Lautoka town’s most recognized faces of the 80s, childhood friends who I needed to reconnect.”

Vancouver search

Pillay had been on holidays in Vancouver a few times before but without much success, who left for home disappointed.

But a week before he was to return to Australia, he decided to give it one more try in hopes of meeting the long lost friends.

“My next friend through his family contact spread the news in Vancouver”.

“After getting the phone number my friend made contact with Jo, and after a brief introduction, a train of thoughts rolled in, I didn’t waste time but  pounced on the opportunity to meet him.”

3-decade plus reunion

With a planned reunion set, Pillay couldn’t hold back the pure joy of the reunion.

The friends leapfrogged and embraced, long and hard.

Pillay said he couldn’t recognize Jo at first as he wore a long beard, and I guess he felt the same about him.

“At first I couldn’t recognize Jo, Tiger was easily recognized, it is said life throws 'lemons, make lemonade', age has certainly caught up with us”.

Hard Knocks

The brothers admitted that life took a hard knock on them, bad decisions have it.

“We ended up making some bad choices  in life, we learnt, moving forward with a renewed sense of appreciation of the gift of life,” said Jo, with a nod of approval from Tiger.

The trio spent a good few hours relishing life, childhood, Lautoka upbringing, football and more before saying goodbye.

“It is so said that time is the master of all things, it sure is as we finally met,” Pillay said.

Meeting the friends, best feeling ever

Pillay said reuniting with the brothers has given him solace, a sense of fulfillment, ‘I fulfilled a promise I made to myself before I left Sydney, Australia, ‘however long it took’.

38-years is how long it took, it’s the goodbyes that told the story, emotions got the better of the friends.

They have vowed to keep in touch in the future.

“We will meet again,” the friends agreed.