Walking into REC Srinagar again was an emotional experience — a strange mixture of happiness, nostalgia and a little sadness.

I came looking for the campus that still lives so vividly in my memories: the familiar buildings, the open spaces, the playing grounds, the beautiful view of Dal Lake, and the pathways we walked countless times as young students with dreams in our eyes and the whole world ahead of us.

But more than 40 years changes a place. The campus today felt very different — more buildings, more concrete, fewer open spaces. At times, I could hardly find my way to places that were once so familiar. I searched for the old views and landmarks, almost expecting to see the campus exactly as we had left it.

And then I realised perhaps I wasn’t really looking for the buildings. I was looking for our time. For those carefree days, the friendships, the laughter, the dreams, the struggles and the young people we once were.

So much has changed, yet standing there I still felt something deeply familiar. This was our REC. This was our home. This was where so much of our journey began.

We may have left the campus decades ago, but somehow, a part of us never really left.