School Reunions are all about nostalgia .And the nostalgia centres around childhood,nostalgia seeped in innocence ,optimism ,and a carefree view of life .
I was at St Josesphs Reunion of our batch –no not the renunion of ex students of the whole school but our batch.Considering that it was a single classs’ reunion –the response was amazingly overwhelming .In the process we were able to meet our class mates –some who were with us in Class 2 – after 45 years !! That is a lifetime .A couple of school mates died before they had even reached that age .!! They rest in peace in heaven .
I spoke at the reunion about, how the schoolboy in us never really leaves us.Everytime I felt tempted to take the easy way the schoolboy reminded me –there are no shortcuts for success.Everytime I wanted to quit a challenging situation ,the schoolboy in me whispered “ remember Mrs DSOUZA.She used to say –only cowards quit –winners never”!!The schoolboy never let me deviate from the right path .It still lives with me .It will die with me !! And to think –it was a fat round faced 15 /16 years old boy!! .Yet stood by me so loyally.
When I met Manmohan ,Surendra ,Devraj ,- it was as if they were also being chased by the schoolboy . “ You made us chase a lot of leather Kullu” said Manmohan !!- meaning whererby that I was difficult to bowl out !!( I was a fairly good cricketer –so was Manmohan ,we both played for our school team).Devraj was a fantastic tennis player ,Surendra could turn the ball more than any off spinner I have seen ,and –dependable !!
There were others –Alok Jains voice was and is always sagacious ,Ravi Mehrotra always put pressure on the class by solving the Maths riddles in quicksilver time –as did Praveen Aggarwal !! They both got into IIT and became hugely successful .KS Bagga was a wizard in Commerce and is now one of Delhis best known lawyers ,Harsh Johri and Anil Dhingra are top notch doctors – you cant get to meet them without many days prior appointments !!Sudhir Kishore is a MBA from IIM Ahmedabad ( we all know what that means !!), worked in the private sector before starting his own publishing house !Barun studied at Wilson College Bombay and reached the top position in Pfizers ! It is the same with everyone else – Ravinder Sangal , Pradeep Datta , Subhash Chaddha ,Romi Sawhney , Satnam , Shriram Sehgal, Pradeep Aggarwal ,Ravinder Kapoor ( Vicky the drummer !!), Hemant ,Parvinder ,Pankaj Arora ,Dinesh Sharma ,Ashok Ahuja ,Wassan ,Uttam De, Christopher Woodward ,Siva - everyone ,whether they are chartered accountants , armed forces personnel ,or in the merchant navy , -anything ,but they reached the top .( Sorry ,I must have missed out some names ).
I went round the school .I went to the cricket field .It is intact though the tree outside class 7A where we sat padded up waiting for our turn to bat, is no more .But I could see it in my memory .I could see brother Donovan shouting when some one even remotely challenged the umpires decision “ When the umpire raises the finger –then you are bloody out .You are playing cricket” !!.I went to the school museum which was my classroom in the 11th.It is adorned by photographs ( including one of the President of India Shri Rajendra Prasad when he visited the school in 1951!!).But I could see and hear beyond the photographs and the memorabilia . I could see Mr D’souza thundering away in a attempt to teach us Additional Mathmatics !.The Old Boys had very thoughtfully served among other things –bun and samosa- the “school snack” !! .It used to sold from outside the closed gate of the school by Robin and Denis.!! I could see myself standing in a queue to get one – it cost 25 paise in 1970 !!I walked around with my school tie –as did everyone !! I could see a young Kulbhushan Kain wearing it everyday .No one ever “forgot” to wear their ties and no one ever “lost” it !! It was like a Olympic Gold medal .
There are too many memories – of teachers ,and incidents .And almost all of them revolved around my classmates who attended the meet .
It is amazing how humble and emotional successful people can be when they meet up with their school friends .The small and fragile teenager overpowered the General ,The Director of DPS ,THE Chief Technical Advisor of UNDP ,The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand ,the lawyers ,the big doctors , the proud and nationalistic soldier ,the Chartered Accountant .
It was the schoolboy who was wearing not a suit –but a coat with “Laborare est Orare” written on it who overpowered all the heavyweights !! That’s what Reunions do !! In a school like St Josesphs !!
I was at St Josesphs Reunion of our batch –no not the renunion of ex students of the whole school but our batch.Considering that it was a single classs’ reunion –the response was amazingly overwhelming .In the process we were able to meet our class mates –some who were with us in Class 2 – after 45 years !! That is a lifetime .A couple of school mates died before they had even reached that age .!! They rest in peace in heaven .
I spoke at the reunion about, how the schoolboy in us never really leaves us.Everytime I felt tempted to take the easy way the schoolboy reminded me –there are no shortcuts for success.Everytime I wanted to quit a challenging situation ,the schoolboy in me whispered “ remember Mrs DSOUZA.She used to say –only cowards quit –winners never”!!The schoolboy never let me deviate from the right path .It still lives with me .It will die with me !! And to think –it was a fat round faced 15 /16 years old boy!! .Yet stood by me so loyally.
When I met Manmohan ,Surendra ,Devraj ,- it was as if they were also being chased by the schoolboy . “ You made us chase a lot of leather Kullu” said Manmohan !!- meaning whererby that I was difficult to bowl out !!( I was a fairly good cricketer –so was Manmohan ,we both played for our school team).Devraj was a fantastic tennis player ,Surendra could turn the ball more than any off spinner I have seen ,and –dependable !!
There were others –Alok Jains voice was and is always sagacious ,Ravi Mehrotra always put pressure on the class by solving the Maths riddles in quicksilver time –as did Praveen Aggarwal !! They both got into IIT and became hugely successful .KS Bagga was a wizard in Commerce and is now one of Delhis best known lawyers ,Harsh Johri and Anil Dhingra are top notch doctors – you cant get to meet them without many days prior appointments !!Sudhir Kishore is a MBA from IIM Ahmedabad ( we all know what that means !!), worked in the private sector before starting his own publishing house !Barun studied at Wilson College Bombay and reached the top position in Pfizers ! It is the same with everyone else – Ravinder Sangal , Pradeep Datta , Subhash Chaddha ,Romi Sawhney , Satnam , Shriram Sehgal, Pradeep Aggarwal ,Ravinder Kapoor ( Vicky the drummer !!), Hemant ,Parvinder ,Pankaj Arora ,Dinesh Sharma ,Ashok Ahuja ,Wassan ,Uttam De, Christopher Woodward ,Siva - everyone ,whether they are chartered accountants , armed forces personnel ,or in the merchant navy , -anything ,but they reached the top .( Sorry ,I must have missed out some names ).
I went round the school .I went to the cricket field .It is intact though the tree outside class 7A where we sat padded up waiting for our turn to bat, is no more .But I could see it in my memory .I could see brother Donovan shouting when some one even remotely challenged the umpires decision “ When the umpire raises the finger –then you are bloody out .You are playing cricket” !!.I went to the school museum which was my classroom in the 11th.It is adorned by photographs ( including one of the President of India Shri Rajendra Prasad when he visited the school in 1951!!).But I could see and hear beyond the photographs and the memorabilia . I could see Mr D’souza thundering away in a attempt to teach us Additional Mathmatics !.The Old Boys had very thoughtfully served among other things –bun and samosa- the “school snack” !! .It used to sold from outside the closed gate of the school by Robin and Denis.!! I could see myself standing in a queue to get one – it cost 25 paise in 1970 !!I walked around with my school tie –as did everyone !! I could see a young Kulbhushan Kain wearing it everyday .No one ever “forgot” to wear their ties and no one ever “lost” it !! It was like a Olympic Gold medal .
There are too many memories – of teachers ,and incidents .And almost all of them revolved around my classmates who attended the meet .
It is amazing how humble and emotional successful people can be when they meet up with their school friends .The small and fragile teenager overpowered the General ,The Director of DPS ,THE Chief Technical Advisor of UNDP ,The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand ,the lawyers ,the big doctors , the proud and nationalistic soldier ,the Chartered Accountant .
It was the schoolboy who was wearing not a suit –but a coat with “Laborare est Orare” written on it who overpowered all the heavyweights !! That’s what Reunions do !! In a school like St Josesphs !!
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