Week 1476 - The 1987 School Reunion Write-Up
An archive piece
Suchita Shethia found this in 2018 and sent it to me. I had saved it in my Day One diary and this 21st, when I was looking at prior entries, found it and thought of putting it up. I got Claude to transcribe it. We were the batch of 1980 - i.e. passed out in 1980 and this reunion was 7 years later.
The idea gradually crept up on a few of us, simultaneously. We met, found the circumstances favourable, and the idea began to take shape. Many people were involved at various stages, and it was this enthusiasm which ultimately saw the whole thing through.
The reunion was conceived in October–November. A preliminary poll showed us that everyone seemed to be interested and willing to help. That started us off. And, after the principal, the administrator, the Past Pupils’ Association and the teachers gave us their support and encouragement, there was no stopping us.
Things started happening fast; contacting the guys individually, writing letters to all of them, finalising the details, collecting money, contacting the teachers – it was crazy, especially, since all this had to be done in our spare time.
We kept it a stag affair. The ladies would have only got in our way. And, we kept it impromptu. There was to be no pre-arranged programme of events – we would take things as they came.
7th Feb. turned out to be a good day. It was a Saturday, there were no major social or religious events and ‘Buniyaad’ was definitely no threat. The guys started coming in at 6.30 PM, the scheduled time. It caught us a bit off-guard – no one was expected to come on time. In a short while, the foyer was crowded. It was a melange of hugging bodies, shaking limbs and open mouths spouting forth loud, Tarzanesque, undecipherable sounds at decibel levels that would put a loudspeaker during the Ganapathi festival to shame. Things quietened down a bit, once everyone was inside the hall only to erupt all over again with the next rush, an hour later.
The teachers trickled in, in twos and threes, and by 7.30 almost everyone had come. It was a sight; teachers and old students, old students and old students hobnobbing, catching up on events, names, faces, places, recalling anecdotes, jokes, people, conjuring up memories tinged with nostalgia and shrouded in a mist of accumulated time, trying to hold on to something whose value was recognised only after leaving school and which kept on increasing as the years flew past. It was like a class of KG students, given an unlimited amount of chocolates but only three hours in which to finish them.
Of course, things weren’t perfect. The seating arrangements were inadequate, the music system didn’t work well, there were no decorations and the protocol for speeches was messed up. But, no one seemed to notice or mind – the sheer joy of meeting everyone else outshined all other considerations and saw the evening through.
Rajesh Shethia emceed the proceedings. There was a welcome speech, short speeches by the teachers including the principal, Mrs. Winnie Thomas, Mr. Patel, Mr. Lawrence both of whom sang songs and a few others, and a ‘thank-you’ speech. Ravi, our captain, also spoke, in a manner that convinced us that some things just do not change.
Then the lights went out. The only people who were really hampered were those who had started eating. They didn’t know what they were taking on their plates or putting into their mouths, which though at times would be a boon, was unfortunate then – y’see, the food was superb. We got candles and converted the reunion into a massive candle-light dinner banquet.
By the time the lights came on again, an hour and a half later, the teachers had left. The night wore on. Flitting from one person to another, talking, recalling, reliving, people lost track of time. And soon, it was midnight and time to pack up.
It had been a great night. And we were happy – our efforts had been appreciated, our idea of making it a yearly affair had been welcomed enthusiastically and we had done something which no Boscoite in Matunga had done before.
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