Reunion Details

14th Nov 7.15 am - Sunrise sail in the Bombay harbour. Contact Pradeep Mandhyan 

14th Nov 11 am - “Nostalgia” tour of the Senior School. Contact Nina (Pandya) Da Lage

14th Nov 12 noon - “Homecoming” lunch at the Bombay Gym. Contact Rajeev Ruia

15th Nov 7.15 am - Prima in India walk and breakfast in the Fort area. Contact Kiran (Prakash) Chainani

15th Nov 4 pm - Sunset sail in the Bombay harbour. Contact Pradeep Mandhyan

15th Nov 8 pm - “The Party” Reunion dinner at Flamboyante. Contact Kiran (Prakash) Chainani

16th Nov 4 pm - Sunset sail in the Bombay harbour. Contact Pradeep Mandhyan

17th to 19th Nov - Reunion festivities continue in Goa. Contact Kiran (Prakash) Chainani

For those who are in Bombay earlier, the Church service will be held on 9th Nov at around 10 am. Contact Nina (Pandya) Da Lage.

Hope to see you all at the Reunion!

Ten Years After

So here we are a decade later to celebrate a major milestone in November.  The Reunion Gang spearheaded by Kiran among others is moving forward at full steam, despite the hiccup by the School admin in forgetting that Founder's Day is rooted deep and Diwali changes with the tides but still very predictable.  Go figure!

We'll revive this blog for the duration if you are interested.  The Cat Chat on whatsapp has been lively and roaring.  This will complement it and offers another space to shout out loud or softly, to ponder and revisit the past, tell stories, celebrate milestones, and hold on to mementos - and whatever else you have in mind as your mouthpiece.  

LMK what's on your mind in the comments below.  

In the spirit of our undesignated Prof. Raconteur, 

Prima in Indis

(Click on the time or no comments tab below to post comments.  Your cookie settings on your browser may need to be adjusted or switched off to post comments)

Name this gang - 11D

Back Row: Mandy, Venkie, Pattu, Anil Pal, Padman, Mondolfski, Mirchandani, David, Imran, Shyam, Sheetal
Middle: Vinay, ?, Ali, Dhaval, Bharucha, Sohrab, Hussain, ?, Jehangir, ?, ?, ?
Front: Kapy, Subhu, Madhwan, ?, Achi, ?, ?, Vora, Suketu, ?, ?
Sitting: Wagh, ?, Sharma, Khosla, Newton, Jacob, Lewis, Anjini, ? Lobo, D'Souza

Click on the image to see the entire photo

Never too old to rock & roll, too young to die - Jethro Tull

Paddy's sudden passing away has touched a deep chord with us - all the memories keep flooding back; our time spent with him... in classrooms, on the sports field, watching him play his music....If there was one thing Paddy would have wanted us to do, it would be to celebrate his life, his passions, his infectious energy. 

Let's raise a toast to our dear friend and remember the good times:

Saturday 8th June, 7:00 p.m.

The White Owl, One Indiabulls Center, Tower 2, Senapati Bapat Marg. 

See you there!

                   - Jo, Neville, Viks, Merchie.

The Great Gig in the Sky (1957-2013)

The last post was 08 April 2011 to wish Paddy a memorable birthday... with sadness this is to commemorate Paddy's Great Gig in the Sky.  

Paddy and I go back a long, long winding road to circa early 1960's when music forged a life-long bond.  He lived around the corner and jammin' was our mission and rock 'n roll our game.

Our debut was circa 1965 in the middle school with james timms and linda khambata and then with neville who made sure the beat played on. 

I still remember the gig we played at Paddy's dad's company - yellow turtlenecks, bell-bottom striped pants, long hair, and delivering the beatles, ventures, seekers, rolling stones to a corporate crowd!

Paddy wouldn't look kindly on commiserating - no, he'd want a big bad celebration marking the good times. 

Post your warm memories in the comments. 

Peace. 

(Courtesy Jo. Click on the image above for a larger view)

Happy Birthday Paddy!

There once was a boy named Paddy

Gifted, floppy haired and wily

His talented strumming

Inspired chaos and jamming

Unbeatable virtuoso, generous and loving.

His petite wife Annette and son Danny

With their 3 dogs make for great company

Better hosts you’ll not find

Like stars they do shine

Welcoming you with the finest of wine...

- Jo, chief of the Tribal Clan of '73

Pure Tribal Chaos

So just when you thought the dust was settling down on the Grand 2010 Reunion, here comes some exciting news!

Enthusiastically put together by none other than lead man Padman Nambiar aka Paddy aka Sunny is “Tribal Chaos”… revival of the Best Band you’ve ever heard in your life…. Two fabulous gigs in Bangalore…

Saturday 19th March Counter Culture, Whitefield 8pm

Sunday 20th March Opus Palace Orchard 1pm

Accompanying Paddy 's vocals and guitars is the one and only Neville Umrigar on drums and strumming the electric-acoustic guitar with them is the irrepressible Rajeev M.

They are superbly accompanied with top class musicians from India - see the poster for more details.

So hurry up and book your flight to Bangalore for another chaotic weekend which can only be put together by the unbeatable Class of '73.

- Jo.

Live from Zappa Studios in Bangalore

Scenes from the crime at the underground Zappa Studios:

For those fans who have waited eternally for an encore of the rock of ages, the Cat73 band with its limited edition glorious past has two gigs coming up in bangalore:

Legends of Rock on 19 March night and Opus on 20 March afternoon.

A cheerleading squad led by Maestro Viks, the One & Only Jo, and Mademoiselle Nina has already booked flight from mumbai.

Fans and groupies welcome! See you there:)

Celebrating two more Feb Birthdays!

Warm birthday wishes from around the globe! Cheers :)

Birthdays this past week

A happy happy to Sandhya, Peter, and Ravi:

Ravi Subbraman with his wife Saras

Peter & the gang

Sandhya sharing laughs with Kiran and Ravi

Belated January Birthdays!

Missed the boat on two January birthdays - Rashmi Vig and Kavita Mehta - hope they were happy celebrations!

Happy Birthday HeadGirl!

A birthday in London!

Happy Birthday, Madhu!

Trio in London

Just a short note to inform you that I met Nimisha and Madhulika for drinks (at a bar) dinner (at an italian chain restaurant called Strada on the South Bank) and finally for coffee (at Waterloo station)...


we wandered from location to location on a bitter winter night, (7th December) and it was surprisingly a delightful evening despite the fact that the girls hadn't met since school and I had met both of them a grand total of TWICE in the last 35 years.

Nimisha was brought up-to-date about the reunion by Madhu and myself and it was just amazing how three people who barely knew each other could be so relaxed and informal in each other's company!

Another indictment of how strong the bonds of our schooldays really are! ...Behram.

The first birthday of the year!

Kicking off the new year with the first birthday is ......

Shernaz!

Sending warm wishes your way from around the globe and look forward to seeing you in Mumbai.

- from all your classmates

The Ice Breaker

Headboy still directing . . .

MP & Rungta

Ruia & Tiku

Manu & Sheetal

Dancing in style....

Special Moments at BF

It's never too late to share these special moments from that memorable weekend - so here's the first installment:

Annahita in perfect form with the school song

Jo & Rash dressed to party

What a ride!


























Naazli & Hussain groovin' to the band

sharad's debut on stage

Viks & Pawan can't let go....

Jo's warm welcome!

Geeta & Sandhya catching up over the years.

Bonnes fetes de fin d'annee

may the magic of the holidays last through out your new year

The band rocks on!

A short hiatus and recovery after the mother of all weekends - what a blur! To get back on track, here's the band kicking things off at BF :)

Padman last seen in Singapore buying a 12 string electric fender stratacaster...

Neville reported to have indulged in a new mapex m series drum set and his family is in a state of shock...

and yours truly has dusted off his electric fender stratocaster and taylor electro-acoustic guitars...

Catch Paddy and Neville at Opus in bangalore, dates to be announced!

Please send in your comments about special moments and surprises from the reunion.

More memories to follow, stay tuned.

Yearbook: Errata & Addendum

(photo courtesy munna/ved/anu)

When we published our class digital yearbook, several errors cropped up due to digital translation problems from mac to pc (don't even ask). In a couple of cases, comments were mis-attributed and we apologize.

Since we live in a digital and virtual world, this is easy to fix - please send me any corrections you would like to make to your profile.

For those who missed the window (out of sheer laziness), here's your chance to be immortalized.

Lastly, can we track down the last of the few missing classmates? Anyone up to the challenge?

salams.

Kyaa masti...

THEN: Anna definitely up to some masti, Jo pretending not to know, and Neville enjoying it...

(click on the images to enlarge)

NOW: Masti over, peace rules....

A league of Bombay's Best

The making and history of one of India’s finest schools, Mumbai’s The Cathedral & John Connon School:

http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/18192922/A-league-of-Bombay8217s-bes.html?h=B

click on the above link or cut and paste in your browser - way to go, Munna!

Social Initiatives - A Proposal

Hello Classmates,

I feel that our batch could consider taking up one initiative for the benefit of underprivileged/ deprived/ disadvantaged. My thoughts are shared below in two sections: a) Possible Guidelines and b) Possible Options. This is more to stimulate our thoughts than to chart a path. It is my personal opinion that having a common goal would do a lot to sustain the momentum of our coming together.

POSSIBLE GUIDELINES

The target group should be people who are physically/mentally/financially/emotionally deprived or disadvantaged.

The initiative should be such that anyone from our batch who wants to get involved can do so. Those from our batch who have the time(or are motivated to make time) can get personally involved. Those who can't should be able to contribute by way of their finances and contacts if they are so inclined.

While there is a big vision in the minds of the core team we start small and aim to show a tangible result within a reasonable time. This would motivate more people to get involved. We can also consolidate our learning to decide on how to best to move forward based on the experience.

We start with one single initiative and work in a focused way rather than dissipate our resources on multiple initiatives. We should consider the sustainability factor while deciding on the initaitive - unless it is a limited period specific objective project.

Regular communication to the class members (at least once in a quarter) to sustain a sense of involvement and keep them informed. Also to motivate more of them to get involved. Photos should be used to highlight what is happening and the physical involvement of class members.

One of the goals could be to aim to be a model of excellence in service so that other Cathedral batches would want to emulate us. Our efforts would then have a multiplier effect.

POSSIBLE INITIATIVES

INITIATIVE 1 - Counseling of Children below 5 years

We could look at an initiative that develops skills or is involved in Counseling and meeting the problems of children below 5 that are manifested in their behavior. This is something I have been thinking of for a long time. I understand that most of a child's make-up is set by the age of five. Resolving issues at this stage is much easier. With the passing of years it becomes increasingly difficult - though not impossible.

Suketu Doshi's wife who is running a school of about 125 children shared her concerns about the difficulties faced by children in this age group when we had a chat at Viks place last Friday.

INITIATIVE 2 - UPLIFTING A GROUP OF UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUTH/CHILDREN

We could take a batch of 6 to 12 underprivileged youngsters with potential for growth in a specific area and groom them to become independent, self-supporting adults who are contributing to society.

For example, using Manju's talents, a batch of girls from the slums could be developed to become Fitness Trainers. Probably we would need to give them training in other areas like English speaking, social etiquette etc.

What would be more satisfying than a couple of years down the line having them present at one of our get-togethers - performing and then sharing with the class how we have played a role in transforming their lives. How they have moved from living in the slums to living in a flat whose loan instalments are being paid from their own earnings.
They and their children living with dignity instead of in an environment of filth, poverty and physical/sexual/emotional abuse.

Would appreciate knowing whether you feel it is worth exploring this idea further. Please feel free to be absolutely frank. Warm regards,

Sharad Kanga

Mr. Pande: RIP

Mr. Pande passed away last night. His funeral is tentatively at around 11 a.m. on Mon 22nd Nov at Chandanwadi, Mumbai.

Turf Club Fiasco

Call for letters - Kiran has penned a brilliant letter below. We encourage those who attended to send an email to Mrs. Isaacs sharing their sentiments, both positive and negative:

To: principal@cathedral-school.com

Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 8:41 AM

Subject: 150 years

Dear Mrs Isaacs

We have just returned to Bangalore after attending the 150th anniversary of the school. It was an event that was eagerly awaited and anticipated. We timed our class reunion to coincide with those dates even though this was inconvenient for those coming from overseas.

Our class reunion was fantastic and all of us felt that the church service evoked the feelings that all of us had for the school - feelings of loyalty and passion. It was an uplifting service and completely fitting for the occasion. The open house at the school was fabulous - once again, bringing back memories of 37 years ago, when we ourselves were there as students. It was a great idea to open up the school to sentimental and nostalgic old boys and girls - who were all heard talking about "their" time in school, even as the current batches wandered around in school uniforms.

Sadly, the event at the Turf Club was a huge let down. We had come there in anticipation of meeting other batches - a couple of years on either side of our year. We had come to meet our old teachers - many of them retired - whom we have not met forever. We came to be acknowledged as old boys and girls who were and still are a part of the school - or at least its history, and we came, because Mridula Sood Malusthe is from our batch, and we wanted to cheer her and hear her speak. The area where we were located was not where the stage was. We were located right at the back of the other enclosure. There was only one screen right in front and no speakers that would allow us to at least hear, if not see the proceedings. We had no idea where the teachers were located. We did not hear Mridula speak - we did not even know when she came on stage. We felt alienated from the proceedings - our batch was on separate tables because the tables seated only 6. We had no idea that there was even a dance floor!!!! If the idea was only for our batch to meet - we could have met elsewhere - as we did.

As far as we were concerned, the Turf Club event had absolutely no significance for us. And this, when we came full of enthusiasm and committment as old boys and girls. As an old student, I felt that it was important for me to give you feedback. Most of my batch felt this way, and you may hear separately from some of them.

With regards,

sincerely

Kiran (Prakash) Chainani

Batch of 1973.

State of the Reunion

(click on image to enlarge - courtesy Times of India)

I know you're all anxiously awaiting the BF photographs and memories which will be posted shortly ..... in the meantime, for all those of you who did take photos, please send hi-res copies to me via email and I will post them.

Merchi - hope you had a great birthday celebration in goa!

The Ice-Breaker

Click on the link below or copy and paste it in your browser

http://www.pbase.com/cyguy/ice_breaker_12nov2010

Courtesy of Cyrus!

The definitive history of Cathedral

(click on image to enlarge)

Kudos to Munna!

(Published 13 Nov 2010 - on sale at school: Rs. 3000/-).

School Jocks!

The girls are going to enjoy this....

cricket team

boxing team

soccer team