Act 1 Scene I

Date: Saturday: 28th Aug evening
Venue: Maestro Vik's Place

Mood: The host, Nina and Jo faffing and frowning over long lists of potential attendees, photos from the 1960s and 1970s and other documentary evidence of us years ago...namely Jo's 1973 autograph book.

The Actors:

L-R: Merchi, Nina, Maya


Rungta, our auditor general and finance manager strolled in, all bristling business-sense and updated us on who's paid for the brunch, who's promised to pay and most importantly...how to ensure that many of the remainder do attend and pay. He is as efficient at organizing as he was as a Star Hindi Elocutionist!

Mandy & Rash:
We skyped Manu and Rungta told him to get across for the reunion as the economic revival in the States will arrive shortly after November and work will resume for all Investment gurus and coming to India will become impossible!

Vikram phoned Punam at Dartmouth and we all chatted with our year's amiable marketing genius.

Merchi and his wife Maya, Neville and Sabita, Jo's better half, Juggi, party animal Rashmi Patil-Vig and Mandy as well as Rupande and hubby Bharat all arrived between seven and eight and the drinking and bullshitting went on 'til midnite when a Biryani supper was served.

This was followed by Mridula's spectacular contribution to the evening inabsentia: a fabulous chocolate gateau with the message at left. Meanwhile she has us believing that she is finishing the Cathedral History Book.

Munna, it had better be as good as the cake!

Curtain call: We soldiered on 'til two a.m., bid Maestro Viks goodbye, and vanished into the night thinking fondly of our pasts and dreading the immediate possibility of facing the Breathalizer Squad!

L-R: Jo, Behram, Nina













To be continued....Cheers, Behram

Espirit de Corps

Here's a toast from Vikram Merchant that epitomizes the spirit of the class of '73 and succinctly captures the mood for the november weekend reunion. The party was unofficially launched last night and hosted by maestro Viks: "Outstanding evening! Nina, Jo, Rashmi, Neville, Mandy and master of memories, Behram, were the stars. Rupande made a fleeting appearance. Viks and I were adjudicators. Enjoy, Vikram."

A Second Chance

First off, thanks to all of you who who have taken the time to send in your info for the yearbook - much appreciated. For some reason, many have been shy to send in photos. We know it's a lot of work in your busy schedule but we're going to make yet another request ~

Remember the brilliant essays you wrote for Mrs. K or Halle or Tessey during English? Now just imagine you have this one chance to meet all your friends from high school (which you do in November) and in that brief, shining moment, you have that perfect opportunity to plan a chance encounter with your high school flame or that luminous dream that you never had the courage to approach in school. Would you let this second chance pass by or seize it?

And what would you say?

We've had the privilege to catch up with some of you by email and skype and phone recently and we're humbled because you've had some incredible experiences since we last saw each other and it's a damn good feeling getting to know old friends and making new friends all over again :)

So here's that second chance, guaranteed 15 minutes of fame, to share with your mates about your incredible life since you last saw them. It's your new york moment!

And you also know that this meeting of the minds of over 100 of us in one place won't happen again....so take that chance, toss the yearbook form and instead send in an essay (= more than 1 paragraph) on your life and whatever you care to share and how you would like to be remembered, immortalized in the pages of the yearbook. Your mates will devour every word.

carpe diem!

P.S. Jo, Peter, and Divyaa have sent in crystallized memories.

G'Day Mates from down under

Received this from Mr. John Tesseyman almost exactly a year ago .... for those who want to contact him by email or snail mail, please leave your comments below and I will forward his details to you. Enjoy!

"I arrived in Mumbai from Sydney on Republic Day 1971, looking forward to teaching at Cathedral School. The next three years were a highlight of my career, and I have so many happy memories. Mr. Kuruvilla Jacob was the Principal, and I stayed with him and his wife at their Malabar Hill home for the first six months, after which I lived in one of the rooms at the top of the school itself.

I was a proud member of Wilson House, and Mr. John Lewis was a great House Master. However, I’m sure that he was disappointed that I was hopeless at cricket, despite coming from Australia! I taught English to Standards 7, 8 and 9, and remember lots of enjoyable lessons, including plenty of laughs as we read Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals. I also taught Geography to 9th Standard and I remember having to brush up on my knowledge of India’s lakes and mountains!

The staff was all friendly and easy to work with. Mrs. Jefferies cajoled me into taking part in splendid dramatic productions such as Alice in Wonderland and the Taming of the Shrew. Mr. Jacob allowed me to organise groups of students to join YHA treks in north India: to Kapkote and Dhakuri Pass in 1971, and to Kulu/Manali in 1972.

These were amazing experiences for us all. One of the Deputy Principals, Commander de Almeida, ran Duke of Edinburgh Award activities, and I loved going to Matheran for some of these.

Another aspect of school life which I enjoyed was the Interact Club. Manoj Mehra was the President for most of my time, and among other activities we took groups to the Cheshire Home at Andheri for working bees – quite demanding in the May heat! All this helped students develop a sense of teamwork, and an awareness of those less fortunate.

It was a privilege to work in Cathedral School for those three years, and I remain grateful for the friendship extended to me by staff and students. May God bless the school for the next 150 years!

My wife, Roslyn, and I were married in 1978, and we have three boys 29, 27 and 25. We have also looked after three foster children for the past 16 years. They are 22, 19 and 18, and they still live with us.

After returning from Mumbai, I taught in a Technical College and then at St Luke’s Grammar School, from where I retired at the end of 2001. I did a bit of part-time teaching, but am now retired, and enjoying more time at home, reading, gardening and the occasional swim and round of golf. I also help my wife, who on a voluntary basis, runs classes at our local church for immigrants who wish to improve their English. At various times she has had students from 16 different countries, including two from India!

It is always a pleasure to hear from former Cathedral students."

John Tesseyman
Sydney, Australia
31 Aug 2009

Wanted: Photos (Old & New)

Thanks to all who have already sent your photos for the yearbook - awesome photos from Viks, Merchi, Suketu, Neville, Kavita D, Geeta, Ranjit :) We encourage you to send high resolution digital photos so that you look good when we include you in the yearbook (no passport or driver's license photos, please). Our plan is to put all of this with some asli purana music on a CD. Which means we need better copies of your photos i.e. a resolution of at least 500 kbs or greater (1 Mb is even better). It's an easy process:

Step 1: get a good photo of you and your better half or your family taken on a digital camera and ensure that the camera setting is on maximum resolution when you take the photo.
Step 2: download the photo on to your computer and save on your desktop (as a tiff or jpg image. You can check the size by right-clicking on the image and checking the size under"properties".)
Step 3: create an email, attach the photo (from your desktop), and send to viks and rajeev m.

If you have old photos from school, you can either scan them at high resolution and follow the same process as above or, to make it easy and simple, please send the originals to viks in mumbai at his home address and he will take care of the rest with the promise to return the original. Look forward to revisiting old memories and creating new ones!

We need these photos by 01 Sept, thanks!

P.S. Kiran, Venkie, MP - loved the family photos, just need them in high-resolution.

Wanted: Your $$

We've updated the CAR '73 network list on this blog of all those who are "found", have a valid email, and have replied, and also noted with * all those who are confirmed for the main event at Blue Frog. Now what we need is your moolah or at the very least your commitment that you are going to send it very soon. Kudos to main man Rungta and leading lady Jo for keeping us sane and organized:

Now that we have rediscovered each other on email, exchanged capsules of our lives over the past 37 years and tried as best as we could to make up for lost time, the moment of reckoning has arrived…we are confirmed for the Big Bash at Blue Frog. The venue has been booked and paid for Maestro Viks. The only thing remaining now is… your confirmation.

If there’s one thing we all agree on… it’s the fact that this Reunion is long over due. To make it extra special and truly memorable, we are ordering personalized T shirts. We will also compile a CD with all the photographs of this unforgettable event.

The damages are Rs. 2000 per head (inclusive of tax) and additional costs for T-shirts, photographer, CDs, postage, etc.:

For CATs ’73 Rs. 2500
For Spouse/Children Rs. 2000 per person
Only T shirt & CD Rs. 500 (in case you really can't come, you can order memories)

We have opened a bank account in the name of “CAR 73” (Cathedral Alumni Reunion 73) managed by Madhusudan Rungta. Details from Viks, Jo, and Mr. Rungta. Please send your confirmation to Jo. Deadline: 15th September. For those coming from overseas…you can pay when you arrive but please send your form via email to Jo asap. Any amount left over will be utilized for the Teachers Medical Fund. Be there!

love, Jo.

Teacher's Medical Fund

The fabulous news is that Anna Thomas Chacko has very generously pledged a sum of Rs 1 lakh for the teachers medical benefit! With other donations made so far, we have crossed the Rs 2 lakh mark (thanks Cyrus, Manu, Ravi, Venkie, Anjini for your contributions as well).

But we can do much better. Come on guys - this is your chance to show you care and to give back something to those who got you to where you are today. The medical insurance is the best thing that we can do for the teachers - so that in times of need, our teachers are not worried how to pay for medical treatment. Sadly, many of those who taught us did not have this fund.

Please please ACT TODAY and make out your cheques to:
“Cathedral and John Connon Alumni Association Medical Fund” and post it to:
The Cathedral and John Connon Alumni Association,
6, P.Thakurdas Marg, Fort, Mumbai 400001

All donations will be acknowledged and will receive an 80G certificate. Once you have mailed your cheque, please send an email to Jyoti Row Kavi so that she can maintain a total of how much has been contributed by us. Come on Class of 1973 - together we can show that we care!!

See you all in November,
Kiran Prakash Chainani

P.S. We have posted a contribution list on this blog and hope you will join the list.

L'amour a Paris...

Heard at Willingdon Pub on Thursday 19th Aug night in between coke, rum, bean curd, onion pancakes, chicken, yummy prawns (thank you Viks, you blew our diets) and chuckles...

Nina’s totally spell-binding love story. And word has it her Parisian apartment has a bakery on the ground floor and the smells waft up, the real reason why she moved. Nina, we hope you choke…

I was seduced into coming by Viks. The bait was totally Nina and Jo. Viks and Juggy (Jo’s hubby) were incidental. They (we all) look the same. None of us dye our hair. Though Viks kept murmuring some of us must lose weight for November. Viks, I hate you….(he clarifies, he meant ‘get fit’, that's two different things…none of us need to lose weight!).

But we have to get Nina’s story again because she spoke in French and in snatches, punctuated by shrieks, memories, vows of silence, swears to secrecy of college/school episodes. Then we can sell it to Mills and Boons!

And then what do we do, we - five of us (felt like ten, by the time we left) - bundle into a vehicle and trundle to Blue Frog to hear Jai – Jo's amazingly talented son drumming the drums. Surreal, sitting at Blue Frog with school friends hearing their 20-something prodigies play. Blue Frog will be seeing a lot of action, Viks foresees tables with star attractions, notably….

And Meera (Vik's better half), we missed you, but rest assured every mention of you brought a chastised look on hubby’s face.

Ok, now I better go finish writing the book . . . Mridula.

Trio in NJ, 15 Aug 2010

from L-R: Behram, Farrokh, Peter

me as he was , wry humour and fabulous memory while Peter, too, was pretty much unchanged... bright and intense and amazingly focused! the cordeiros served a super brunch which my 10 year old elder daughter really enjoyed! It was a heck of a day, Aug 15 - Independence day - reunion day. Warm regards, Behram

The Food of Love

Hey guys,

I've been put in charge of MENUS and MUSIC, so here are my thoughts.

Anyone with dietary restrictions please let me know, and I guarantee excellent food and drinks, all in enormous quantities to please every discerning palate!

Blue Frog provides a live band, but honestly they are always too loud, and it's almost impossible to carry on an extended conversation over the band. My recommendation is that we get together a KILLER playlist of all the songs that meant something to us during those years. That way we have control over the volume when we're meeting and mingling, and we can crank it up when we want to start dancing.

Also, this will give us a chance to train the spotlight on Rajeevs Ruia and Merchant, Padman and Neville, and anyone else who'd like to (Kappy are you listening), to get up on stage and belt it out for us.

So how about everyone send me a list of songs and/or bands that they absolutely must hear and i will put it together with inputs from the club's DJs. I might even be able to get the guys at Blue Frog Sound Labs to burn us CDs that we can all take home as a memento.

Whadyathink?

Manjula Nanavati

The die is cast for CAR '73

We're confirmed for the Blue Frog brunch - thanks to Viks who has booked and paid for it. Now it's your turn to confirm you're coming and make it special (and pay viks back!). Cost and venue details were previously sent to everyone via email. Don't want to publish the details here and have all of mumbai show up. Please copy and send the form below to Jo and Rungta no later than 15 Sep and let them know if you need more info on the Cathedral Alumni Reunion '73.

NAME: (maiden and nickname)
MAILING ADDRESS:
EMAIL
TEL: home, work, cell
HOUSE:
NUMBER OF PEOPLE ATTENDING:
PAYMENT DETAILS: cheque number, bank drawn on, amount, remitted on
T-SHIRT (size S, M, L, XL), nickname to be printed on shirt

DEADLINE: 15 SEP 2010
Please copy and email above details to Jo or Rungta.

Yearbook Form (Revision 3)

Some of you have not received the form to fill out for inclusion in our class yearbook so here it is. Please copy and send the details back to Dhaval via email. Remember - if you don't send a photo, you won't be included!

NAME (include maiden and nickname)
BIRTHDAY:
ADDRESS:
HOME & WORK TEL:
CELL:
EMAIL:
PROFESSION & COMPANY (where you work what you do, retired, still having fun?):
WEBSITE:
SIGNIFICANT OTHER (details, please):
CHILDREN (names, ages, what they are doing):
WHAT YOU DO FOR FUN (do you have life?):
SCHOOL HOUSE & CLASS (A,B,C,D):
BEST MEMORIES:
COMMENTS - What you have been doing since we last saw each other, have the years been kind....?

PHOTOS: Send at least one digital photo of you (and your family) in high resolution i.e. 500 kb, preferably 1MB, JPEG or TIFF file. Please also send old high school photos in hi-res. Forms without photos will NOT be included in the yearbook!

DEADLINE: 31 AUG 2010. Please return this form via email.

Your Comments

"Well done to all those putting in the hard work to get this show on the road. Hoping to make it. In any case, enjoyed hearing rom friends from way back then. " - Nimisha Parekh, UK

"These are ghosts from the past tattling. It's really great how the momentum snowballed. Let's hope we can keep it up and as many meet up as possible. Great job guys ! " - Rashmi Patil Vig, Mumbai

"Hi, this is fantastic. Need old school photos to be posted to refresh old memories. I am in Cairo." - Quresh Ezzi

"Hi all, this is fantastic. I will try my level best to get there. November is a decent month to be back in Mumbai. Any one of you in the UK?" - Tulika Singh

"Hi, I'm alive and kicking! Current location Nasik. Look forward to active participation in future activities. Where's Bhowli Shah?" - Sudhir Sood

(Thanks for your comments - these were sent to me via email and I took the liberty of posting them here. If you place your cursor on "COMMENTS" below and click, you will get a window to submit your comments and post them directly on the blog for others to see as well. )

P.S. Nimisha, Quresh, Tulika, Sudhir - please submit your info so we can include you in the yearbook. Let Dhaval know if you need the yearbook form. You won't be included without photos - Behram, that means you as well!

Silent Majority/Rockin' Minority

C'mon guys, what happened to the school spirit? - "let it rip, let it thunder!" - or did it fizzle out over the years?!? Get it back up.

We've got Viks, Padman, Kiran, Jo, Merchi, Rungta, Dhaval, Ruia among others working their butts off to pull off a classic, memorable, and hopefully outrageous gathering and we've got the rest of us watching from offstage. About time to move to center stage, no??

For those who have been receiving emails, please reply and acknowledge that you're alive even if you can't come to the reuni.

And then there's the yearbook - so far Dhaval has only received about half a dozen responses...

Blue Frog - the last waltz

So it's confirmed, courtesy of Viks and Padman, sunday brunch in one the coolest settings in mumbai. They have us confirmed for a grand party of a 100 so be there! There are rumours of a photographer to capture the memories and moments, MC courtesy of the one and only Behram Gamadia who will take a parting shot at everyone who does not show and maybe, baby, a band from the past to take you down memory lane. What more can we ask for? Details on the weekend events to be broadcast shortly. Meanwhile Kiran is working diligently on a class email and Dhaval is chasing down your contributions for the yearbook. And there is a fund-raiser for the teacher's medical fund....and this is just the beginning, even before Viks, Jo, Rungta, Ruia and others get together this weekend and start the coordination and planning.

It promises to be one helluva party :)

37 years later and we're back!

Kudos to everyone for the stupendous email thread the last couple of weeks. Kiran has compiled a list of 153 names and we're still searching for corresponding emails so we can track down our entire class. She will send it out shortly and we'll update the list here as well. The good news is that Viks is already getting confirmations for the sunday brunch in november at blue frog in Mumbai. With a sufficient response, this event will be a huge success. This sunday Viks, Kiran, and Padman among others are gathering in Bangalore to continue planning our 37th year reunion to coincide with the 150th school anniversary. Meanwhile Farrokh, Behram and Peter are having an impromptu meeting somewhere near new york city this sunday as well. Feroze B has confirmed he will travel from Toronto and so has Chini who is coming from NH. We're on a roll. Regular updates will be posted here so come back and check. And don't forget to share your thoughts and comments here as well. salams.