XI-C (Science)

(click on photo to enlarge)

XIC
was a motley crew. It was an odd conglomeration of all types of people who were successfully able to overcome their mutual differences and become life members of the creepy club that constituted XIC:

The first person on the class list was NIMISHA GOKAL who had a habit of flashing her nose ring at you when she was angry. Next to her sat KHURSHID PARKER, who loved to get involved in long arguments with Mr. Patki. In front of them sat RUPANDE THACKER who had a fertile Imagination which took her halfway across the world in every English essay and RASHMI PATIL whom we never saw either smile or laugh during the two years we were together.

Then there were the SHAHS. BHOWLI was the first one alphabetically; otherwise she was more of a follower than a leader. EVA was the second one and she preferred to wear tennis shoes without any laces. The third Shah was SUJATA who had a large store of jokes which she reserved specially for the Hindi lessons.

At the front of the class sat KIRAN PRAKASH and MRIDULA SOOD. Kiran had a smile that was wide enough for her to eat a banana sideways. Mridula could never do maths, much to the amusement of Vipul Bhushan, but anyway, even otherwise, she believed that 2 plus 2 equals 5.

NAAZLI VARA WALLA was the unrivalled queen of XC who was deposed in XIC. The usurper was KASTURI HALDAR who took her ISC so seriously that she even abandoned her contact lenses for plain spectacles while the exams were on.

MANJULA VASWANI was seen at "Godspell" when she was supposed to have gastroenteritis.

RASHMI MEHRA left the school to go to Delhi, but returned before going whereas YASMIN KHAN at least went, found she did not like it and then came back. Indeed handsome compliments to XIC!

The first boy on the class list was VIPUL BHUSHAN who had many pseudonyms which varied according to the mood of the class and the time and place. He was variously known as Benji, Benjamin, Sly, Bristles, Vascular Bundle and Sleepy. He also considered himself to be the panja king of the class though there were many contenders for this title, the chief being BISHWARUP RAHA --- ha-ha! In the physics class he could solve the problems which we couldn't and in the exams, he couldn't answer any of the problems which the rest of us could.

His sparring partner in class was FARDUN DASTUR the sophisticated mowla who was renowned for his Parsi-hooked nose.

SUKETU DOSHI (Dosa, Irma La Doshi) was the cricketing companion of PRADIP NILKANT also known as Commander because of his brief tenure of the office of Class Monitor. This Daddy Longlegs was overthrown (also literally) by DARIUS MOOS who was the first moos. 'Jada' was continually exercising his vocal cords regardless of whether he had an audience or not. He could never do gym because allegedly there were no house shirts available in his size. He was unable to come to the cross country because he suffered from car sickness.

FIROZE MOOS, the second moos, was the cousin of the first, known as the English Bawa because he wore a vest instead of a sadra.

RAVI GUPTA the Bhaiya from UP did not come for his physics test because he had a guitar lesson. He claimed that using Bullworker had stunted his height and said he was going to file a suit for damages.

QURESH EZZI, the Mohammed Ali of XIC, was forever willing to take on anyone or anything and then get away with it. His middle name was "Daring".

SAMEER CHINOY who funnily enough sat next to him asked questions the answers to which had been given half a minute earlier.

ERIC DASTUR was the only Parsee in class who was not related to the rest in the class.

DARIO DORCIC had a strange affinity for his greatest rival TEHMURAS "MICHAEL" MODI. How Tehmuras became Michael no-one knew. Michael was permanently a fish out of water where his school life was concerned.

PESHOTAN MEHTA always managed to get injured before a major exam. He broke his wrist while cleaning his teeth the night before the Prelims but unfortunately it was the wrong arm.

KARL KERAWALLA said he would shave his head the day after the ISC because he wanted to stop his hair from falling out.

DARIUS KOTVAL or "Clint Eastwood" as he was sometimes known because the first 'A' film he saw was "Play Misty for Me" was a sleeper and a dreamer. XIB offered a mysterious attraction for him especially in English class.

SUNIL MATHRANI- if you ever really listened to what he said you would find that his words never really meant anything in particular at all.

RAJEEV M - his poetry was in his hair.

Even if given a alarm clock for his birthday VIKRAM MERCHANT would have been unable to get to school on time.

Those who never completed the marathon: FRED OYLER, PIROOZAN BOGA, KULDEEP SINGH, TULIKA DAS, MARK ROSEN, FARROKH BHANJA.

Lost & Found: RASHMI MEHRA and YASMIN KHAN.

The Defector: KASTURI HALDAR.

The Commander - to whom our many thanks: MR. LOBO, who successfully led the motley crew through the turbulent waters of the sea of Cathedral. He came through the war with flying colours after bombing Karachi, but paradoxically enough, was almost killed by a kite on Marine Drive while driving his famous motorbike.

- Sunil Mathrani
(first published in the 1973 School yearbook)