Back off the Saddle

Thanks for your message about your class's reunion plans, and your invitation to join you. I also had a message and a phone call from Behram Gamadia with a similar invitation! My wife Roslyn and I have been thinking hard about visiting Bombay and working on the details of our plan to come, and, sadly, have decided that we won't be able to come. We are so grateful for the warmth of your invitation and help, and are sorry we'll miss you all. (Who knows - perhaps a skype link might be possible). In any case, I hope we can stay in touch.

With all good wishes, John Tesseyman

The 3 Musketeers

The Gang of Four

XI-A (Arts)

click on the photo to enlarge
Back Row: Michele, Sandra, Juggie, Tarun, Geetu, Jo
Middle: Shernaz, Indira, Jerry, Anjoli, Ramla, Meera, Divyaa, Rita, Nina, Nusrat, Punam
Front: Wagh, Rashmi, Archie, Kavita, Sandhya, Sherry, Nepali, Maria, Rupa, Shelaila, ?, Serene, Krishnan
Seated: Patruni, Sadler, Sonia, Mathrani, Newton, Jacob, Karat, Anthony, Cherian, Nargolwala, Rao

Rashmi Lamba: guys admired this Volga princess but she looked at them as though they were melted ice-cream!

Archana: The fastest at everything – on the sports field, in academics and on the dance floor! Wish she didn’t have to rush leaving us… dearest friend.

Kavita Dhurandhar: Won the Home Science prize. Must be a great wife by now!

Sandhya Harendra: Pig tails, very chirpy and full of life

Maria Mota: Soft spoken, friendly, ever ready to help

Shelaila: Being the daughter of a prominent CA, she decided to go one better and marry an even more prominent CEO Banker.

Sheranaz Jussawalla: Wilson house sprint queen

Indira Jaisingh: Petite Savageite Racket queen, agile and exceptional on the badminton court.

Jerry Bapasola: As with most Savageites, she was academically brilliant!

Anjolie Kumar: Gentle and poised

Ramla Fazalbhoy: Talkative and full of beans

Meera Jasani: Top quality Hindi elocutionist at school.

Divya Jain: Had the most amazing birthday parties which all the class would wait eagerly for.

Rita Chhabria: A ball of spirited spunk and energy!

Nina Pandya: Sameer Chinoy worshipped the ground she walked on

Nusrat Fazalbhoy: the 1st girl in our batch to get married.

Punam Anand: Bubbly and fizzy by nature; now a Marketing professor… does she present case papers on Perrier or Coke?

Michelle Bahar: Won the art prize in 1973 looking like a Rembrandt model herself.

Sandra Long: Her surname was really apt, long legs, and great height

Rajiv Jagtiani: Batted cross handed in cricket, better known as the school tennis captain and an adept Battleship player.

Tarun Hans: Just like the headgirl in one respect… was always holding a basketball as he walked around after school.

Geetu Watumul: Brilliant, gentle, humorous and overweight in school .... has lost all that excess fat; courtesy yoga.

Jyotika Sukthankar: A cracker of a girl with tremendous enthusiasm and an infectious smile.

Countdown to Graduation

We all knew the results had to come out some time or the other. But after one false alarm, and then another, and another and another. . .

So it happened, that on the third of April, 1974, while I was listening to Elton John's 'Funeral for a Friend,' when the phone rang, I answered it, expecting it to be either one of mine or one of Ragini's friends. It was Dad. Ringing from Delhi that the results were out!

It took me a minute or two to absorb this information, and then I (and the rest of the household with me) went berserk. It must have been about 1 p. m., Mr. Newton etc. were busy enjoying their respective lunches, leaving me to bite my nails and tear my hair out on the line, while the phone rang on and on and nobody answered.

I had promised to ring up "everybody" as soon as I heard anything about the results. I first rang up Kiran, who promptly had a nervous breakdown, and then came out with the only sentence she is capable of producing on such occasions - "I'm dying. . . . . ." I left her still dying slowly, and rung up Amrita. Amrita, cool as only she knows how, said something to the effect of - "Oh, the results have come, have they?"

Waiting for my car to come, or Kiran to ring and say that her car had come; pacing up and down near the phone; ringing up school every few seconds; getting phone calls everyone minute; getting on.

Ragini's nerves - "You fool! Go and put on some perfume or do your hair or something sensible!"

Finally we all set off. Amrita had profitably spent the afternoon practising her "Third-class faces!"

In school at last, we all sat at the entrance, waiting for the postman. The rumours that flew around! Jug came running up, saying the bundle was at the G.P.O. but they were refusing to distribute them (Whereupon I promptly rushed to Mum and told her to go to the G.P.O. and investigate); Somebody else said that Fort Convent had already got their results, and four or five boys were all set to walk to Fort Convent and find out the truth behind that rumour.

We hung around in school that whole evening, trying to do anything to take our minds off the results. Mum threw down a packet of magazine proofs for checking from the third floor to where we had all camped at the bottom of the stairs, and poor Neville got the shock of his life, thinking the results had dropped from heaven! In the end we decided that the best remedy was to play a game of Basketball, so we got a game organized.

I was sure that our results were coming out between 5 and 7, and when Mr. Nepali offered me a bed I was all prepared to spend the night in school, but then Mum said 'NO' in that tone of voice which means "no" and so I changed my mind. In the end, we hung on in school till 7, singing hymns and the like, but then finally, reluctantly, made our way home.

Needless to say, none of us got any sleep that night.

The next morning we all were in school by 8.30, to find Neville and Eric already there. Between eight and ten, the whole '73 batch collected - each newcomer sliding in, eyes silently asking the dreaded question. Even people like Darius Moos had been reduced to a state of nerves. Any stranger coming in with a bundle in his arms, was jumped on by five to ten hostile boys, his bundle removed and thoroughly searched, and only then was he allowed to pass.

Rumours flew madly. Queen Mary's had got their results, B'bay International had got their results. Mr. Jacob arrived and was promptly gheraoed. Finally, everyone got sick of the waiting and wandered off to cinemas, restaurants, clubs.

Jug went up to ask Mr. Jacob something or the other. The next minute Jug was running down the stairs screaming-"Results! They've come!!" we didn't know whether to believe him or not, when we heard Mr. Jacob calling us.

I think everyone was at that time offering up prayers to the Man-Behind-The-Scenes. I know I certainly was. Kasturi came in absolutely cool and un-ruffled - "Calm in a feverish world", as Ragini aptly put it.

Mr. Jacob's voice: "Punam Anand, Literature -, Language -"

People kept coming in, faces tense, sweat very visible. All the boys came charging back from the movies, all their bright spirits magically gone. Some-one talking at the back; useless English results; hopeless Maths results somebody coughing; palms soaked in sweat; some-one restlessly pacing up and down behind me; Ragini gripping my shoulders; trying to concentrate on the pen in my hands, but failing miserably.

The waiting was sheer agony.

Mr. Jacob announcing someone in the Commerce classes results, when suddenly Behram screamed, "I've got it! I've got it! Got a 7!" A war dance of sorts followed with everyone shouting congratulations.

Geetu came in late to be greeted with the news that she had got a 7. Naazli's results - a 6! More and more results. More and more names. A never-ending list.

"Kasturi Halder - ............ agg. 6, class I." Loud cheering and congratulations.

"Anjini Kochar" and a deadly silence. - Maths 2 - agg. 7 Whereupon, I promptly burst into tears.

More and more results which gave me time to compose myself. G. V. Arun, a straight and expected 5 - the only one! Where was G. V.? 15's, 20's, second divisions, and a few third divisions. Mothers and Fathers waiting anxiously for their children's results to be called out - all keyed up, tense. I was hardly aware when the last name was called out.

It was all over - the 1973 batch had been launched.

- Anjini Kochar
(originally published in our 1973 graduation yearbook)

Indigo Deli

There is just no getting away from the fact that the batch of 1973 has woken from a deep stupor in which most of us were just too busy getting on with our adulthood and early middle-age and not even subconsciously trying to re-acquaint ourselves with the classmates we grew up with in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, the legends of our youth are finding time to re-establish ties with friends from yesteryear, Peter's enthusiasm to catch up with Farrokh and me on 15th August at his home in New Jersey being a classic case in point.

For me, the quest...pardon the word...to literally MEET all my classmates again has astonished my wife and possibly some of my friends but to me its like a crusade, a holy grail to be pursued, a magnificent obsession almost on par with my love for playing golf! Thus far, it has reminded me of more happy memories than any of my (limited!) past achievements ever do and literally become as important as caring for my family or ...going to work!!

On 29th August , Farrokh, Hussain, Kappy and I met for lunch at Indigo Deli; three addmaths wizards and one commerce clown all together in the same room together for the first time since 1968 in class 6G. Nothing much had changed....we talked and laughed about memories( which though opaque at first) burst into clarity as each of us contributed what we remembered of those innocent yet hilarious years.

As some of you may know, Farrokh is a department head at Rutgers teaching Eco and Finance and heading their Shanghai faculty, Hussain is a Hospital architect working with a leading firm of Hospital Designers and Kappy is a thriving exporter of cotton hygiene products to numerous European and American corporations and retail chains.

We had been at the table for two hours when a gentleman came and stood by our table ...I presumed he was upset and asked him if he could give us a couple of minutes more before we left. "Actually I've come to meet you all," said the rotund stranger. Apologetically, I asked as to who he was. "I'm Karl Kerawalla, you are Behram aren't you?" was the reply. The hugs and backslapping that followed were nothing short of incredible and the five of us moved on to Barrista for another hour of more coffee and "catch-up."

Karl told us about his nine years at Manipal med-school, his opening of a nursing home and its subsequent closure and best of all..his present profession ; the proud owner of a brand new hotel built and run by him!!

We finally dispersed at 4.30 or so; three and a half hours of seamless interaction brought to a close by the realization that Sunday is supposed to be a day of quality time spent with the family (in this case, the cathedral family).

-Behram

Tribute to Archie

ARCHANA BASU

14 Aug 1957 - 14 Jan 2009

Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you to come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace…when you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain...And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
- Kahil Gibran

It was a dark and cold January morning. It couldn’t have been easy getting up at the crack of dawn… it still isn’t. But we were on a mission. To make Savage the Cock House in 1973– we wanted that trophy so bad. And so it was, every day, for all of those winter months… we would be at the CCI tracks practicing and honing our running skills. On other days, Archie’s dad would drive us in his Ambassador car, to the US Club, for cross country practice.. Long distance running was not our favorite sport, but we kept at it, cos we just had to get Savage on top. For far too long our house had been left behind and we were girls on a mission – Archie, Amrita, Anjini and I.

I suspect that’s where the friendship must have grown… amid early morning dark winter days, the smell of grass with fresh dew, soiled spikes, mud, sweat and cramps.

Archie was a hurdle queen – she just glided over them… I never could quite keep up with her and invariably would knock down a couple (the clumsiness continues). She was a true sprint queen, a sports star – whether it be badminton, cross country, long jump or basketball… whatever she did, she was the best at it.

Our 4x100m relays were what legendary stuff is made of. We were way ahead of everyone, and the gap only kept getting better and better with every passing year. Me first off with the baton, Anjini 2nd, Amrita 3rd and Archie would just pick up the momentum and finish it off – a speeding cheetah no one could keep up with.

From the stadium our friendship grew, slowly and steadily and before we knew it, we were spending a lot of time together - studying at her house in Anchorage, a beautiful apartment opposite the Gateway of India, now a designated heritage property. We shared books, notes, our crushes, secrets, tuition teachers (Mr. Karanjia for Maths), a dislike for science, butterflies in our stomach before exams, a deep love for dogs, and an abiding unflinching trust, which remained till the very end.

We were also different in many ways - Arch was not much into rock music. She played the sitar. She was always very simple in her dress - never into makeup, fancy clothes, shoes...

She didn’t need it… she had that matchless inner beauty – no blush or lipstick for this Bengali girl. Armed with her trademark deep dimples and her 100 watt smile she conquered all who came into her life, with her genuine warmth and affection.

College opened up new vistas for both of us – by then her family moved to Cuffe Parade as her father retired from Shell after many years of service, and we made a whole bunch of new friends. Soon after college she married Shiv Sen (an arranged match) and moved to Muscat. Kaushik (28) and Rajeet (25) were born whilst they were living there. Six years later they migrated to Australia and have been living in Sydney since 1986.

Throughout this journey we kept in close touch; it was surreal how our lives were panning out, parallel tracks running on two sides of the globe… Both of us always worked jobs, our sons were exactly the same age, and we were forever juggling a million things during those early days when the children were growing up. Every year she would come to Bombay to meet her family, which gave us the opportunity to catch up and exchange notes, just like we had done earlier. From diapers and colic, right through the boys’ school years, the terrible teens, college, and their careers, we shared it all.

She was always so organised, a fantastic cook, very nurturing and even in remote Sydney insisted on giving her family a freshly cooked meal with hot rotis for dinner every night. I’d often chide her saying she is overdoing it and spoiling them rotten! But that was Arch for you – pushing herself to the hilt to give her family the best she could.

In 1996, the four of us went for a holiday and spent nearly 10 days with them. What a blast it was! The four adults gelled so well, whilst the four boys were busy having their own fun and kept out of our hair. Undoubtedly our family would vote it as the best vacation we’ve ever had. ALS or (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) hit her at the peak of her life at age 43.

A progressive, fatal disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons that control voluntary muscle movement. ALS causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body and eventually people with ALS are not able to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, or use their hands and arms. In later stages of the disease, they have difficulty breathing as the muscles of the respiratory system weaken.

They had just moved into a beautiful large new house which they had built for themselves, the boys were just finding their feet at 18 and 14 years. During these years she was in and out of hospital several times; her last 2 years were especially hard as she was completely bed ridden. She couldn’t move without help, lost her ability to speak, swallow and had a tube inside her stomach for the nutrition to be given… only the mind was alert as ever, no complaints, and the smile… continued as always. Most patients afflicted with ALS don’t live longer than 3 – 5 years, she lived for 9. My friend was a born fighter, she never gave up… the boys meant too much to her.

But she was always surrounded with a lot of love and care… her family, friends, neighbors… everyone pitched in. Shiv and the boys did everything they could, to make her life comfortable and cheerful, with a lot of love and patience – birthday dinners, visits to friends … but slowly even a trip to the supermarket on the wheelchair became a huge production.

How the roles had reversed; now the boys cooked, cleaned, did the groceries and fed her, while she would give them instructions on how things should be done, from her bed, through a sound language only they could understand.

January 14 2009 she breathed her last, surrounded by her loving family in the hospital. Personally, I felt a sense of relief that she was freed of the tremendous pain, but Shiv and the boys, even though they knew this was inevitable, were completely shattered.

Kaushik now all of 28 years holds a degree in Degree in Software Engineering plus a Masters in Finance & Marketing. He has just moved into his own apartment in the heart of Sydney. Rajeet, 25 years has a double degree in Actuarial Science and Applied Finance and is an Associate Member of the Institute of Actuaries. By sheer coincidence, all three of them work at ING in Sydney.

They visited Bombay in March this year, their first visit after 7 years, primarily to meet Archie’s mother and her brother (her dad passed away 2 years ago). We spent a long leisurely day together at our place. It was just like good old times when they’d make their annual visit. But not quite the same…

Many of our classmates have written in saying they wish they had known her better. To have experienced a friendship as deep and abiding as ours, I feel truly blessed.

I know Archie is watching from above, her deep dimpled smile, content that her family is settled, healthy, getting on with their lives and delighted that her motley group of school friends are finally getting their act together after 37 years.

May her soul rest in peace.

- Jo.

P.S. Savage did not win the Cock House prize that year, Palmer did. But we won ourselves a friendship that endured a life time and beyond.

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.

Central Park Reunion

Here's the rundown from the last reunion in Central Park:



Amrita, Serene and Rashid, Fally and Vikram, Manoj, Shibani and Ivan, Sam and Alex, Kasturi, Peter, Anil, Vinay, and Rajeev.

and those who wanted to but couldn't because life got in the way: Eva, Anna, Madhu, Manjula, Tiku, Punam, Dhaval, Anjini, Achinta, Kavita D, Kavita S ....we missed you!

























Please send me your photos that are collecting dust somewhere.

You can post your comments to this blog by clicking on the comments link under each posting. Look for the active links on the blog as well - you'll find stuff you never knew about your classmates and some about yourself.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog, (all the way at the very end, you'll see a link that says: Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). You can use this as a reminder for updates to this blog.

California profile

From Dhaval Ajmera:

"I took 5 weeks off to visit East Africa - Kenya and Tanzania on Safari. It was a thrilling experience. I spent 3 days in Dubai on my way to Mumbai. Could not live there though- it was 118 degrees F.

Since I left school, I went through 1st year, Interscience and Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from University of Bombay. I did my Masters in Electrical Engineering from University of Florida (Party town). Since then I have been in high tech companies for last 25 years including AMD, National Semiconductor, Sun Microsystems etc. I am now VP of Sales at a public company called MoSys.

I got married in 1980 and have two children, Anika (15) and Rikin (13). My wife's name is Geeta. She was my friend's sister and so we were in the same social circle. She went to Elphinstone College.

I live in the heart of Silicon Valley in Fremont, California about 30 minutes from San Francisco. I am mostly in touch with Ranjit Shah and meet him in Mumbai every time I visit. I have occasional email contact with Rajiv Ruia, Achinta Mitra. I met Anjini Kochar about a couple of years ago.

Still crazy after all these years

Central Park reunion: That evening we regrouped at Fally's on the upper west side for a potent round of drinks courtesy of Vikram and barely made it in time for dinner at Devi restaurant.

We were thrilled to have Peter Cordeiro join us - kudos to him considering it was daughter's 18th birthday that day. None of us had seen Peter since circa 1970. I'll leave it to Peter to fill you in on his successes.

Manoj (seen below with Serene's husband, Rashid) admitted that it was only when Peter and his older brother left school that he had any hope of becoming headboy.

I'll leave it to your imagination on the tamasha that followed after a few bottles of wine with this perfect shot of Sameer and Amrita.

New York City, July 28 '07

Ya, there were naysayers about the reunion but the Cathedral tradition and spirit prevailed!

Here's Serene relishing the moment - she hasn't changed at all - full of laughter and smiles :)

Amrita drove down from Connecticut, Fally and Serene didn't have far to travel since they both live around New York city, and Kasturi flew in from Chicago. Sameer and Rajeev drove down together from New England and Vinay flew in from the mid-west.

Here's the group at Columbus circle, - from left to right: Kasturi, Sameer, Anil, Serene, Amrita, Vinay, and Rajeev:

The Starting Point

Not quite sure how this all got started but surely it was pure nostalgia and the success of the 25th reunion in New York in 1998 when we met over a relaxing weekend at Fally's north of New York city.

Welcome your help to locate the rest of classmates from the class of 1973 - all 120+ names, faces, emails and photos. I've got two lists started - one with names of classmates that we've contacted or know their whereabouts and the others who are hibernating somewhere. If you know where they are, post it on the blog. I'm sure there are many names not yet on either list.

Please use this forum as your space to connect and post your comments, memories, nostalgia, confessions, pleas, love notes, regrets, whatever. Previous postings are archived and can be viewed from the links on the bottom right corner of the blog.

Enjoy!