President of India Speech on Cathedral Stamp Issue

Mumbai , October 27,2010 19:13 IST

Dear students, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very happy to be here to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Cathedral and John Connon School, and to release a commemorative postage stamp on this occasion. I convey my warm greetings to all teachers, students, alumni, staff, management and all those associated with this reputed educational institution. The school was pioneered and funded by a city philanthropist, barrister and editor, John Connon and posthumously, named after him. This school and the city of Mumbai through a Century and a half, have shared a history of remarkable growth. I wish the school many, many more years of success and excellence in the field of education.

Education is one of the most potent instruments for empowering a population, and therefore, rightly education is a priority sector for any nation. As has been famously said, without education one is like a ship without compass, with no way of knowing how near the harbour is. An effective education system is one that prepares the youth to navigate the journey of life meaningfully. Schools constitute the basic pillars of an education edifice of a nation. Hence, the stronger a system of school education, greater the prospects of progress of a country. Therefore, it is very necessary for schools to impart good education and make students understand the worthiness of discipline, integrity and doing their work with dedication.

As our country is developing and moving towards becoming one of the leading nations of the world, it would need in large measure, the energy, drive and contribution of its people. Every generation looks to its youth with expectation and hope. You are the new generation that can take India to its destiny of a developed nation and for this, I believe your holistic development must receive foremost attention.

Dear Students, the time that you spend in school, which are your formative years, is valuable. It is here, that your first friendships are formed and as you learn about sharing, you develop a sense of camaraderie. It is here, that the process of imparting knowledge begins, and children acquire skills and values, that will help them in fulfilling responsibilities towards families, society and the nation. You begin with learning alphabets and numbers and through the years in school, get an understanding about a range of subjects. By the time you leave school you are ready to look at options for your future career. Hence, you must use your time in school to learn as much as possible. You should develop a habit of reading, not only textbooks, but also newspapers and literature.

India is a storehouse of knowledge. I would encourage you to learn about the diversity of our country in culture, languages, customs, ethos and traditions. It is this richness and multiplicity, which makes India a unique and a great nation of the world. Moreover, we are a democratic nation, in fact the world's largest democratic nation. The students, representing the coming generation, must avoid narrow creeds and seek to build a path for the betterment of society.

Your objective should be to become intellectually competent and technically skilled - your talents are required by the nation. Young students and the youth of the country, therefore, must channelize their skills in developing balanced personalities with positive attitudes. You should participate in sports and other extra-curricular activities, as you are doing. Playing, as a member of a team, develops the ability to work with others to achieve targets and goals. It is sports that can teach you to put in your best and to accept both victory and defeat in the true spirit of a sportsperson.

Like our nation, we must also respect our planet Earth. Nature has been generous to us. Mountains, deserts, valleys, rivers, oceans and forests are important habitats that support ecosystems with diverse life forms. For example, forests host a wide range of fauna and flora, providing us a wide range of products and also giving green coverage. We should teach our children to respect nature for our own good. We must sensibly use its resources, work to conserve its rich flora and fauna, as well as adopt environment friendly approaches.

Teachers have a great responsibility as they create citizens of the future, conscious of their duties towards the nation, the planet and fellow human beings. You should encourage growth, foster a spirit of exploration and discovery, and construct a strong sense of integrity, compassion and generosity. I urge all the teachers present here to promote high moral and cultural values among our children.

I am told that the Cathedral and John Connon School has been promoting quality education with focus on the core values of integrity and responsibility. Its staff and its teachers have demonstrated deep dedication to the development of their students. Teachers must interact with the parents of the students. This dialogue on the various aspects of the welfare of the students, can contribute immensely to their improvement. I am glad that this school has a supportive Parent Teacher Association.

The Cathedral and John Connon School has since its inception worked to provide an atmosphere for academic excellence, as well as encourage sports and extra-curricular activities for promoting the overall development of its students. The reputation of any educational institutions is measured through the success and talent exhibited by its students and alumni. This school has been the alma mater of Industrialist JRD Tata - Bharat Ratna awardee and Scientist Dr. Homi Bhabha, men who have been among the distinguished citizens of this country. In addition, a number of alumni have rendered service to the nation and have achieved distinction in various fields. Students of the school have gone to many parts of the world and carried with them the values learnt in school of putting service before self and made their mark, ever conscious of lessons learnt here. I know some of the old boys of the school who were very keen to invite me here - Avinash Naik and Niranjan Naik are among them.

I conclude by conveying my good wishes, once again, to all - the Principal, Mrs. Meera Isaacs, who is the first lady principal of the school, the teachers, students, staff, management and all those associated with this great institution. I wish the school all success and hope it reaches Olympian heights.

Thank You. Jai Hind!

An Undefiled Heritage

(click on image to enlarge)

Kudos to Munna for this massive effort! Books can be purchased for Rs. 3000/- from the School Bursar's Office after 15 Nov or from the Turf Club dinner on 13 Nov.

Reunion Weekend Schedule

(click on photo to enlarge - Ranjit on top of the world!)

From the CATS Alumni:

Dear Cathedral Alumnus,

We are delighted to inform you that we now have all the information you need to have a marvelous 150th Founders’ Day week.

School Play – 9th and 10th November 2010: The School Play will be held at the Tata Theatre on November 9th and 10th. (No details as yet :(

Note: The play and Celebratory Dinner are being organized by the School (not the Alumni Association) and will post info as soon as we have more details about these events.

“Back to School” – 10th November 2010: To kick start this exciting week, the Alumni Association will have a fun-filled “social” at the Olive Bar and Kitchen at Mahalaxmi from 8.30 p.m. onwards. Olive is exclusively for us, but, of course, you can bring your partner or your old school flame. Entry is free and you pay for whatever you consume. The O.live Opus Jukeboxers will bring you a ‘retro’ evening of over 400 hits, across genres and decades, on demand, performed live by some of the best voices around. All you need to do is find yourself a seat, order a drink, some food and request as many songs as you like.

Cricket Festival – 12th November 2010: The Alumni Association is organizing a seven- a-side cricket festival with the alumni and school at the Police Gymkhana, Marine Drive from six p.m. onwards. Contact Sanjay Shah, ’82, on 98210 15871 for registration. The evening will be full of cricket, music and great food. Bring your schoolmates and cheer your side.

Golf Tournament – 13th November 2010: A gala golf tournament is being organized at the Willingdon Club beginning at 8.00 a.m. on this Saturday morning. Plenty of prizes. Register early to avoid disappointment. For registration please click here or contact Akshay Kilachand ’87 at 9821027000.

Celebratory Dinner – 13th November 2010: The School is organizing a dinner marking the culmination of a year full of events to celebrate turning 150. This will be held at the Turf Club, Mahalaxmi, Enclosures 1 and 2, at 7 p.m. Donor passes and table bookings are available at the Senior School from October 26th, onwards between 10 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. We look forward to alumni from every corner of the globe joining us to celebrate this historic event. A coffee table book on the History of the School will also be launched that evening.

(NOTE: Those requiring tickets to the turf club dinner - which is Rs 3500 - please notify Mr. Rungta via email ASAP! For the out-of-towners, we are reserving a couple of tables).

Church Service – 14th November 2010: There will be an evening Church Service at St. Thomas’ Cathedral at 5.30 p.m. This will be followed by a high tea in the Senior School.

The idea of this e-mail is to inform you in advance so that you can plan your lives around these events.

We really look forward to seeing you at the above celebrations. Let’s make this 150th year, one to remember!

Please do visit the alumni website – www.catalumni.com for regular updates.

Shyla Boga Patel and Viral Doshi
Co-Presidents

P.S. Remember - the most important event for the Class of 1973 event is at BF :) It will rock!

Tug-O-War '73

Wally meets his match!

Straight from the heart

Jo and Nimisha

What a wonderful trip this was to Mumbai - on day 2 I called Rupande and within an hour Rashmi, Rupande and I were at the Crossroads Coffee Shop, no small talk, just do you remember amongst giggles and laughter.

The following Sunday the Merchant of Singapore (Ronita's nom de plume for Rajeev) had remotely persuaded Vik Ahuja to host a lavish lunch where the out-of-towners - Rajeev, Nina and I were made to feel very welcome. Behram had us all in stitches with his fictional anecdotes. Rajeev was the envy of the guys with his 6-pack and constant messages from all his flames. Thanks again, Viks!

The following Saturday, my last day in Mumbai, was a continuation of the trip down memory lane. This time it was a Ladies Only Luncheon hosted by a very gracious Rashmi. There was a lot of rewinding to the seventies and then fast-forwarding to the present. The pics say it all...

Indira and Nimisha

Rashmi, Jo, Geetu

Nina and Rupande

Annahita and Nina

Rashmi, Nina, Divyaa

Tiku, Rupande, Geetu

Once again I toast all those who have been so active in getting this reunion going and keeping the momentum. Old friends - Ronita, Dhaval, Khurshid, Achinta, Rupande, Rashmi, Viks, Rajeev have come back into my life and I have also made new ones - Jo, Nina, Behram to name a few. We may have lost 37 years but definitely am not going to lose anymore!

My heart will be in Mumbai on the Mother of all Weekends.
Have a tequila shot on me...
- Nimisha

XIB - Commerce

(click on photo to enlarge)

The Cathedral Commerce batch of 1973 was class XIB under the shrill charge of the famous “ Cuckoo “ as Mr. Pande our Hindi master was fondly known. Mr. Pande was both strict and caring and, more importantly, totally unconcerned about disciplinary breaches in other teachers’ periods… in short the perfect classmaster ! Dr. Nahni Davar, (the father of our class’ fastest writer, speaker and bowlers Darab) taught Accountancy while his sister Mrs. Madan was our commerce teacher. Both of them found our class a lot less receptive to knowledge than their students at Davar’s College.

Atmaram Narayana Rao , a maths wizard and thorough gentleman had the misfortune of teaching us Commercial arithmetic. We paid great attention to the nuances of his pronunciations especially in Geometry class where he said “yem” for “m”, “yen” for “n” and “voh” for “o”. GETOUUUT was his favourite chant to many of us who spent more time outside his class than in it!

Miss Hallegua tried her hardest to make us proficient in English language and literature but most of us were busier speaking English than learning it. You could say that we found Blake boring, Steinbeck somnambulant and Shakespeare stupefying!

Mrs. Karat taught geography as confidently as Goh Cheng Leong wrote about the subject, sadly her interpretation of this fascinating subject was somewhere between simplistic and fictional and none of us mastered it! Manu Daftary topped our class with a paltry 67% in geography, rumour has it that the secret of his modest success was a tutor from outside the school.

Our classroom adjoined the main hall and our class had a special affinity for our location. ‘ The Bomb Squad” originated in XIB, a team of ferociously committed boys who spent our early mornings before school setting up time-delayed fireworks which would explode on stage during the senior school assembly. It was a delight watching Mr. Newton, the vice principal leap in fear on stage as one of our Son et lumiere shows would bring the assembly to a halt, the pain of recent canings by him was pleasantly replaced by the joy of watching him quiver!

XIB’s main claim to fame was its large population of incredibly raucous, long haired, indisciplined boys: Neville Sethna, Sanjeev Rajwar, Sanjiv Agarwal, Adi Jehangir,( all co-incidentally Savageites!) Rustom Jejeebhoy, Bharat Sheth and yours truly were the main members of the cast. Strangely all these hooligans finished the ISC exam with 1st class results, which was more than could be said for some of our more studious brethren.

Umrigar, Ahuja and Ganguly were the male prefects of our class and out of necessity became expert “artful dodgers” who ensured that others were nabbed for their crimes.

We had just eight girls in our class:
- Anna Thomas the Throwball colossus and Palmer house captain
- Amrita Matthews who played basketball like Kobe Bryant but looked like Halle Berry
- Geeta Andhare, who was Mrs. Karat’s pet
- Anahita Engineer a gifted elocutionist and pianist
- Binaifer who was superb at accountancy
- Falguni of the Chimanlals stationery family fame
- Madhulika who I have heard married an Italian and
- Kavita Sayal who was easily the most cheerful of the lot.

What, I sometimes wonder, do we all remember about things we studied; Bank reconciliations, South West monsoons, Blake’s “Tiger”, thirty seven years after we first learnt about these things? Not a whole lot I am sure! Yet, I remember every name and every face of every classmate from 1973!

As Keats wrote in “Ode to Autumn” which we dissected and learnt backwards, our school-leaving year was truly a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness".

- Behram Gamadia

Benefit Auction

School Benefit Auction & Dinner

Save the date: 22 Oct 2010
The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower

Drive in with one
drive out with two

A sparkle in your ear
a holiday is near

A souza on the wall
a jet at your call

Koffee with Bollywood
come and do some good!

Donor passes available at the senior school on 13 ands 14 Oct 2010. Limited seating.

Contact:
Rangita Bhatnagar - rangitab@gmail.com
Nisha Khattau - nishakhattau@hotmail.com
Ritu Jaggia - rjaggia@hotmail.com

XI D Admaths

(click on photo to enlarge)

XI-D

Room 32 was built specially for us. When Mr. Lewis was in one of his good moods, he used to admit that as we were a cut above the rest of the school, to prevent us being corrupted by them, we should be segregated. At other times he would say we'd been put there, so that he could hide our activities from the watchful (and suspicious!!) eyes of other members of the staff! Well, whatever the reason, Room 32 was ideally situated for a class like XI D.

Isolated from the rest of the school, it was next to the new gym. Through the shutters, 37 bird watchers could also keep a close check on the passing scenery, without being observed themselves. There was only one entrance to the class for such beings as members of the staff, vice-principals etc. However, the members of the class would frequently use the spiral staircase (which was, needless to say, officially out of bounds!), in case of emergencies, which occurred very, very frequently!! Such emergencies were usually offset by incidents which invariably led to maths periods being spent on important meetings.

Mr. Lewis, in the chair, would question why so and-so had behaved in an unmannerly manner in the presence of a certain master or why the class had misbehaved during such-and-such a period. The Headboy, Headgirl and six other prefects (Shyam, David, Ram, Padman, Srinivasin, and Achinta) were made to stand up and questioned as to the possible motives of the remaining members of the class, even though all the prefects weren’t always as innocent as they seemed! All prefects and the two class monitors - Anil Dayal and Vora - were questioned individually, then the guilty party would be questioned, with his friends joining in, in his defence - (always a 'him!'), and with Ranjit Mirchandani (usually a very 'concerned' party!) arguing ferociously whatever the dispute.

While such interesting discussions went on, all over the class "Charile Brown" comics (distributed by Vora), Chase books etc. would be avidly read, with Peter preferring his Polish magazines which formed an essential part of the contents of his school bag. David and Anil Dayal would be absorbed in a game of darts (Compasses and compass boxes ingeniously replacing darts and dart board!) while Hemant and Jehangir watched wide-eyed. Anil Pal and Imran would be absorbed in making their way through a pile of sandwiches. Hussain, Harshad, Faroukh and Kapi would be bent over one of the endless maths sheets which we used to get, with Kapi following his usual brilliant pattern of getting no. II worked out by Shyam, no.12 by Anjini, no. 13 by Hussain and no. 14 by Harshad - and then loudly shutting his book and announcing that he'd finished, and then looking very smug when Mr. Lewis beamed at him.

In between periods, a quick game of cricket would be organized. Achinta would hold his Malhotra and Gupta with great determination in front of him, all bent on making his century; Anil Venkatrao (imagine 3 Anils in the class!) Pradip Mandyan, Sheetal, Vinay, Padman and Bharucha all bent on getting him out and making their centuries. Dhaval and Ali would vainly ask anyone who looked less engrossed then the others to give them their chance at batting.The game would frequently be interrupted by Bharucha shouting loudly and advising all and sundry.

B. S. Anand and G. V. Arun would be bent over one of their numerous games of chess, with Ranjit Shah, Srinivasan, Patwardhan, Purandare and Madhavan watching over and criticising the moves of these two undisputed chess champions. Vora would be hustling up and down, trying vainly to get everyone into their places, and invariably making the most noise himself. Anil (the other class monitor) would be still engrossed in his darts. Sidhant and Anjini were usually nowhere to be seen, but if a search had been made, they would have been found either playing Basketball in the gym, along with Shyam, Imran and David or drinking tea with either Mr. Ram or Ranchod. Sohrab and Atul would be the only two sitting down, while Ram would be holding forth to Rahul Kohli his views on the latest government policy. Sharad Kanga and Ranjit Mirchandani would be at the windows. Once the master was sighted, everyone would be in their places in a trice, with Macbeths open-all at different pages!).

That's our class at a glance-the brainiest amongst the elevenths (I try to be modest, but it's difficult with such a class!!); one of the liveliest classes in the school, as all our masters will willingly endorse, particularly Mr. Krishna!), who, on occasion, ended up with half the class out of the class!

Though at the end of the year the staff arrived at the conclusion that even the brightest of the angels could and did fall, we managed to keep up appearances (very successfully!) right till the very end!

- Anjini Kochar
(published in the 1973 yearbook)

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)

Palmer Cockhouse 1973!

(click on image to enlarge)

Teacher's Medical Fund

Many have been asking about how the alumni committee intends to manage the medical fund. - here are some details from Ragini:

We intend to collect 1.5 crores and put this as the corpus. From the annual interest we will pay the premiums for 30 staff (could be 40). The premium will be 16,000 per teacher per year. It will cover most existing conditions and will cover them from 58 to 80 years of age.

We will have a meeting with the teachers and an insurance representative to explain the scheme to them. They will also have to understand that we are doing the best we can. The insurance industry is in a state of flux and so while we will do our best and explain this as well.

The second part is easy. We have a booklet being printed and id card which each teacher will get, to consult free or concessionally 80 doctors on the medical panel.

We also have an emergency quota that has been contributed entirely by an alumni and will be used at the discretion of the managing committee which basically consists of Shyla Boga and Viral Doshi our co-presidents and 3 others who are handling this -- full time !

We have raised 85 lakhs so far -with a goal of 150 lakhs - which is good progress.

In the past, we have been known as the school with all brand and no heart - together, we are changing this perception. This medical fund is one way to show our appreciation and show we care by giving to the teachers’ medical insurance fund.

A big thank you to the donors for the contributions to date.

see you all in november,

Ragini

XI A Arts - Revised listing

Hello again - the XI A (Artsy class) blog, which is archived on the right under September, has been revised, with a running commentary on most of the classmates compiled by Jo, Indira, and Behram. Please take another peek :)

As always, welcome your comments! Enjoy.

The Beat Goes On...

... at Vik's. Yet another party planning party and dress rehearsal hosted by the Maestro with scrumptious sev puri, pani puri, and wine on 12 Sep. Above, Jo and Madhu hard at work on the planned events and chasing down classmates to confirm their participation (and payments!).

The French romantics, Nina and Olivier (above) and the UK couple, Nimisha and Manoj below. And finally, Maestro Viks with his harem :) (L-R): Jo, Nimisha, Rashmi, Rupande, Maestro, and Nina.

the lovely ladies - Jo, Munna, Nina, Geetu

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.