There are moments in life that remain forever etched in one’s memory. For 72 lucky ex-students of St Paul’s High School’s Class of 1985, there were numerous such moments on February 27-28, 2010, that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The two-day Silver Jubilee reunion was a magical occasion that was worth many miles of travel. Indeed, all roads led to Belgaum that weekend ,as participants headed back to school from far and wide.
The festivities began with a warming up dinner at Belgaum Club on the evening of February 26. There were whoops of joy and sheer delight as former classmates caught up after 25 long years. Some faces were still the same, only slightly plumper, older and a few sported grey hairs while some had receding foreheads. Others had changed beyond recognition, so much so that I would not have recognised them if I passed by them in the street. We all played the “remember me, guess who am I” game, eventually putting names to faces and recalling particular antics and silly behaviours during those wonderful years of our lives spent in Camp, Belgaum.
The evening progressed with much merriment and laughter, helped along by beverages that we were not permitted to indulge in while at school, and the culinary delights from the Khyber kitchen were simply superb (Thank you, Iftekar Attar). As was to be expected, the evening flew by in a blur, as some 60 odd classmates tried to sum up what they had been up to in the last 25 years in the space of around five hours. Not an easy task. Still, it was the quality of the exchanges and conversations, jokes, singing and dancing (if it can be called that) that made the evening such an enjoyable one. Everyone dispersed in an orderly manner, aware that a big day lay ahead.
Earlier that day, I had the privilege of escorting our dear principal, Fr Agnelo Pinto, from Margao in Goa to Belgaum. I met Fr Agnelo around 10am and my first impression was how youthful and energetic he still looked. We had a most pleasant journey, stopping for lunch at Mapusa and then travelling to Belgaum via Savantwadi and Amboli. During the drive, we talked about the school and how we students viewed our schooling experience. I expressed the view that the majority of us felt that the school had done a fantastic job in preparing us for our post-school lives. But I also told Father that a few students still had some misgivings, rightly or wrongly, about their treatment at the hands of certain teachers or by him and Fr Patrick D’lima. Father listened patiently and explained to me that they had always acted in the best interests of the students and the school but conceded that mistakes were made sometimes. They were human after all. (To my surprise, in his speech the next day, Fr mentioned our conversation and apologised to any students who felt aggrieved by the actions of teachers or the school, but more on his speech later).
As we approached Vijaynagar Ganpati temple, I made an excuse of having to stop for tea and looked around for our “reception committee” who were to greet the good Father. Sure enough, there they were – Dinesh Patel, Joe Fenn, Ninad Kulkarni, Deepak Sulebhavi, Amar Patil and Dr Babanna Hukkeri, who welcomed Father Agnelo with bouquets and greetings. We then drove Father to Jesuit House for a much-needed rest.
At Jesuit House, we took the opportunity to extend a personal invitation to Fr Gerald Furtado, to attend the reunion the following day. We had a pleasant conversation with Fr Jerry, who hails from Mangalore, and he humoured us when we asked whether Mangalore had a monopoly of producing beautiful girls like Genelia, Aishwarya etc.
The next morning, we assembled at 10am sharp at the School Hall, all of us dressed smartly in white shirts and black trousers. Upon registering, we received badges signifying our house colours, which we pinned to our shirt pockets. Our teachers and Fr Agnelo arrived soon after, and what a joy it was to see all those familiar and much-loved faces. There was Mr Mutalik Desai, Mr Dhareshwar, Mr K D Patil, Mr Goral, Mr Rodda, Mr Devgekar, Mr Pansare, Sir Joe, Ms Monica, Ms Rita, Ms Saroja, Ms Anju, Ms Siddannavar,
Ms Josephine, Ms Meera, Ms Eugene, Ms Merlyn, Mr Ghatge and Mr Shyam. The ceremony began with welcome speeches, followed by the felicitation of all the teachers, one at a time, by groups of three students. Every teacher received a shawl, a bouquet and a cheque as Gurudakshina. The peons and Swami of Canteen were not forgotten, as each one also received similar offerings.
We had a minute’s silence to remember those who were no longer with us –classmates Sachin Kamat, Ajay Kore, Sanjay Poopal, Bhalchandra Khanolkar and Mehboob Magdum and the teachers and masters. We paid tribute to them, cherished the memories of our times together and said silent prayers for their souls. In the time since the reunion, we have lost another member of the group, Subodh Nesarikar, who passed away in July. May he rest in peace.
In his keynote speech, Fr Agnelo reminded us of the values that the school had inculcated in us, and exhorted all of us to do our bit to improve the lives of people in rural communities around Belgaum, which still lack basic amenities, healthcare and educational facilities. He appreciated the Class of 85’s substantial financial support to several worthy charities around Belgaum, but emphasised that this was only the beginning, and a lot more needed to be done. His message was heartily endorsed by all of us, and there is now a push under way to implement the ideas raised by Father. Our comrade Nixon Fernando has recently circulated a groundbreaking proposal towards this end, which is currently being assessed and discussed among the Class of 85. It is to be hoped that this proposal will add further momentum to the great work that is already being done by the Class of 85' during the past year. A total of Rs 1.88 lakh has been contributed to various worthy causes like homes for the aged, disabled and to help disadvantaged families and children.
After the felicitations and the singing of the national anthem, we all broke up for tea, which was a trip down memory lane as ‘Canteen Swami’ served us our school days favourites of idli, vada, upama and tea. A photo session followed, with everyone looking their best, particularly Faizal Khimjibhai, who insisted on wearing his jacket and sunglasses. Typical Faizal, good to see he hasn’t changed. I gathered the “NRI group” for a special photo. Ajay Khangav (Egypt), Ankush Chavan (Tanzania), Christopher Rajamani (Dubai), Joe Fenn (New Jersey), Madhav Kittur (London), Suparn Narvekar (Washington D.C.) and myself (Australia) were the ‘foreigners’ who attended this once-in-a-lifetime event. We were unanimously of the opinion that every second of our time was worth it. Others made it to Belgaum from Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and several other places around the country.
After canteen break, it was off to Hidkal Dam where a fantastic lunch awaited us. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny morning, perfect for a picnic, and boy, did we enjoy ourselves at the Inspection Bungalow. More catch-ups, music and singing followed, before we headed back to Belgaum for the evening program in the Sankam Hotel courtyard. We did not know what further surprises awaited us, but any expectations we had were surpassed by the fantastic line-up of cuisine and entertainment that were put on by the “Three Idiots” – chief organisers Dinesh Patel, Manoj Talreja and Dr Babanna Hukkeri. To all three of you, I can only say “tussi great ho yaaro’’. No amount of words will be sufficient to describe what a tremendous job you guys did, and those who assisted you, in small and big ways. I’m sure the overwhelming success of our reunion and the time we spent together was a reward in itself for all your efforts.
The next morning, we gathered for breakfast at Hotel Ajanta Cafe in Tilakwadi, where we feasted on the South Indian specialities, collected our framed class photographs (another logistical wonder which I have no idea how Dinesh and company managed to accomplish) and then said our goodbyes, promising not to wait another 25 years before we meet again.
In parting, perhaps the best legacy of our reunion will be to act on Fr Agnelo’s words and work towards improving the lives of those less fortunate in the areas around Belgaum. I applaud the efforts of the Belgaum-based members of the Class of ‘85 in this regard and urge all of us to strive to achieve Father’s vision.
Cheer boys cheer.............!
Sanjay Bhosale, Class of 85, red house, today @ Canberra, Australia
