Mangalore: 1966 Class Reunion - 32 Classmates Meet After 32 Years
Media Release by Mahesh Nayak
Mangalore, Jan 1: It was indeed a touching occasion for the 32 people who met. They were the classmates of the 1966 Batch of St Aloysius School, Mangalore. They had joined the institution in the First Standard in 1966 and passed out (in some cases failed out too) in 1976. Now after a gap of 32 years, they were meeting again to catch up on the good old days and where life had led them after that. Today each person’s life had evolved into a story on its own. Though the different classmates now occupied different stations in life, their common bonding of being classmates recognised none of these differences and they all enjoyed each others’ company irrespective of being ‘big’ or ‘small’.
The first attempt to organize the reunion last year by a few classmates evoked enthusiastic response from the locals. So this time, the organizers doubled their effort and systematically compiled the data base on all outstation classmates. The response was fabulous. Lokesh, who works for Indian Army spent 6 days travelling from and to Srinagar. |Denzil Fernandes came from Delhi; Ronald Goveas from Mumbai; Sudesh Hegde, Ajith Padival and Venkatesh Murthy came from Bangalore; Philip Colaco from USA and Julies Serrao from Dubai were already in town as they had planned their holidays to coincide with this event. Most of the local classmates came and helped in putting the show together. It was a very nostalgic occasion for all.
The rendezvous was the grand old ‘palace’ of the town – Mangalore Club. The date, Sunday, 28th December 2008. They met for lunch and a full four hours of bonhomie. True to the theme of the invitation 'For Old Times Sake', the organizers took great pains to gather the extinct treats and delicacies of the past, like Goli Soda, Bhend, Chicki, Anarkali, Ice Candy, Pepsi Candy etc., and served them on a platter - to the extreme surprise and delight to their visiting buddies who had not tasted these for decades. In fact most of them did not hesitate to pocket generous helpings of these items to impress their kids back home. Special caps were made for the occasion.
The highlight of the formal function was an audio visual presentation on the their mutually shared decade at school – a rewind on important events of the 60's and 70's, followed by a recap on the struggles each one is facing today. A special tribute to the old teachers was paid through a short movie of still pictures with a background song – 'Alvida Na Kehana'. Some old classmates who are no more were fondly remembered.
Also screened was a nostalgic video clipping of ‘Mangli, the Juice Man’ (Ananth Shenoy) who used to make sugarcane juice on Light House Hill during those days. He now runs a sugar cane machine opposite the gate of Canara High School, Urwa near Mangala Stadium.
Venkatesh Murthy struck a chord with the crowd with his violin, which he played with just 2 strings. The multifaceted Agnel Rodrigues had many jokes to crack and sent his classmates into peals of laughter.
Errol Pinto proposed to start a Fund, which will finance worthy social causes of their alma mater, St. Aloysius as well as meet the needs of some classmates who are in dire financial straits. The help offered could include scholarship/education expenses of their children or some medical expenses. Spot commitment to the tune of Rs.65,000/- was instantly forthcoming and more collections are expected.
A Directory of all the classmates with present addresses, contact members and email has been compiled to help the classmates to keep in touch with each other. Classmates who missed out on this reunion can contribute their contact details to harshadsouza@gmail.com
Harsha D’souza served as the organising secretary and Terence D’souza was the finance secretary for this memorable event.
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