Thanks to 69er Prakash Thadani for this report from Mumbai about Founders Day Alumni Dinner and some other items. Thanks Prakash for the superb presentation. I am sure Cathedralites around the world, like me, will wish that they had been there!
Dear Jacob,
How are you & Annikki?
Trust this finds you and your family in the best of health and spirits. The lovely calendar you sent still sits next to my computer.
One hectic weekend over with the Alumni Dinner to celebrate Founder's Day.
An enthusiastic dedicated Alumni team worked together to ensure that function was well attended and that a good time was had by all who were there.
The venue Blue Sea at Worli Sea Face, the sea in front with a cool breeze wafting through. Beautiful decor by Nazneen & Perrine Irani. Balloons in Purple, Black & White. The flower arrangements were something to enjoy and appreciate on every table with a candle tee light. Reams of tissue in Purple, Black and White criss-crossing the ceiling of the air conditioned room.
The food was, as expected, delicious: bit sized boneless chicken in a thick gravy, sarson ka saag, makhani dal the dum biryani crisp freshly baked nans at the tandoor, and for the calories concious, a noodle counter, all made by the internationally famous Copper Chimney Kitchen.
Deserts were kulfi and falooda, the rabri was missing. Tiramisu and Blueberry mousse in shot glasses.
From the Class of 1969 there was Sunita Struck from Germany accompanied by her elder brother Pratap Kamal Kavarana, with her sister Roxanne, Sheba Thomas (née Eapen) Shekhar Shah, Anil & Honey Harish and, of course, Gopika Saran & Shyla, Naushad Patel and their daugher Alisha.
Prakash Thadani (class of 1969) was at the entrance welcoming each and everyone checking their invites and seeing if they had filled out the forms and requesting those who hadn't to fill it out. Pens were kept at the desks.(Efficiency & fore-thought)
Over 450 people turned up while the Alumni Committee Rohita Doshi (née Chhaganlal), Shyla Boga Patel, Chitra Rajkumar, Sonal Modi, Rajeev Bhatia, Meil Phatak (née Saigal) Dr. Anand Shroff, Firdausi Jussawalla aided by the dynamic Gopika Saran, very efficiently handled the brisk sale of the invites.
Many sizzled the floor with their graceful moves. Towards the end of the evening a younger crowd hung on till 2 am and the Alumni Committee left the place by 2.45 am after taking the banners, boxes, and email forms collected at the entrance. The slips collected will go for the Alumni database and hopefully all will soon receive emails regularly. (A complaint heard very often from many that they don't know what's happening as snail mail is not being done now.)
The DJ played music for all ages right from the 50's to the 21st century Rap that is loved by all youngsters of today.
One noticed several pregnant ladies accompanying their husbands, admissions round the corner, better get to know Mrs M. Isaacs before the baby arrives. Even those parents who recently have had babies were there coming in their chauffeur driven cars all to network and see what their peers have been upto, even though the valet service provided by the Blue Sea was excellent with ample parking on the sea face.
Rohita Doshi the current Alumni President, gave a small speech thanking all the sponsors. A lucky draw was held, Mrs Nargolwalla drew the lucky slip of Hrushit Bhat, who won a return ticket on Goa Air the newest no frill airline promoted by the Wadia's of Bombay Dyeing.
Mala Dayal (class of 1970), looking really graceful, accompanied her brother Ajit and sister Sunita Karna from Bangalore. Others from Mala's batch were Havovi, Amita Maliye
Monica Vaziralli (class of 1968) made a grand late entrance with some stunning Jadhao jewllery, bright canary yellow spaghetti top a thin flowing knee length skirt. In contrast, her daughter, Payal, was in a very traditional attire with a Bindi and her husband Akshay in full black. Black seemed to be the in colour for many of the young men in attendance.
Several former teachers who came included Mr. Pande, Dr. Chand, Mr. Sharma, Miss Hallegua and Mrs Nargolwalla and her husband.
The Class of 1956 had all of them mingling with the younger lot of ex-Cathedralites. They were all with H.S. Uberoi and his wife Dimple. Their turnout at the church service on 14th morning was very noticeable as they sat in the front pews. The Church service was again a very memorable morning, followed by a tea and the Alumni AGM at the Middle School on Tuesday 14th. The school choir sang hymns, school prayers with much passion and feeling that touched all those who heard them,
Ratan Lalkaka, was accompanied his old friend Naresh Maniar, down in Mumbai from the US. Vinod Nayar and wife Joanne, sat with 59er Renuka (née Dhanrajgir) & Ratan Batliwala.
Youngsters from all batches who attended to meet drink and dance the Saturday night away, were Sharan Jagtiani, Ruchika Bhojwani, Namita Devidayal, Prat Motwani, Anushka Pinto, Uraz Bahl, Zahan Batliwala, Tarun Thadani, Ranjana (née Kamlani). Reyna Jagtiani with a crew cut mentioned she was playing great music at a local Lounge. Vidur Sood was there from the US. Gulu Watumull hung around the bar while receiving endless calls on his mobile. Our Congress M.P from Cathedral Alumni, Milind Deora, was also in atendance with friends.
Other Cathedralites who made the effort of attending were, Ashok Kurien, Nawaz & Gautam Singhania with sister Shefali, Dinky & Navin Sadarangani, Tanya (née Godrej) and husband Arvind Dubash, Pherosa Godrej with her kids, Navroz and daughter, Gayatri & Atul Ruia, Madhoo & Anand Shah, Rajeev Samant of Sula Wines.
Sula wines had donated their white, red and rose wines for consumption at the dinner. Rajeev has been in the news lately for aggressively promoting his brand of Sula Wines with grapes grown only in Maharashtra.
Rajeev Bhatia was seen distributing his planned proposal for the plans of the future plans of the Alumni. Its fund raising, aims, aspirations and intending help for the school.
Reliance Telecom had also put up a stall to promote thier Reliance connect the wire free internet connection now freely available in India.
The elegance and style at such an event was clearly evident, no hiccups, no throwing up youngsters, everyone smartly attired. No press cameras and NO TV personel for Page 3 coverage, A few photographs were discreetly clicked by an inobtrusive cameraman. But this time one noticed a lot of interaction. Exchange of cards, people all talking about what they do their work, asking questions about school, more aggresively than ever.
A great fun time was had by all those who came. This clearly indicates that the Alumni Committee will now annually plan to hold a dinner for the Founder's Day Celebration after the resounding success of this evening.
69er Prakash Thadani
PS : One thing that wasn't done: NO SCHOOL SONG WAS SUNG as everyone was too busy networking !
Footnote :
1. Theobroma, the food of the Gods in Greece. This new deli has taken Mumbai by storm. Run by a Parsi husband & wife team they make great snacks and have a very small 4 table coffee shop on the border of Cusrow Baug opposite the Hanuman Temple.
2. The Lavage quiches, croissants and delightful pastries are a rage with everyone. They have also introduced dips, humous and other novelty foods that others have missed out.
3. Anushka Jagtiani will sing as the 2nd act on the opening day of the Jazz Utsav 2006, She is going to do a blues act Eta James style with some other Cathedralite musicians. Jazz Utsav 2006 organised and hosted by Capital Jazz will be staging a 3 day Jazz Festival at the Bandra Amphitheatre Landsend from the 1st of Dec to the 3rd. 6 foreign groups from Europe and 3 Indian artists will perform. To open the Jazz Utsav we have Gary Lawyer, India's most well known western music singer.
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