35th year reunion

I am extremely grateful for Rajesh Jhaveri for submitting the 35th year Reunion Report of the 71ers.

SHORT REVIEW OF THE 35th REUNION
OF CATHEDRAL & JOHN CONNON SCHOOL’S
BATCH OF 1971

The 35th reunion of the 1971 batch from Cathedral was held on Saturday the 23rd of December 2006 at Red Light (Khyber restaurant).

Scheduled so as to allow out of towners to return home the same evening, it was probably the longest brunch that most had ever attended, kicking off at 11am and stretching till 5pm, when the restaurant’s manager had to politely usher everyone out.

The venue, a nightclub, was decorated with streamers in the colours of the school and the four houses. Nostalgic ‘60’s hits piped from the speakers as each of the understandably hesitant at first ex-Cathedralites entered, introducing themselves with shrieks and squeals of joy, surprise and delight to their classmates, some of whom they were meeting after 35 years!

As a joke one ‘Cat’ even took another’s name to the consternation of all!

The familiarity of old established, everyone exchanged stories of the paths they had taken since leaving school, half a lifetime ago.

Reminiscing about the good old days brought back memories of an era when one had few cares in the world except having to pass exams and deciding what to wear to school socials.

Out of the 100 odd batchmates, 50 were contactable and 42 attended, some with their spouses.

A few of the absentees, who lived overseas, expressed regret at being unable to make the trip.

Despite an immense effort, it was practically impossible to trace the other 50, comprising mostly of ladies who’ve probably changed their surnames and addresses after marriage.

It will take a detective with worldwide reach to search for and locate the missing ones.

The jovial attendees more than made up for them with unbridled exhilaration fuelled with a little help from the bar’s spirits. The merriment reached a peak with a full throated rendition of the school song sung to a remixed track and some frenzied dancing as ‘Sounds of Silence’ gave way to Bollywood remixes.

After a late, late lunch, a minutes silence was observed for the 5 souls who had been prematurely snatched away.

A T shirt was distributed which bore the school’s logo (it took a week of constant phone calls to get permission from the principal to use it) and ‘Class of 1971 Cathedral & John Connon School’ printed on the front side in the school’s traditional purple colour.

The 3 (Arts, Biology & Maths) class photos were printed on the back.

Eventually everyone stumbled, slightly inebriated, out into the real world back to the present from the past after promising to meet again in five years for the 40th reunion, reluctantly bringing an afternoon of unparalleled fun and joy to its end.

Such truly wonderful and memorable moments are to be cherished.

Thank you Rajesh, and I hope you will send me some more photographs to put up on the Reunion site.