On last Sunday, we turned those teen age boys once again

Last Sunday, 29th of July 2012 was a normal Sunday for mostly all people. But it was a very special Sunday for the classmates and teachers of the SSLC batch of 1982 A division of Leo XIII High School at Alleppey. We gathered in the same classroom after 30 years together with our families, in the presence of our respected teachers. Although many of our friends could not make it to the venue due to several reasons, their hearts were with us, which we could feel.

Std X A -1982 classroom

  I must confess that I never knew the skills of my friends, that's why I was pleasently surprised by the oratory ability of John Rollince, when he opened the meeting with his brilliant remarks. We started with a silent prayer and the first item of the agenda was to say condolence on Sivakumar Samu, our classmate who died just 48 hours ago. It was a sad moment, as he was one among us and tentatively planned to join us, although later informed us that he would not come due to some inconvenience. Sunil Thomas read our the condolence note followed by Commemoration of Jude Joseph who died in an accident a few years after we left our school. Anil Joseph read the commemoration note on Jude as well as some of our teachers who passed away.  


On our invitation, there were 2 guests also attended our gathering - Fr.Stanley, who is currently the manager of the school and the current principal Mr.Prabhakaran. Responsibility of welcoming the guests, teachers and families was mine and while I was saying my welcome address, my friends handed over welcome flowers to guests and teachers.

Current principal, George-sir, Francis-sir,  
Manager(Fr.Stanly),
EO Abraham-sir, Manual-sir and Wilkinson sir.

Seeing our teachers after long 3 decades was an experience for me. They were in their late 40s when we were in  the school and now have become old and we have reached our mid 40s. I am sure it was interesting for our spouses and children watching us becoming those teen age boys again in front of our teachers and among our friends. Memories were abundantly flowing from both my friends and teachers; we have literally transformed into our teens. Rajesh expressed that we were so lucky that we had them as our teachers and owe all progress in our life to them. Satheesh wanted this kind of togetherness to become a more close community like a family.

Manager Fr.Stanley and Principal Mr.Prabhakaran have urged us to support the renovation of the school. They expressed the difficulties of running the school in the changed world order. The school really needs a make over. With his oratory skills, Mr.Prabharan made us really feel  that the school is like our mother and we have responsibilities towards our school.

 One by one Wellkinson Sir, manual Sir, Fransis Sir and Geroge Sir have made felicitations and each one was so good. They poured out during their speeches that they are proud about us...... they were so happy, which they did not hide.

EO Abraham sir was looking fabulous. I can not forget his "signature smile" during his presidential address in the meeting. it was exactly like the smile that we are used to in his classes.

George Sir came down from Trivandrum to be with us. His Hindi comments was humorous and he sang 2 lines of"Kafi Kafi
mere dil me"...........very touching, indeed.

Manual Sir has advised the next generation to study and work hard to come up in their life. It was an excellent gesture for our kids.

Francis Sir has mentioned his own nick name during his speech.  He said he was popularly known as "Kakameesha" by the students. He said it with a smile.

Welkinson Sir have mentioned that he remembers Jude and Shigy clearly, as he was very fond of football and was  a source of encouragement for their foot-ball matches.

We had very limited time and had to finish the meeting and rush to the Pagoda resorts, where we have planned lot of fun and socializing. Vote of thanks was said by Mathew Thomas and we have given small gifts to our teachers during the vote of thanks.

Group photo outside the classroom.  
Jacob Fenn, Mujeeb Rahman,  VJ Mathew, Shiji,
Alex, Sonnel, Satheesh, Akhnis, Binoy Al, Sunil Thomas, Sunil AR, Anil Joseph,
Rajesh KS(Dr), George Kalacherry, Rajesh George, Justus, John Rollince, GeorgeSir,
ManualSir, Mr.Prabhakaran(principal), Fr.Stanley(Manager), EO AbrahamSir,
FrancisSir, WelkinsonSir,Jomon, Asif Muhammed, Mathew Thomas(Dr)

We have arranged a professional photographer for taking good photos especially for those who could not attend the gathering. After the meeting in the classroom, we have grouped in front of the classroom and taken group photos with and without families. All the photos included in this are taken by my son. But, good quality photos will be available a few days later from the professional photographer. After the photo shoot we went to Pagoda Resorts  and spent the rest of the day there. It was a fantastic day there except for missing the friends who could not join with us for the party.

Coming Soon.......Please expect a blog soon on my experience at the Pagoda with friends.