St. Aloysius Class of ’66 Reunites

St. Aloysius Class of ’66 Reunites

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Jan 3: The old classmates of 1966-76 batch of St. Aloysius School, Mangalore held a class mates reunion on Sunday, 27th December 2009. This batch has joined first standard in 1966.

28 classmates attended the event, which took place at Mangalore Club. They came from different parts of the world, and the country to attend this emotional and nostalgic event. This is the third time the classmates have been meeting in the last 3 years.

Anil came from Canada, Lokesh took leave from the Indian Army. Sudhakaran took the train from Calicut, Loy landed from Quatar, Anand drove from his coffee estate in Shakaleshpur. Though many of the classmates live in Mangalore, hardly few hundred meters apart, this is only occasion they to meet and share pleasantries. 

When classmates meet they come together like the fingers of a hand. It is effortless and natural. Indeed, to remain apart is painful not only for the absentee, but also those present.

Some are engineers, some doctors. Yet others are businessmen. One is a chartered accountant and another is a farmer. Some work for organizations and institutions in India and abroad. Some are self employed. A few are unemployed and not financially well off. But when they get together they do not feel the difference.

Elaborate preparation was made to create the right ambience and evoke the right sentiment. An invitation card was printed with old memorable photographs and the names of all classmates in the background. These were sent to all the classmates using all modes of communication like post, e-mail and personal visit. 

Issac Vaz made a PowerPoint presentation on life during the good old days. Agnel’s humour brought the house down with laughter. The venue was loaded with childhood sweetmeats like chicki, bendu, chocolates and savouries of the yester years, not to mention Goli Soda, Ice Candy, Bella Candy etc

At the last year’s reunion, a decision was made to form an education fund to institute scholarships for the benefit of children of classmates. About Rs. 80,000 was collected of which Rs. 50,000/- was given as scholarships. The money was kept in a joint account and DDs and cheques were given in the name of the mother of the child. Among the beneficiaries, one student scored 97% in first year PUC exams. In another case, the classmate has been missing since the past 11 years and his children are in high school and college. In a third case, the father is unemployed and has two school going children.

Harsha gave a few thoughts to carry the education fund forward and suggested that the health and medical expenses too should be met. The doctors in the group have been requested to find a way out.

It was also felt that St. Aloysius institutions should give weightage to the children of old students during admissions.

Class Reunions have of late emerged as a popular social bonding ritual as they bring back memories of childhood and enable us to connect with our roots. It also gives us a sense of security and identity as the group is exclusive and bound together by common past when we were all innocent and happy.

One feels that he is part of a support group, on which he can fall back on in times of need. People who are depressed, unemployed, economically weak etc also gain from the love and generosity of their old chums, especially as the help comes with genuine concern and there is neither shame nor any hidden strings attached.

This also extends our social network and children of classmates can get better opportunities for employment or business and also build up a confidence which will be helpful to them. Hence there is strong need for this type of reunions to be conducted everywhere.

The reunion was organized by Harsha D’souza and Terence D’souza. The organizers of the next reunion to be held in December 2010 will be Rudolph Rodrigues, Chartered Accountant and Blany Fernandes, the owner of Khazana, a fashion garment shop.