By Vaishali Chitale Chandorkar
Reunions are fun, especially the ones held many years after,
Like our school’s 43rd was fun, frolic and laughter!
All the peripherals just melt into the air,
As everyone regresses to being schoolgoers once again!
Our excitement had started building the moment the OC (Dony, Kishore, Sharat and Vivek) announced the dates and the venue for the reunion—6th-8th October, The Savoy, Mussoorie. It reached a crescendo as the time neared and before we knew it, we were on our way!
The Savoy didn’t know what hit it when the class of 80 descended on it for their 43rd reunion. The place I am sure, hasn’t seen this kind of buzz since their hey days before the independence. A hotel with its rich history was an ideal pick—courtesy of Dony —for our historical meet too; after all we are now officially in our sexy sixties!
The bonhomie took off by the evening of the 6th after everyone arrived by different modes of transport—some flew in, some drove down in their cars with co-passengers and the majority of us, 16 to be precise, arrived in a freaking bus! Yes, the urge to be there was so great that we willingly subjected ourselves to a long sleep-inducing drive of almost 10 hours just to be with our batchmates! It’s a different story that our reunion started the minute we boarded the bus, what with the sheer happiness of being with friends, non-stop laughter, gossip, lively music, dancing and falling in the narrow aisles of a moving bus, and gorging on the crunchy kachoris and samosas, thoughtfully provided by our genial and good-humored kachori queen, Rachna. The never-die spirit continued throughout the day; our mini-reunion was already underway. Thank you, Kirti, for arranging this unforgettable ride and bearing with our occasional tantrums.
After a quick cup of tea, we were herded into the State Room by the ever-patient OC for the meet -and- greet session. Starting on a sombre note, we first paid our respects to dear friend Vikram Inamdar, whom we lost early this year to cancer. A one-minute silence in his memory, followed by a touching AV made by our very own talented Vivek Gulati, made us miss him all the more. The mood changed to nostalgia with the next AV. Traversing the journey from our 25th in 2005 to our present year, it encapsulated beautifully the masti, the camaraderie and the euphoria of meeting school friends. The hall rang out with hoots of laughter, naughty whistles, whoops of joy and extreme joie-de-vivre; so much so that I am sure this was the moment when the in-house bhootni decided that her scary tactics would be a wasted effort here; in fact could have an opposite effect and made a graceful exit for the next two days. Thank you bhootni and thank you Vivek for reviving our memories and making us walk the lane again.
Our own warbler, Sudhanshu’s friends from the showbiz were on next and this AV elicited more chuckles from all around as we were informed with utmost seriousness that they were shocked to know that he had actually attended a school, and a school as fine as AFCS at that!! Good-natured leg pulling apart, they wished us all the very best for years to come!
But the cherry on the cake was yet to come. We were told by our own erudite Dony that the goodie bag of this reunion contains a big surprise in the form of a — BOOK! written by…. yes, you guessed it …. when in Mussoorie, who else can it be but—the great RUSKIN BOND!! We were presented with his latest book, ‘The Golden Years.’ But hear, hear that wasn’t the entire surprise – each of us was given a signed copy by the famous author! How they (the OC) achieved this feat is a story for some other time! Suffice it to say, we were thrilled to receive this bounty and words failed us to express our thanks to the OC for the same. A video message from THE Ruskin Bond filled our cup of happiness to the brim!
Our goodie bag contained more. A pair of embossed whiskey glasses to have a drink in while reliving the magic moments of our reunions; a beautiful wallet, courtesy of the ever affable and generous to-a-fault, Manish Kawlra; a smart jacket (yes, the one seen in our reunion picture)designed by our in-house designers—the OC and the bag itself with our school emblem!
Replete with happiness and back-slapping we retired from there only to regroup in an hour or so for an evening of live music, melodious singing, dancing, merry-making and eating, in that order! The evening belonged to Sudhanshu, who again spun magic with his guitar and belted out one hit after another with his usual josh and enthusiasm. All this while munching on snacks from the hotel, savouries from Lucknow and Old Delhi thanks to Nandita and Rachna, and awesome brownies furnished by Nita. Baked by her pastry chef daughter, exactly what we needed to put us in the groove! Nita, do thank your daughter for the same! The hours just flew by till we were again herded, sometimes gently, sometimes not, to the dining hall for dinner!
We didn’t want the evening to end and The Savoy saw an unbelievable sight of 60-somethings dancing rumbustiously to live music in their genteel hall. Gentle reprimands from the management fell on deaf ears and they stood helplessly watching as other diners also joined in the revelry. All in all, an evening The Savoy is not going to forget in a hurry!
A morning walk had been planned for the early risers and I am sure not many took up this offer. Most of us had leisurely cups of tea on the patio assigned to us and musings continued. After an unhurried breakfast we were again, yes you guessed it – herded to the State Room for a documentary on the history of The Savoy. Informative and entertaining it most definitely was, but when it’s a question of a history lesson, we want our own Mrs. Luther!
A tour of the hotel was next on the agenda and some of us followed the shepherd assigned to us. But unlike the docile sheep, we were a tough flock to gather. Giving up on us, she soon left us to our own devices and sure enough, the mobiles were out taking selfies with friends and each other instead of the sights around. The morning went in taking pictures, reconnecting and catching up with friends and their lives. A lazy afternoon followed. Some went to the Mall, some to sprawl!
The big evening was looming large …an evening when we all dressed alike for the school pic! Unlike the previous three meets, where the school uniform pic was mandatory, the OC on popular demand, had finally relented and given in. We were told to dress up in jeans, a white shirt/top, the Reunion jacket and a pair of sneakers! Again, unlike the school times, where the prefects were kept busy reprimanding us to dress according to the school norms, we behaved and turned up in the required dress code! Amidst lots of shouting, and confusion over seating, proper lighting, posturing and posing finally the picture was taken to everyone’s satisfaction. And what a pic it has turned out to be…. See for yourself! Section-wise pictures followed and finally, we were free to party again!
And party we did! The hotel-crooner got another chance to entertain us with songs of our choice and many couldn’t resist taking to the floor and dancing the evening away. Networking, catching up continued along with scrumptious snacks and daaru flowing uninterruptedly. Midway through the evening, with much fanfare, the OC wheeled in a delicious looking cake which was cut by the girls and devoured by all.
As usual, we didn’t want the evening to end. But like all good things come to an end, this one did too and this time, without any prodding, we all trooped in for dinner together as if we all knew intrinsically that the time to depart was nearing. Reluctant to part, we all gathered at our adda and another bout of non-stop talk continued late into the night.
Before we knew it, the morning of the 8th was upon us and the time had come to depart. With reluctant good-byes, ‘will-miss-you’ byes and hugging that one last time, we all took our leave, promising to be in touch and be there for the next mega reunion-our 45th!!
Last but not least, this write-up would be incomplete without acknowledging the true stalwarts of this event, who made it possible for us to have a fun-filled exuberant weekend without a single worry in the world— our indomitable four! The backstage work of our OC and the planning required to execute it can only be imagined by us all merry-makers. I am sure I am speaking for all of us when I extend my deep sense of gratitude and thanks to you four— Dony, Vivek, Sharat and Kishore – for taking us back to our school days so beautifully and helping us make more memories. Thank you guys for everything.
Au revoir!!
The Bash of 80 