Class Get together : 16 Jan 2010

Just so that everyone of this wonderful team knows, I thought I will share
the experiences of some of us who had a rocking time on 16 Jan. See
photograph appended too.



You will recall that myself and Achu had reached out to many of you, some
over mail and others over the telephone to get a buy-in for setting up
this get together- we thought it was overdue. Sugathan Sir had been
discovered in Kochi, so also Sheela Miss; Jyoti had come down to Kochi
too. Shobha we all knew was posted there. A lot of you blessed this event
and wished us well , yet had other commitments which foreclosed their
option of attending. So there we were, having decided that Kochi was the
venue.



It became apparent that the quorum was limited; just 11 of us including
some of the spouses and the choice of accommodation came down to a few of
the oldies- finally decided on The International on MG Road. But
expectations on food were sky high- we then settled on The Grand , again
on MG Road. Local foodies told us that if it was Karimeen and curry, you
can’t beat the old dame.



Time to tell who all signed up- KP Ashok, Achu, myself, Anil, Aumray,
Vidya, Shobha, Jyoti. People who were almost there, but could not attend-
Ulhas, Raghu, Akhila, Krishnan, Uday (who had just returned to Canada), KC
Narendran. Others like Nandan and Gladys threatened to attend…………..we take
all threats seriously!! How can we forget the guests- Sugathan Sir and
Sheela Miss, Sundaresh (Shobha’s spouse) and Gopalakrishnan (Jyoti’s
spouse).



Each of us arrived at different times during the day-some came from far-
thanks Ashok, Anil for coming over from Bombay. The hotel staff had been
briefed about the event and how room numbers 309 to 312 would turn into a
war zone for 24 hours. Well heeled waiters began infusing us with spirits,
both fluid and other, appetizers followed. By the time we caught up with
school anecdotes , it was just enough time to change into our very best
and rush to The Grand. I am not sure about others but I had indeed gone to
a salon to look dapper- after all, meeting Jyoti and Shobha does not
happen every evening. Sugathan Sir simply could not wait to meet us at
dinner in the evening- he came over to our Hotel at noon to see each of
us.



Evening got rolling- a lot of hard work had gone into the choices of
hotel, restaurant and the food and wine. Took some time for ice to be
broken especially for the spouses- we had to go the extra mile to convince
them that we were not just a bunch of rogues, but had that fine side as
well. Shobha, Jyoti- please ask your hubbies if we convinced them………



Anecdotes followed- a few drinks down they got juicier and bawdier- we
were certainly was trying to impress the two girls. Sundaresh and Gopal
chipped in too. Sugathan Sir was very warm- Sheela Miss was even more
effusive. Vidya took his place behind the video-cam; we are yet to see the
result of his work other than many empties.



Speeches were hastened- too many had been downed by then and it wasn’t
sure if the gentlemen could say something of note without slurring.
Tributes were paid to the school, all the masters and misses- to MohanDas,
Ape, Ambu, Chinnamma, Vijayalakshmi, Vasudevan, Lakshminarayanan,
Sivasankaran, Vilasini, Soudamini,………………………we managed to bring Mohan Das
Master on the telephone and a round of thank yous in person going out to
him. He was his usual crisp self.



Sundaresh changed his loyalties and declared the Central School of the
early seventies to be “the school” in Calicut- thanks, Sundaresh- this act
just earns you a permanent place in the Hall Of Fame said and invitations
to our future meets in perpetuity. Gopal was most gracious- he kind of
glowed in the warmth spreading around.



It was midnight when the Cinderallas disappeared and the men in their
blacks (and fifties) trudged home to their hotel rooms singing nonsense
on the lonely MG Road.



One thing was certain- we will meet again- and again and again- each time
with more attendees and better food and wine.



To all here on this mail………….and those not on the mail, Cheriyan, Asha ,
Chandramohan, Vinod, Shikha Rani, Shanti, Neena, Geetha PC, V Harish,
Rajashekhar,Dayanand, Unnikrishnan, N Pradeep, Mohan Raj, Saroja Parasuram
(is that complete?)……………..we missed you. Take care, keep your flames alive
for all those beauties and the beaus………………. See snap below with many
empty glasses as evidence of the joy partaken(snap taken by Gopalakrishnan
not in the picture- you will find him in photos which I will upload later
on the Groups site in Google)



Till we meet next………………