Guys, please plan that school reunion now

School reunions are fun. My school’s silver jubilee reunion was particularly special as we had put it together with some out-of-the-box thinking.

Fifty-nine school buddies from India and abroad, assembled on the St Vincent’s High School grounds in Pune on the evening of January 15, 2005.

Ours being a champion, boys only, sports school, we decided to celebrate the reunion by challenging the school senior boys’ football team to a match.

With our wives, children, our former principal, teachers and peons cramming the elegant sports stadium, we kicked off the game. We almost went ahead in the third minute through our eye surgeon, centre forward, Anand Sarma. Anand’s right footer kissed the cross piece. The first-half ended with the 17-year-olds getting only one goal past our 40-plus brigade, with yours truly in the goal.
We realised only later, that this was part of school team’s strategy. Their coach had told them, “Just humour the seniors in the first half and hammer them in the second half.” Needless to say, we were no match for teenage energy and went down 0-7.

Later in the school hall, we felicitated each and every teacher and peon with the traditional shawl and a gift cheque. We also spoke eloquently about our favourite teachers and how the school had shaped our lives.

However, we were surprised when our teachers joined hands and sang the song, ‘Good luck, good health, God bless you’ for us. They even pinned metal school badges procured from their own money on our chests. There was scarcely a dry eye in the audience. This silver jubilee proved a boon for my school batch. Today, we have 80 school buddies clubbed together on an internet group and in constant email contact from Pune to SiliconValley.

In fact, for almost two-years after the silver jubilee, we even played football every Sunday on the school ground. That was until a few of us broke our bones and needed hospitalisation.

Today, it only takes a quick email on the internet group for a dozen of us to assemble at a moment’s notice at our favourite watering hole in Pune for beer and gup-shup. With a mix of entrepreneurs, armed forces officers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and even a baker crowding the table, the conversation is at once eclectic and noisy or both.

The good thing is that the group is not restricted to just us boys. We organise frequent treks and overnight outdoor trips with our wives and children. Our most memorable ones being the lunch on the deck of an Indian naval frigate, where one of our buddies was a commander. The other time was when we sailed and swam to our heart’s content in the backwaters of a dam, where one of our buddies has a home. Today, our children are Facebook friends and our wives go out shopping together.

So, when are you planning your school reunion?