Reflections
Batch of 1986 Silver Jubilee
By Jaideep Khurana (OS86)
A process that started 4 years ago, culminated in the build-up which had been hectic. Months of flurry of daily emails connecting with people, great organisational and fund raising abilities was put to test. Dedicated classmates spent hours pursuing the missing and the cause. For all the efforts, the batch of 1986 collected an unprecedented amount of more than Rs 50 lacs, from more than 100 batch mates, of which 93 were to go on to attend the Silver Jubilee celebrations.
Day 1: Harneet aka Tidhi very generously hosted the kick-off party on the 29thSeptember. There was much anticipation and excitement in the air, what was it going to be and feel like, after 25 years. . .
Classmates that hadn’t seen each other since school came rushing over with high five’s and hugs for the bold and beautiful. How had we all fared in all these years?
The ladies looked like blushing roses, well preserved and fragrant. The men, hmmmm. . .there were paunches, bald heads, much fewer turbans and some easily recognisable faces. After the initial pleasantries the evening just flowed. Finally, we were here all together and that’s all that mattered.
Apoorva’s movie was screened amidst much excitement and emotions flowed freely and so did the hospitality. The partying had begun; little did the DJ know that this bunch could rock to the 70’s and 80’s tunes but also demanded contemporary beats. The evening rocked! The booze flowed, the ice cracked and the show had only just begun . . . it was a triumph!
Day 2: 30 Sep,(Chandigarh) - Party by the river at North Park; organized for the 25th and the 50th year, and select dignitaries. Simmerpal aka Simu and Panita had made an amazing effort. The weather was perfect, the setting idyllic and conversations were now flowing freely. The Golden jubilee year had tremendous spirit, strutting and jiving on the dance floor. The 86-ers were measured at first, soaking in the conversation and the ambience but it didn’t take long to get their feet tapping and making it another night to remember.
Day 3: 1st Oct, Chota hazri and golf for the brave and abstemious. There was an impromptu gathering for the class at Gagan’s house and the afternoon turned out to be a riot. With many an old story, jokes and lots of connecting and echoes of laughter. There were photo ops and great new memories. The evening was another night of revelry at the OSS - bash at North Park and buying all the passes and coupons for Founders.
Day 4: 2nd Oct, The drive up on the 2nd October brought back many a memory, with a pit in the stomach as we turned into the home stretch. The school looked resplendent, after 25 years it was as if each leaf had been painted a luscious green to welcome us back. The school uniforms are now much smarter to say the least. The Chapel looked glorious but yet so familiar, the Assembly at 4:00 pm was special. Each speech carried its own story, photographs before and after and we couldn’t get enough. Heady hosted a “High Tea” and we moved on to the OSS- party at night, hosted generously by Tusky, at his home, which was the perfect setting. The men were talking to girls that they had never spoken with in school, photo ops and jhappi shuppies! The energy was pulsating and there was so much warmth and affection in the air. Drinks down and a few stories after, Starchy made his way to the Live Band and banged out some Blues. Sapru held up one corner and regaled the crowd with many a story!
Day 5 : For some ,The 3rd morning meant running the Hodson’s , infact Vellay ran 3 long backs, a short back and all the way back to Baikunth. The rest of us, 86ers in red t-shirts, walked through the memories of yester year through BD,GD, Birdwood, CDH, the Library and all the nooks and crannies we once knew so well. After lunch we tested our fitness form and walked down to Barnes for the OS soccer match; marshaled by Gappu, the OS beat the PS 5 -1.
Tattoo brought back so many memories and the Indian flag flying amidst the mist was breathtakingly surreal. Sanawar was shining!!! Come on Sanawar!! The OS party tested our commitment to bonding, we braved the 45 minute journey and finally got to the playing field ( the venue)!
Day 6: 4th morning, still blurry eyed, all of us were present at Peace stead on time. The trooping of the Colours was outstanding, the navy blue uniforms and swords much smarter the khakhis we had battled with. The 93 member squad of the Batch of 1986 was the largest in the March Past. It was a grand finale . . . way to go Sanawar! We had the time of our lives. . . Thank You!!
Through the many days of celebrations we had a professional filming crew follow our every step. Over 100 hours of footage now beckons for the skills of Apoorva to edit it into a 1 hour film. It is a memory that each one of us will hold dear for life. The AV is eagerly anticipated.
Some parting shots by our classmates after the reunion: -
“What a 'Grand re-union' it was. I have come away with a renewed sense of pride at being a Sanawarian, but a brand new sense of exhilaration at having been a part of the 'Batch of 86' ”
“A head and heart rush, re-connecting with so many wonderful friends. After meandering through the lanes and highways of life over the last 25 years - had never imagined such an incredible home coming. It was awesome to be ensconced in the warmth and affection of the 86ers embrace”
“Goose bumps, hair standing, emotional, gut wrenching the Silver jubilee of 1986... WOW what an experience. Way beyond anything I had hoped for. Worth the 25 year wait but would love to do it again in 5 years this time, lets not wait for 50.”
“A kaleidoscope of colors, echoing laughter, friendly faces and extremely dilated pupils. The only antidote is another reunion of the batch of 86.”
Golden Highlights - Founders’ 2011
By Prabhsharan Singh Kang (OS61)
Our class had initiated Sanawar traditions in 1961: Class and house-wise hikes; musicals - for Nilagiri and Founder’s; Bhangra at Founder’s; mixed house parties.
14 of us are now gone, including Dinesh Srivastava (Academics topper, then IIT, the US and IT advisor to 3 Indian PMs), twice Kalinga winner Baldev Dua and Texas rancher Himmat Singh. We held a private memorial meet for them.
Many couldn’t come for the Jubilee - inventor Vivek Mundkur (installing his windmill-cum-prayer wheel at a Himalayan monastery), dancer Rajika Puri (finalising another lec-dem tour out of New York), 3 CAs (busy sorting economies), Harjinder Bhatti (coaching Polo in Germany), etc.
Schedule from 29 Sept 2011, Delhi: Cols GBS Pahuwindia ‘51 and Billy Sodhi ’54 helped us organise a “Sanawar Golden Jubilee” dinner (this needs to be a larger, annual event).
30 Sept, Chandigarh; a touching gesture, dinner hosted by the Silver Jubilee class (’86).
2 Oct, Sanawar: Navin Chawla presented his awards for the Gandhi essay competition. At Jubilee service, the choir honoured our “Music” tradition by letting us sing a hymn with them.
3 Oct: Dr. Meenakshi Mahapatra, FRCA, motivated athletes to break her 50+ years old sprint records.
4 Oct: Parade Chief Guest, Army Chief, photographed with us after we marched past.
Founder’s attendees: from 4 IITians plus other engineers - US techies Arun Sobti, Avinash Bahadur, Deep Puar; IFS/IAS - Ambassador Surinder Gill, ex-CEC Navin Chawla, ex-Chief Secretaries Jai Singh Gill & Sunil Ahuja; Soldiers- Lt. Gen. Balraj Takhar (ex-GOC-in-C), Brig. Harinder Bains, Capt VN Kumar (also entrepreneur); Doctors Meenakshi Mahapatra, Thilo Prabhakar; Founder-Director Indo-American Arts Council (NY) Aroon Shivdasani (came with leg fracture and torn ligament); US writer-activist Latika Mangrulkar; entrepreneurs Bharat Kumar, Manju Mehra, Neena Kaintal, Rakesh Mann, Shashi Bawa, Vinay Tuli; Travel-agent Shashi Agarwal; Social-worker Manju Rajpal; turbaned Advertising pioneer-cum-professor Prabhsharan Kang.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/01/grange-prize.html
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/11/01/gauri-gill-wins-2011-grange-prize/
congratulations from the OS fraternity
November 30, 2011
“REMEMBER THE LEGENDS”
The Lawrence School, Sanawar is putting up three shows of the One Act Play "REMEMBER THE LEGENDS" at Delhi and Chandigarh in January 2012. This play was greatly applauded at Founder’s this year.
The details of the shows are as follows:
Passes for the same can be booked with the school at nominal rates.
Children below the age of 8 years are not permitted.
As seats are limited at both the venues, passes will be provided at first cum first serve basis.
Booking details and queries for the same can be sent/made to the following emails and contact no.s:
snaoffice@yahoo.com Tele no.s +911792 261208/261209/261229 rajchauhan73@gmail.com Cell no. +919218564677 binitarishi68@yahoo.com Cell No. 919805021008
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