Here is my write up sent to Viral for the Undefiled Heritage book - with some additions and some subtractions.
Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days, life was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again from “Cats”
How do you capture 9.5 years at Cathedral in a page or two and who do you write about? Too many scenes flash before my eyes, some sad, mostly happy. So here are some of the moments that bring a smile to my face.
Words that come back from the past ...
Mr Lobo’s talks on “life, growing up and morality” in std 11D, Mr Elisha’s “You can but you may not”, Mrs Nargolwalla’s “Mind you well”, and Mr Krishnan’s “Please note you see” . Incidentally Mr Krishnan has the sole honour of being the only teacher who ever threw me out of a class. “Please note you see listening is a form of talking”, he said to me. Logic I have yet to comprehend in the teacher – student context.
Mrs Punoose's "united we stand divided we" and the chorus of "fall" from the class.
Mr Wagh’s hindi class in the SLR often commenced with a plea of “Sir, aaj hum self study karenge”. And on the occasion when he happily (or otherwise) conceded, self study consisted of watching the activities in the quadrangle. And Mr Pande’s std 7 hindi class were full of giggles when in a story about pandas Mr Pande asked the class “Pande kya kya khate hai”.
The boys in our maths class took great delight in annoying Mr Rao by placing the duster on top of the blackboard and a mean little rhyme underneath in many variations one of which was “Babu Babu little man, reach the duster if you can”. Lucky for them, Mr Rao took this in good humour.
And then there was Mr Tessyman with the squeaky shoes, my std 9C teacher. He gave us girls many a stern lecture on behaviour with boys and I guess he did the same with them. His interesting rendition of "My Family and Other Animals" made English Literature entertaining and bearable. Tessy was often greeted by a quiet chorus of "Aussie go home" (we didn't really want him to but I guess teenagers can be a crazy lot). He was truly the epitome of all that a teacher should be and std 9C was a privileged class to have had such a fine teacher.
Savage House was indeed very lucky to have had Mr Elisha and Mrs Kochar as our house master and mistress and I was lucky to have had many wonderful class teachers over the years: Miss Webster, Mrs De Quadros, Miss Shinde, Mrs Raye, Miss Eapen, Mrs Punoose, Mrs Nargolwalla, Mr Tessyman, Mrs Karat, and Mr Lobo. But I think my favourite teacher of all time was Mrs Velu, my std 3 class teacher. I think she was the sweetest and kindest teacher I knew.
I have so many Savage House memories which I share with Padmaja Kelkar. We didn’t lead the house to victory (sadly we came last), but the journey as captains was one we will never forget. I can still see us standing in front of the house in the SLR, so many faces around us, screaming ourselves hoarse at athletics and other sports events, marching practice, house games on Tuesdays ... the list goes on and on.
Nasreen Varawalla and I also share many Savage House and class memories. Nasreen is one of the sweetest and nicest natured girls I have ever known. Kind and generous and so pretty with her two pigtails.
I think life at Cathedral would have been downright boring if Amy Madon hadn’t been in our class. Amy was the class entertainer and one of my special friends. Amy had a great talent for being in love with several boys at the same time. But if I were to mention every incident that I can recall, I would have to a write a book about her. Here is one that comes to the fore ... Amy sat behind me in std 9C and had this annoying habit of sticking a pencil through gaps in the chair so that when I sat back I could feel the sharp point sting the middle of my back. I can still see myself turn around and hear myself say “Stop it Amy, I don’t like it even if you do”. Despite that, Amy was so much fun to be around and she still is.
Ayesha Dhunjibhoy, another special friend, was my classmate and in my commerce group. Ayesha and I often raced to hand in our commercial maths books. Once we both handed in our books at the very same time and when we got them back, Mr Rao made a very apt remark in them “Great minds think alike”. Ayesha and I had not only got the answer wrong, but we had made the same mistake!
Vasu Chitnis was one my best friends then and continues to be even now. Vasu was big hearted, very generous, great sense of humour, great fun to be with. Always happy, smart, confident and down to earth. We were in different groups but shared the same English Language, Literature and Hindi class. Vasu moved to the US in std 10 so while she contemplated her life there during the classes and chattered away, I dreamt of Donny Osmond.
Rekha Patel and I share not only memories at Cathedral but also at Sydenham. This verse of a Terry Jacks song sums up my beautiful friendship with Rekha.
I am convinced that Rekha and I have a linked destiny as we both live in New Zealand (purely by accident) and often reminisce over the old days.
I had the greatest admiration and respect for Ramu Mahadevan. He always had a smile on his face and he treated everyone with dignity and courtesy and he was one of the smartest kids in the class.
Our head girl Lira Cherian, was outstanding in everything she did. And strangely enough my memory of our head boy Dinesh Mirchandani is always with a guitar.
There are other special friends I could write about, but I could not end without mentioning my very dear friend Vivek Hurry who gleefully and constantly teased me and who was the mastermind behind my nickname “Suzy”. Vivek wrote many poems about me (much to my annoyance and his delight) one which I still have in a box somewhere titled “Suzy on the screen on Sunday” sung to the tune of “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. But I am no poet so instead I will also pick a Beatles song and dedicate some lines to my cherished friend.
Other memorable events -
* my first senior social - dancing with a very cute guy who made me feel like a million bucks!
* winning the std 7 Hindi debates prize
* being handed the vice captain's badge
* investiture ceremony - do you solemnly promise to live upto the high standards of life - the mischievious side of me now wonders what would have happened if we had said I don't instead of the I do!
* First and last house assemblies as house captains
* Founders day at the church - walking down the aisle as prefects or captains
* Mr Jacob's scripture lessons with the "humming" fans in his office
* Std 9C class picnic
* Christmas Carols and the movies in the school hall at the end of the year
* Speech Day
These and many more are memories at Cathedral that will live on forever
Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days, life was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again from “Cats”
How do you capture 9.5 years at Cathedral in a page or two and who do you write about? Too many scenes flash before my eyes, some sad, mostly happy. So here are some of the moments that bring a smile to my face.
Words that come back from the past ...
Mr Lobo’s talks on “life, growing up and morality” in std 11D, Mr Elisha’s “You can but you may not”, Mrs Nargolwalla’s “Mind you well”, and Mr Krishnan’s “Please note you see” . Incidentally Mr Krishnan has the sole honour of being the only teacher who ever threw me out of a class. “Please note you see listening is a form of talking”, he said to me. Logic I have yet to comprehend in the teacher – student context.
Mrs Punoose's "united we stand divided we" and the chorus of "fall" from the class.
Mr Wagh’s hindi class in the SLR often commenced with a plea of “Sir, aaj hum self study karenge”. And on the occasion when he happily (or otherwise) conceded, self study consisted of watching the activities in the quadrangle. And Mr Pande’s std 7 hindi class were full of giggles when in a story about pandas Mr Pande asked the class “Pande kya kya khate hai”.
The boys in our maths class took great delight in annoying Mr Rao by placing the duster on top of the blackboard and a mean little rhyme underneath in many variations one of which was “Babu Babu little man, reach the duster if you can”. Lucky for them, Mr Rao took this in good humour.
And then there was Mr Tessyman with the squeaky shoes, my std 9C teacher. He gave us girls many a stern lecture on behaviour with boys and I guess he did the same with them. His interesting rendition of "My Family and Other Animals" made English Literature entertaining and bearable. Tessy was often greeted by a quiet chorus of "Aussie go home" (we didn't really want him to but I guess teenagers can be a crazy lot). He was truly the epitome of all that a teacher should be and std 9C was a privileged class to have had such a fine teacher.
Savage House was indeed very lucky to have had Mr Elisha and Mrs Kochar as our house master and mistress and I was lucky to have had many wonderful class teachers over the years: Miss Webster, Mrs De Quadros, Miss Shinde, Mrs Raye, Miss Eapen, Mrs Punoose, Mrs Nargolwalla, Mr Tessyman, Mrs Karat, and Mr Lobo. But I think my favourite teacher of all time was Mrs Velu, my std 3 class teacher. I think she was the sweetest and kindest teacher I knew.
I have so many Savage House memories which I share with Padmaja Kelkar. We didn’t lead the house to victory (sadly we came last), but the journey as captains was one we will never forget. I can still see us standing in front of the house in the SLR, so many faces around us, screaming ourselves hoarse at athletics and other sports events, marching practice, house games on Tuesdays ... the list goes on and on.
Nasreen Varawalla and I also share many Savage House and class memories. Nasreen is one of the sweetest and nicest natured girls I have ever known. Kind and generous and so pretty with her two pigtails.
I think life at Cathedral would have been downright boring if Amy Madon hadn’t been in our class. Amy was the class entertainer and one of my special friends. Amy had a great talent for being in love with several boys at the same time. But if I were to mention every incident that I can recall, I would have to a write a book about her. Here is one that comes to the fore ... Amy sat behind me in std 9C and had this annoying habit of sticking a pencil through gaps in the chair so that when I sat back I could feel the sharp point sting the middle of my back. I can still see myself turn around and hear myself say “Stop it Amy, I don’t like it even if you do”. Despite that, Amy was so much fun to be around and she still is.
Ayesha Dhunjibhoy, another special friend, was my classmate and in my commerce group. Ayesha and I often raced to hand in our commercial maths books. Once we both handed in our books at the very same time and when we got them back, Mr Rao made a very apt remark in them “Great minds think alike”. Ayesha and I had not only got the answer wrong, but we had made the same mistake!
Vasu Chitnis was one my best friends then and continues to be even now. Vasu was big hearted, very generous, great sense of humour, great fun to be with. Always happy, smart, confident and down to earth. We were in different groups but shared the same English Language, Literature and Hindi class. Vasu moved to the US in std 10 so while she contemplated her life there during the classes and chattered away, I dreamt of Donny Osmond.
Rekha Patel and I share not only memories at Cathedral but also at Sydenham. This verse of a Terry Jacks song sums up my beautiful friendship with Rekha.
My trusted friend
We’ve known each other since we were nine or ten
Together we’ve climbed hills and trees
Learned of love and ABCs
Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun
I am convinced that Rekha and I have a linked destiny as we both live in New Zealand (purely by accident) and often reminisce over the old days.
I had the greatest admiration and respect for Ramu Mahadevan. He always had a smile on his face and he treated everyone with dignity and courtesy and he was one of the smartest kids in the class.
Our head girl Lira Cherian, was outstanding in everything she did. And strangely enough my memory of our head boy Dinesh Mirchandani is always with a guitar.
There are other special friends I could write about, but I could not end without mentioning my very dear friend Vivek Hurry who gleefully and constantly teased me and who was the mastermind behind my nickname “Suzy”. Vivek wrote many poems about me (much to my annoyance and his delight) one which I still have in a box somewhere titled “Suzy on the screen on Sunday” sung to the tune of “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. But I am no poet so instead I will also pick a Beatles song and dedicate some lines to my cherished friend.
Someday when I’m lonely and wishing you weren’t so far away,
Then I will remember things we said today.
Other memorable events -
* my first senior social - dancing with a very cute guy who made me feel like a million bucks!
* winning the std 7 Hindi debates prize
* being handed the vice captain's badge
* investiture ceremony - do you solemnly promise to live upto the high standards of life - the mischievious side of me now wonders what would have happened if we had said I don't instead of the I do!
* First and last house assemblies as house captains
* Founders day at the church - walking down the aisle as prefects or captains
* Mr Jacob's scripture lessons with the "humming" fans in his office
* Std 9C class picnic
* Christmas Carols and the movies in the school hall at the end of the year
* Speech Day
These and many more are memories at Cathedral that will live on forever
Wow! Brings back all those memories of Savage House and ofcourse 9C, my favourite year too. Mrs Philips trying to teach Maths to a noisy class; Mr Tessyman With "My Family and other Animals"; Mr Newton telling us how he single handedly tackled a tiger in the wild. Amy, Nasu,Rekha and you in class. Ayesha and Vasu on the way to and back from Bombay Gym.......
ReplyDelete