An air of nostalgia gripped the Bishop Cotton Girls’ School auditorium as the school flagged off celebrations for its sesquicentennial (150th) year on Saturday.

The school auditorium, the walls of which were adorned with portraits of all the principals since the inception of the school, took Old Cottonians assembled in the premises back to fond memories of their Alma Mater.

The institution has lined up a series of events throughout the year to celebrate the 150th year of the school. The celebrations began on Saturday with the St Peters’tide Commemoration Evensong. As the school choir sang the Founder’s Hymn, the alumni joined in to sing, “We build our school on Thee O Lord...”

Rev Dr G Dyvasirvadam, moderator, Church of South India, delivered the commemoration message.

The celebrations will continue on June 29, with a Holy Communion Service at Bishop Cotton Boys’ School.

Former president of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is expected to attend the event in the evening. An ICSE fest and carnival on June 30 are part of the celebrations.

A sesquicentennial wing will also come up at the Girls’ school.

The Old Cottonians remember their days in school as the best part of their lives. Girija Shankar, president of the Old Cottonians Association, Cotton Girls’ School, puts it as the “most delightful part of her life”.

She told Deccan Herald, “Our Alumni Association has lined up several activities, including sports, to mark the occasion. I was part of the boarding when I studied here. We had a good rapport with our teachers too.

The advantage was that we were hardly 22 girls in our class. I did not enjoy college as much as school.”

Another alumnus Elsa Chacko Varghese, a former professor at Kasturba Medical College, remembered her days as a prefect in the school four decades ago.

“We had so much fun. We would wait for the weekends when the brothers of some of the students at Cotton Girls’ would come to meet them from Cotton Boys. We would also wait for the annual school socials and plan ahead what to wear for the event.”

Some of them, who are still in touch with each other, have now even planned a trip to Rajasthan, she said.