Boys just wanna have fun...

It was the first Sunday of September and like every year, a chirpy bunch of boys (to men) gathered on the sprawling grounds of their majestic Victorian school — St Joseph’s Boys’ High School. This was as part of yet another successful meet held by the ‘Old Boys Association’ (OBA). The celebrations, which started on Friday, ended in a grand manner on Sunday. On Friday, the first part of the sports day was held while on Saturday, the programme continued. This was followed by the inauguration of the new sports complex by Rahul Dravid, an ex-Josephite himself, among many others and the ‘Blue and White Bash’ in Catholic Club. The best was saved for last as on Sunday, hundreds of ex-students gathered in the school to take a trip down memory lane.

The 1990 batch stood out. Clad in navy blue T-shirts specially designed for the occasion, the ‘boys’ were at their cheerful best as they were celebrating 25 years. “We are a bunch of boisterous boys,” joked Gautam. “We can’t believe that despite all the pranks we played, we actually have a classmate who became a doctor,” he added, referring to his friend. Vridhay, another student of the batch, is a consultant in the United Kingdom and tries his best to come for the meet every year. “It’s the atmosphere that keeps bringing me back,” he said. Of all the memories, it is socialising with girls that stands out! “Ours was the first batch to socialise with the girls of Sophia High School,” he winked!

According to Ian Lewis, the “Jesuits march to a different drumbeat”. “No other school has this kind of training and you would see that in each of the students here,” he said. For Ramprasad Alva, who works for MP Rajiv Gowda in Delhi and comes for the meet every year, school meant everything. “I was a boarder here and it was like second home. Things have become even better over the years and I really look forward to coming back every year.”

The older batches were present in good numbers too. The event brought back some great memories for Shailendra Gupta, a businessman, who was part of the 1968 batch. “Our teachers were unique and what stands out in all the students is their simplicity. We had a judicious mix of academics and sports and take pride in each others’ success.” His classmate George Ollapally agreed as he added, “During our time, only 600 students were enrolled at a time. So those days, almost everyone knew each other.” The students then went on to attend the Annual General Meeting followed by a hearty lunch and a hockey match.