Celebration of a shared past

A school notification about Old Boys Day that landed in our ‘Class Mates WhatsApp’ group evoked instant ripples of excitement, with nearly everyone responding with positive messages, emojis, and comments.

As recently retired gentlemen, most in fine fettle and with time on their hands, everyone felt nothing like getting together. It had been four and a half decades since we left the venerable portals of St. Germain High School, and some of us hadn’t met each other since then.

And so, on that bright Sunday morning, sans uniform or bag, we made our way to school, already teeming with our seniors and juniors. Not surprisingly, our classmates found one another quickly and decided to stroll around the campus. It was yesterday once more!

It seemed strange how time had flown and so much had changed, not just inside the campus and its surroundings but also our looks, notably our hairlines and waistlines. But evidently, one thing that hadn’t changed was our young-in-spirit attitude, as we 60-year-olds easily morphed into 16-year-olds!

We wasted no time in locating our classrooms, staff rooms, the principal’s office, the lab, the canteen, and the chapel. We reminisced about the good old days and the teachers, clicked photographs, and chatted with Mr Murthy, the only teacher of our time who was present. It was gratifying to meet this octogenarian with a fine sense of humour, who was nicknamed ‘Bond’ by the students even before we joined the school.

As planned earlier, the twelve (the ‘dirty dozen’ as one put it) from our batch headed to a nearby club to let our hair down. While there was an easy camaraderie over glasses of beer, memories tumbled over one another as we recalled the five or six years we spent in school. The pranks we played, the punishments we received, especially the painful ‘benders’, the angry one-liners of some teachers that inadvertently turned out to be rib-ticklers, and the numerous jokes had us guffawing, inviting amused glances from people sitting at nearby tables.

It seemed incredible how most of us, after decades, could vividly and fondly remember our pranks and the outbursts of our teachers but not significant aspects of the subjects they taught us so well.

In fact, in retrospect, we were contrite for being so mischievous and troublesome, but we agreed that realisation dawns late in the day and it is best to let bygones be bygones.

In the end, it was indeed nostalgic to get together after so many years and celebrate our shared past and reinforce our collective identity as Germainites.

As we parted ways after a memorable day, one thing rang out loud and clear: the bonds of friendship forged during those few wonderful years in school have remained firm, and everyone cherishes the value of classmates, teachers, and our school. And hopefully, that will remain an integral part of our lives.