Expressnews
When you are 65, how would it be to feel 16 again, to bond with classmates of long ago as if the years in between had never happened? Well, the Good Shepherd Convent, Chennai (GSC) batch of ‘73 can tell how it would feel. Simply euphoric.
Most school reunions are usually a half day ‘meet, eat, and part’ event. When the idea was mooted as early as June 2022 to have a 50th year reunion of our school batch, we wanted to make it memorable. Something that could truly take us back in time.
A two or three-day trip well away from our usual surroundings to keep us in and the others out might go the extra mile. With an attractive locale and elegant lodgings, it would, at the very least, be a fitting celebration of a milestone. And so, the 50th year reunion of GSC batch of ’73 was scheduled at the Tamara Resort, Coorg to take place between 13th to 15th of February 2023.
This is when the event started taking a life of its own, to the pleasant surprise of the initial four who mooted the idea. The response was enthusiastic. With no objections to the cost, venue, or duration, the ‘girls’, now living in various parts of the country and across the globe ( US, Africa, Australia) registered and scheduled their trips and vacations around the dates in February.
Of course, there were some who were unable to attend and a few others who we had irrevocably lost. Yet, of the 101 of us who had passed out fifty years ago, nearly half of us were up and agog for February 2023 to come.
And the excitement built up continuously. Messages were flying across – who is to board from where and with whom, who shall host whom on the way to Coorg, what dances or songs could we put up, who will join, when and how can we practice… We were kids again! And it was a great feeling. One which we had forgotten the feel of in the busy process of becoming an adult.
13th February 2023. The day to board the train/car/bus to Coorg. There was excitement but also a sense of awkwardness and hesitation. Some of us had met a few others over the years, but there were also some whom we had never met after March ’73, 50 years ago! Would we feel stilted, judging, awkward? Will it be free or formal? The organizers set the tone for the trip. To our pleasant surprise, and with no conscious thought, there was just a seamless embracing of the group by each and every one of us. It felt like a huge warm group hug! We welcomed each other, caught up with each other’s lives and happenings, and prepared for what promised to be a beautiful, soul-satisfying get-together.
The initial four organizers had planned carefully, scheduling a day trip on the 14th to Talakaveri and Madikere the next day but ensuring that we were in time for the Valentine’s Day activities scheduled by the hotel for the night. Come night, we 65 year ‘young’ girls were on the floor, following a salsa lead or dancing and rocking with the live band at dinner. There were a few young couples for whom, by their own admission, we set goals to aspire for on how not to let the spirit age. In short, it was the day when GSC ‘73 showed others how to love life and each other! And what an unforgettably good time we had. It was a long, long time since any of us had felt this young.
Give it to the planners – a professional photo shoot in our uniform colors was a total blast the next day. A sapling was planted in the name of GSC’73 in the gardens of the resort. And we chatted and reminisced. And waited for the evening when some among us were to transform into performing artistes just for our entertainment. The dancers had practiced individually in their homes, coordinated the best they could, given the distance, time difference, and the fact that some of them had not danced since they were 6 years old! Yet, they managed to hold the stage for nearly 90 minutes, roping in the rest to guide us all in line dances. Even the most inhibited among us got the courage to shake a leg.
At check-out time the next day, we were all still on a high. We bid our farewells, boarded our trains. Back to our individual lives. The three days were a fantasy that we would treasure with great care.
How did we manage to bring so many of us together? How werewe so much in consonance with each other? Have we been in touch all along? The questions and admiration from the staff, hotel guests and co-travellers were real. Only then it struck us. None of us had planned for such synergy. It was a synchronized yet unconscious effort to find the spirit of joy and friendship within us. And we succeeded beyond belief.
