Musings Of An Aunty Indulging In An Afternoon Of Nostalgia And Letting Loose. “OH, GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN"

I’m sure glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and attended the super fun, first ever reunion in Bangkok for us ‘Waverly-ites’; the alumnae of The Convent of Jesus and Mary, (CJM Waverley); a girls only residential and day school, in operation since 1845 in Mussoorie—a small, quaint hill station in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand.

The reunion had long been brewing in the minds of the ’73 batch, whose local members had remained in touch with their Indian counterparts and met up periodically at different locales, the latest being at Waverly itself. After which, Balbir Narang Khanijou and Rattan Sachdev Chawla decided to take the plunge, and thus this reunion at the Skyview Hotel Bangkok on the 21st of June. The majority of the 150 attendees were, of course, us Bangkokians, with one from Chiang Mai. One came in from Singapore, another two from India, and one all the way from Melbourne. There were even a few Thai-Indian ex-students the organisers had managed to track down.

The colour theme was red in keeping with our dandy blazers and neckties that we wore over grey, pleated skirts and off-white blouses, and in that sea of red, an unspoken, heart-warming camaraderie pulsated, amalgamating our ages and our batch years under the one banner of Waverly, our alma mater. Together we feigned age amnesia and threw our inhibitions to the squalls and rewound to the naïve, carefree little girls of long ago, doing full justice to the event’s purpose to “reunite, reminisce, revive the spirit!”

Our vivacious, Amro (Amarjit Doowa), also from the ’73 batch, as MC, pushed the party’s gaiety up by many notches. She kept the crowd grooving and playing games to the favourite numbers of the ’50s and ’60s. She kept up the tempo by entertaining us with her own mischiefs, while engaging others into jogging their memories for their bygone antics and their experiences with fellow students or the daunting Irish nuns, who, in hindsight, not only imparted book knowledge, but also shaped us into becoming the wholesome, responsible, God-fearing women we are today. Although, as was the era, many of us were married off young, with nary a chance to earn titles and doctorates, but here we were, celebrating life lived thus far.

There were those who recalled going to the church to dip their fingers into the holy water and crossing themselves before tests, while others recalled their daring bunking sagas. We, Thai-Indian girls, couldn’t have survived the grind of the daily Indian food without nampla; something we made sure to include in our ‘tuck’ stock every trip back to school.

Being a convent, the school had a beautifully manicured, expansive graveyard on the slope way below the main school premises. Though totally off limits, there are always the daredevils amongst us, who couldn’t resist the enticing, eerie serenity of the place and, for a little excitement, did what they did. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just one person who owned up to venturing down there, but several brave gals!

The other highlight of the afternoon was a black and white slideshow, which garnered both cheers and tears.

In it was the photo of Bangkok’s first alumna, already a great-grandmother now, receiving her degree (1959). She was present at the luncheon, as were her two daughters and their daughters, all CJM alumnae. The last batch to go was in 1999, after which we had enough English-medium schools here. It was also about when parents were getting bolder, with some sending their darling bettiyas much further than India, to London or Australia.

I was the surprise alumni; nobody remembered seeing me in school, as I was there for just a year, and being older than most, even at the luncheon, I must have already left by the time they enrolled. Nevertheless, I don’t recall being hugged so much and so tightly, as I was that wonderful, memorable afternoon, which ended with very many lucky draws for gift vouchers and cash prizes, courtesy of ’73 batchmates.