School alumnae take a trip down memory lane

St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School’s Class of 1971 meets up after 50 years

It was a happy reunion for 25 alumnae of St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School this weekend, when they got together for the first time since they graduated in 1971. And though the ‘girls’ are all senior citizens in their sixties now, the excitement and joy of meeting classmates after such a long time was priceless.

“There were over 40 girls in our class in 1971. Though we have gone our separate ways after school, around 30 of us have kept in touch through our batch’s WhatsApp group. This reunion has been under discussion for many years now, and had it had not been for the pandemic, we would have held it in 2021 to make it a golden anniversary,” Zeenath Ashraf, one of the main coordinators of the programme in Tiruchi, told The Hindu.

Only 25 alumnae were able to make it to the two-day reunion, which took place over March 26 and 27. “One of our classmates travelled from Singapore despite serious health problems, and we had one girl who had come to India from the US earlier, joining us in Tiruchi. Unfortunately those in Australia were unable to come due to lockdown restrictions,” said Ms. Ashraf.

The friends were put up at a city hotel over the weekend, reliving their school days as they participated in games and fun activities together on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, dressed in blue, they visited their alma mater and handed over a charitable donation of ₹2. 7 lakh to Rev. Sr. Celestine, the Provincial, to be used as an endowment fund for the benefit of underprivileged students.

The alumnae held a prayer service on the campus with readings from Bible, the Bhagavad Gita and the Quran, seeking divine grace for the institution and its students.

“It was wonderful returning to school, and seeing the playground, where we used to gather often. I was reminded of our late sports teacher Mrs. Phyllis urging me to run faster. Needlework and singing were compulsory for us in those days. When we recollected all the things we did in our class, we could still feel the excitement of going to school,” said K. Prasanna Chandrika, who is now based in Chennai.