Sunday, November 23, 2008

WE in Class 3

Our class photo of STD - III, before the "Sishu Vidyalaya" team joined us and became part of our lives forever. Can you recognise & name all of them? Ask me if you can't

A. V. Mathews

This is from Mathews (he was called A.V / bulb – short of “bulb fuse” which rhymed with his surname. Those days we had a group “Hal- bal- kal-al short for Halwa puri, Bulbfuse, Kaluwa (the dark one that was me) and AL short form of Anil Singh). He was the first one I traced through namesdatabase.com two years ago, along with Uday.

Hi everyone,
This was really nice. Nice to see Uday and Sumonto again (Of course the pictures). Such a wonderful e-mail to read on a Sunday. Yes I do remember my time with you guys at the Gulmohar. If I am not exaggerating the last years at Gulmohar remains as some of the best years in my life. Actually I long to get back to GS and see how it is now.

As Sumonto wrote, we have much to catch up with. After my +2 at Chinmoya school I did my first year B.sc Chemistry at the Gandhi University in Kerala. This time in Kerala brought big change in my life. I became a believing and practicing Christian.

But in 1988 I got in IHM Calcutta. I did my 3 years there and in 1991 got the job as Manager of a hotel called Circular Hotel in Calcutta. While I was there I had some contacts with Sumonto. In 1992 I met a Norwegian girl called Heidi who was working at the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s mission). In 1993 we got engaged in India and I moved to Oslo, Norway, where we got married. Next year I started studying Theology and did my degree in Theology. From 1998-2000 I worked as a preacher around Norway in a Norwegian church but in 2000 I started working in the Danish bank. I worked there 4 years before I started my own business with a supermarket and a cafĂ©. After 3.5 years we sold the business and started working as the “In charge of salary department” this year in a construction company.

In the mean time we did produce 5 children (there are only 4 million people in this country, I had to help them increase the population). That was us here in Norway but if there will be a gathering any time at the School I will really take the pain to come all the way from the land of midnight sun.

I do have contact with Akhilesh Bharati. He is in the US with the IBM I think. Here is his e- post
akhilesh.bharati@gmail.com tel. 0014802489017 cell 0014807472441. Add him too to the mail chain.
Here are some more pictures of my family. Please do reply.

Regards
A V Mathews



Saturday, November 22, 2008

V Uday Nair

From V. Uday

First of all A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL OF YOU. This is uday from , Kerala, THE GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.

Really great to see mails from all of you. Sumanto has indeed done the spade work quite efficiently. As he has sent you my snaps also, half my job has been done by my great friend. Gud to recollect those days of childhood....school, as Mathews said rightly has been the most memorable days of my life too. was speaking to Malathi the other day after all these years....we almost met each other in Chennai last month, but had to miss each other as our schedules did not match .But I, Sumanto and malathi will surely meet each other shortly in Chennai as we three have to be in Chennai for work. Hope to meet them soon. Subrata and Akhilesh seem to have the right memory about my singing. You all will be happy to learn that I am doing stage shows here in kerala, regularly. All due to the encouragement and blessings from you mates and teachers at school.If possible I'll mail you a couple of performances I did recently. May be we can arrange for an Alumni meet on a convenient date we can mutually agree and make a bash of it.
Please do keep in touch. If anyone wants to contact me over phone my Mob no is 09447023135.




Satendra Nath Prasad

FIRST ONE FROM SATENDRA

Dear All,

Hello to all you lovely persons out there who were out of sight but never, NEVER, out of my mind.

Satendra here................

TIMES

A man stands in the middle of the road with his hand raised to stop the traffic as men march past, a band playing in their midst. Faces with grim expressions, bamboo canes resting on shoulders like guns, swords slinging at a few waists. White shirts and khaki shorts screaming that it was the RSS. RSS here? In Jamshedpur ? Signs of changing times?

I sigh and think about my childhood. Our generation was, perhaps, the last to grow up in relatively peaceful times. Before religious fundamentalism, global terrorism, economic slowdown, financial meltdowns, inflation, scarcity, farmer activism, regional chauvinism, jingoism, technology, convergence, global warming, melting ice caps, ozone depletion etc. ever became everyday words.

Those were THE times I like to remember about warmly. The time spent without a whit of worry with my parents who, I knew, always stood solidly behind me. Their presence a soothing umbrella of protection from the outside world, till one day they left me to face the world alone. I miss them.

The time spent with good friends who have since left for rendezvous with their respective destinies. Today, I often imagine their presence in places they once frequented, calling out to them silently in empty windows of houses they once lived in, making me feel lonelier still.


Sometimes I get this uncanny feeling of being like the small boy who was left behind when the pied piper took the town’s children away.

Those days were so much sunnier, warmer, livelier and…..life rocked.

I remember those times when we would share our lunch at school, the cosmopolitan bunch bringing an assortment of flavours. Each would eagerly trade his food with the other and have a terrific experience. The lunch time was cherished as much as the food was relished. And the memories remain.

Class rooms were order and chaos that made our days. Evenings had another set of players flitting in and out of our lives every day. The guys and gals were all kinds, each distinct, each unique, each lovable as a character, each evokes images and memories, all remembered to this day.

But then slowly, one by one, everyone entered their respective time wraps and zoomed off into unknown dimensions. The cockpit speaker crackles sometimes, remotely familiar voices flit through and rare connections are made, gladdening the heart, warming the soul, making one feel younger, putting a bounce back in the frequently tired steps.

I suddenly realize that I am alone on the road, the drum beats are distant now. My family is waiting for me at home. There are chores to be done. I shake myself out of my reverie.

I wish I will be able to provide my kids a much more beautiful childhood than I spent, a much better life than I have now. I wish that one day they too will look back, when their present becomes past, and cherish their childhood memories. I wish to God that they would have happiness always.

With a small prayer on my lips I head home.

Satendra


How are things with you all. I had the previlege of talking to Malathi and then to Malay. Yes I was elated, or maybe elated does not precisely describe what I felt.... younger, happy, childlike? As if, for sometime, my childhood visited me again. Thanks Malathi, thanks Malay.
Would like to hear from all you guys. And, yes, lets all meet somewhere. It would really be a BIG BANG!
With warm regards,,
Satendra






Hemant Sinha






The next bit was from Hemant, he is married to our friend Madhumita

Dear Sumanto,
It was nice talking to u after a long span and I second your propsal of forming an alumni and have an annual meet at some mutually convenient date
I am currently in Rajasthan working with Hindustan Zinc Ltd as Associate General Manager (HR).
By tracing me you have a double benefit (Madumita & myself) with single effort. Isn't this an added advantage?
I am blessed with two kids: son Tanmay, studying in class VII & daughter Tashu, studying in UKG.
I would love to have the contact details of all those whom you have succeeded in tracing so far.
Looking forward to meet our old buggies soon.
Hemant Kumar, Mob-09001294905, 9414972501







B Srinivas

The next bit was re- introduction by B Srinivas (our Srini)

Dear All,

I was quite tied up over the past four days and couldn’t pitch in into the email strings, but was reading all of them quite keenly and sharing with my wife too.

A quick recap (in only nine bullet points) of the my past 24 years that we haven’t been in touch….
1. 1984 : Completed 10th, some us moved into Chinmaya like Sumanto, Satyendra, Moloy,…….
2. 1986 : Completed +2, got selected in EAMCET (Andrra Pradesh joint entrance) into Civil in a godforsaken college. Wasn’t keen. Luckily got thru into Electrical Engg in Amravati University (other State Quota).
3. 1990 : Completed Engg and got into TRF Jsr in Constn Division. At that time, D Venu was in Design Dept. Don’t know if he is still continuing.
4. 1992 : Got fed up with the continuous site postings – Rourkela, Pathankot and Vijayawada. Attended a Walk-in-Interview of L&T at Chennai and walked straight in as Asst Engr (Baroda).
5. 1994 : Got married in Vizag.
6. 1996 : Blessed with my first kid, a daughter (now in Gr-VI). More interested in gossip, Bhelpuris, web chats with grandparents, etc
7. 1999 : Second kid, a son (now in Gr-IV). More of the intellectual types, very good at studies, swimming, etc.
8. 2004 : Continued from 1992 and rose to head the Elect. Design Dept of Cement Division in Baroda as Sr Manager. Wanted to earn some quick money and hence landed in Danway, Dubai as Project Manager. Continued to become Head – Metal Projects.
9. 2007 : Joined an Industrial software company named Cimac to head the company’s Business in Qatar…… Still am yet to get bored……of the unending days, unending travels, etc. If luck favors, I may get to head our India operations at Bangalore (at ITPL).

· Akhilesh very vividly remembered that we stayed in Indra Nagar, even Uday would remember that.
· Later on, we moved to J Type, then to N-Type (near Bhuvaneshwari Mandir), before my dad retired in 2002. I had been to JSR for a day for his last day in office. They have now moved to my flat in Vizag, close to my in-laws‘ place.
· It would be nice if we could locate Umashankar too, last I knew (1992) was that he was working in Railways in Asansol or Kharagpur ??

Sometimes I do ponder if it was fair to leave parents back alone, with all of us (incidentally both my sisters + their husbands are too in Dubai). But then, money, money…..& more money was the craze.

Bye then till the next chat…..
B SRINIVAS
COUNTRY MANAGER - QATAR,
CIMAC FZCO, DUBAI, U.A.E
GSM1 : (+974) 5572029
GSM2 : (+97150) 6517464


Anurag's

THIS IS WHAT ANURAG WROTE
Hi Gang !
Thanks a tonne to Kamaljeet Singh – Nikoo for me to have given me your details.
Well I am at Ahmedabad working for Kotak Life Insurance. I am married to Preeti and have two kids – a daughter Avya who is 11 yrs and a younger Son Ayush of 7 yrs.
Yes, I have my own place at Delhi – Dwarka to be precise while I have tried getting another place at Ahmedabad.
Hey Suman, do you still play the sitar ?
Uday , you used to sing very well- I remember you singing, at times accompanied with Satendra and me playing tabla on the desk…
Srini --- what’s up man ??
Guys, I would request you all to be in touch and make a GROUP ID.
I am interested in many more of our schoolmates like - Vibhu Talwar, Malati D(?), Satendra Nath, Malay Datar, Akhilesh Yadav, Preetika Shetty, etc , etc…..
I would like each one of you to please write about yourselves and how life has been kind to us and give your contact details.
My mobile number is 9879508905 & 9898090905.
Dear Nikko- Thanks once again !! & b in tch.
anuraglalmathur@gmail.com ; anuraglalmathur@rediffmail.com; anurag.mathur@kotak.com

God Bless !!
After completing my 12th from VBCV, I had moved to Muzaffarnagar, a town in western UP about 100 kms from Delhi;
Somehow managed to do my B.Sc and then shifted to my dream city – Delhi.
I have been with the fashion industry initially then moved over to FMCG and alongwith that all the places on our Map.
When the fmcg started shrinking I moved over to Finance with MNYL and now have been with Kotak for over 2 yrs, at Ahmedabad- Gujarat.
In case I have missed out anybody’s mail id , do bring the same to my notice .
This is my pic. I will have to hunt/dig out pics where I look younger, yaar !!
I will send pics of my family tomorrow !!!!


Sunday, November 16, 2008

MALATHI'S INTRO

THAT'S MALATHI'S INTRO TO THE GROUP AFTER 25 YEARS
Hi guys, Wish you all a very, very Happy Diwali and a hugely successful year ahead. It's wonderful to hear voices from the past - what a deluge of memories each mail brings !! It took us 24 years to trace each other - I hope we stay connected for the next 24 years. Am attaching my photograph - just so you have an idea. Am currently Head of Human Resources in a US-based multi-national. Am based out of Mumbai. Oversee 1600 employees in Mumbai and Chennai. Travel a lot - at least 2 or 3 visits to Chennai every month and to the UK and US about once a year. Akhilesh : I was in the US in July-August. If I'd known you were there, I would've at least called you. My office in the US is in Boston, Massachusets. Still remember the "jumpy" boy who would shout himself hoarse just to be heard by the teacher.... and how you disliked the girls !!! Remember how you fought to get those 1.5 marks from the teacher? Did you ever get married :)?? We all remember Uday's songs : I told him I remembered 'Pathar ke sanam". And Sumanto's sitar still rings in my ears. There was one tune he played very well.... was it called 'Rivers'? Prashant Sir would teach us all those patriotic songs and we'd go and sing them in some contest and get prizes. I remember Hemant - with the big, big eyes.... Izhar - was always a favourite with the girls - one guy who didn't pull our legs too much and was nice to us. Mathew : you seem to have had the most interesting life ! 5 kids ! Wow! I have one and feel even that is one too many. Malay : do give my regards to your Mom ! I remember her so often when I sit to teach my daughter. I still remember those Maths classes of hers! I wish my daughter had as good a teacher. We were lucky to have had some really great teachers. More later. Until then............ Malathi




GV.Rao's Intro



THIS IS GV wrote about himself addressed to AKHILESH - but for all of us
From GV (most of us didn’t call him by the name Gandikota Vishweshwar Rao) Hi Akhilesh, Wish you a Happy Diwali to you & your family members. Thanks for the call you made. You made me feel special. It was nice to hear from you after a long-long time. As you know I didn't do well in schools & was a average students I left school midway in 82 & did my matriculation privately. From 83 to 85 I did my I.Com from Ranchi University but my career was going no way. I did apprenticeship from 85 to 88 at Telco. That was the golden period I would say of my life. I learnt a lot and my perception of life changed. I never looked back since then. After my apprenticeship I got a job in Railways in Kharagpur. I was there till 91. I got a call from Tata Motors for there project work in Lucknow. I was one of the first people to join Tata Motors Lucknow project. Presently I am working as an Assistant Manager in the Planning Department. I am having a good time here. Many Gulmohur buddies are here. ISHAQ, J J Shah, Shanti Priya Shah, Dinesh Kumar to name a few. About my family My wife's name in Mythili she is a house wife. I have 2 children a daughter & son. My daughter G. SAI SARIKA is 13 yrs old and is studying in STD VII. My son G.Pawan Kumar is 8 Yrs Old & is studying in STD III. Unlike their father who was all along a back bencher. My children are making me proud as they are extremely good in studies. They are also good in extra curricular activities. I have settled down here in Lucknow. Constructed my own house it is an extremely beautiful place well connected & surrounded by all the tourist spots. I would request all my colleagues to plan a visit here. I would be happy to receive you all. My address: G.V.Rao, 1/488, Vastu Khand, Gomtinagar, Lucknow -226 010 Akhilesh as requested I am attaching a few pics of mine taken in Uttarkashi where I had gone for 10 days trekking. Regards G.V.Rao, Asst Manger (CEM), M/S TATA MOTORS LTD, Chinhut Industrial Area, Lucknow - 226019 , (U.P) Tele : 91 522 - 2818012 / 2818020 / 2818032 (Extn:2365) Fax: 91 522 2818244 Mobile : 9935096811 E Mail : gandikota.rao@tatamotors.com


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Welcome back to School

With lots of love and enthusiasm I have started this blog. This will be a show case where I will keep updating and posting from all our friends, a compilation unique in its way - containing pictures, notes, updates from all our class mates who joins us back.

Now all you need to do is visist my blog regularly and check for updates 

Friends are like stars, you don't always see them,  but you know they're always there.  

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.