Alma Mater

27 January 2011,

Yesterday was a significant day in my life. After a long time, I set foot on my alma mater. St. Dominic’s, the place where I learnt charity, honesty, knowledge, responsibility & above all, love.

It all began at 2:45 p.m. I received a call from my friend Rekha reminding me about the alumni-meet that I otherwise would have missed! I reached the campus at around 4 p.m. After parking my scooter, I started walking towards the familiar grounds. I look around to see what is new and what is not. I noticed a basketball hoop in our new building, which was not there before. Of course, our “new” building is not so new anymore. I see the age-old dais, still sustaining the royal look it always had. The Neem plant the stood by the dais, has now become a Neem tree. Our buildings have grilled gates! Even though they do not seem to fit into place, I am sure the school has reasons for it.

I notice Miss. Anita as I pass by the dais. How can I forget her? The first & only time that I was the class pupil leader, was in her class. In my sixth standard, I changed from a mediocre student to a good one and she is responsible for it. If it were not for her tearing my horrible prose notes, I would still possess handwriting like a three-year old. I run up to her, and greet her with zest. I love her, and even though she did not recognize me, I know she loves me just like every single kid she has taught.

Then I see Miss. Antonisha. No, she is just Anto, my classmate; now a teacher. I ask her where the other girls from our batch are, and she points me towards them. I can see Rekha, Farzana, Darshini, Subathra, Preethi & finally Lovely amidst a crowd of almost hundred people. On seeing me, Lovely rushes up to me, and gives me a huge hug. I hug her back, as she says, “Did you bring pens & pencils, so that we can fight over it?” I laugh, and say “No, May be another time.” After all the catching up & pleasantries, we settle down for the occasion.

I watch as the headmistress takes center stage and welcomes us all back. After the bible reading, I bow down in unison with my schoolmates to the prayer. Maria, the secretary gives us her welcome address, which evoked many giggles when she said “Girly!” and “What Child?”, two phrases synonymous with Dominican parlance. She also informs us that there are people here from the batch of 1966 to 2004, for which an eager junior replies, “2005 batch, we are here too”.

Next up – Game time. Miss. Louie took us back to our childhood when she invited us to play a different version of “Sand, Sea, and Stone” A game all of us Dominicans have played on the stairs of the dais. Group by group, people got “out” (I refrain from using the word – eliminated. It does not sound childish), and at the end of it Bindu was crowned winner. To this, she joyfully responds in mock-exasperation, “Six years in school I didn’t win anything. And now I do…”, which evoked a burst of laughter from every corner.

Next on the list – DJ night! Well, not exactly DJ night, but I bet it was much better than any DJ night. What would a DJ night be without a partner? Well, our teachers have thought this out well. Dump your old ones, and we will give you new!

And so, the next game begins. The game is simple. Pick a lot; find your pair. Lovely gets “Romeo”. We all know who Romeo’s pair is! She poses like a Tamil heroine, respecting all clichés including the one-legged stance & calls out “Juliet” in a musical tone; to which our Juliet, well the President of the Alumni, responds “I’ve found my Romeo!” They happily run up to the dais and take first place.

We all pair up, and are ready to rock. The DJ, (Maria) hits the music and prompts us sway to the tune. She starts to dance, and everyone chimes in mimicking her step. After a fun 15 minutes, we are ready for the next item on the agenda.

Again, we pick lots. Our teachers sure do know what we like! (Remember the lucky-dip stall from the Fancy-Fete?) We form small groups based on the lots. We discuss on many a topic starting from, how we feel to be back at school to how do we give something back to the school. Each one chips in with her point, and this is read out to the entire gathering.

At the end of the discussions a few conclusions were made.

1. The Alumni meet would be held on the Republic day every year.

2. Everyone was willing to chip in, in any possible way the school requires.

3. A website would be created for our school

Next up, was the lucky lady competition. Wow! So many years I have seen one of our beloved teachers being crowned “The Lucky Lady” on the teacher’s day. Now it is our turn. The headmistress picks the number 70, and Regina is crowned the winner. Miss. Grace then picks a second lot, which happens to be number 57. Guess what? She picked Mary Ann, her batch-mate from 1966. To this, we hear a voice from the crowd, “This is match-fixing”. Yet another voice says, “No. This is batch-fixing!” We all laugh.

The President of the Alumni, Anita comes forward to deliver the Vote-of-thanks. She puts forth a request to change the office-bearers. The crowd says that they are happy with the current ones, to which Anita says, “Ok. We need a Vice-President! Can somebody volunteer?” We (our batch) coax Lovely into volunteering, and Lovely walks up to the dais to join her “Juliet”. As she walks up Darshini shouts out, “ Thana valandha thanai-thalaivi Lovely vaazhga!”, which evoked laughter among people. (well, to whoever heard it)

A memorable day came to close with our school anthem. I feel goose-bumps as I sing “Alma mater…”, and realize that so do many others. After the school song, we cheer ourselves with a “Hip… Hip… Hurray!”

Then the usual happens – Photos, banter, laughter & then we all leave; each one cherishing the moment; reliving the experience; taking back memories & values; missing friends who were not there; and finally glad that we are a part of St. Dominic’s.