E-CARD

This card goes out to all my friends who still remain a part of my life.

Love you all.

Arthy

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY class of '89 !

August 6 is International Friendship Day. It falls on the first Sunday of August every year. It is the time to remember your friends…and to wish them for what they mean to you.

For the MCC class of 89, it’s a special year having found longlost friends after ages...here's the chance to revive our friendship…to share and support…to laugh and even cry together…and to celebrate the sheer joy of our friendship!

I browsed through some quotes on friendship …but most were too mushy(!)…but this one I particularly liked…perhaps because i could relate to it ;)

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. -- Bernard Meltzer.

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY !!

Do remember to wish your friends on friendship day! You can leave your messages here as a new post or comments.
sabina

Our tribute to Sr.Patricia

An epitome of dignity and grace befitting (yet so very rarely seen) the head of an institution like Mount Carmel Convent with its century old-heritage – that is how I remember Sr.Patricia. She dedicated her services to this small school in a beautiful seaside hamlet in southern Kerala, guarding and nurturing it as a pearl from the sea. She combined religious piety, administrative skills and visionary zeal in an uncommon but perfect blend.

I am groping for words which might do some justice to the qualities embodied by Sr.Patricia. Let me resort to Byron’s poem ‘She walks in beauty’ (didn’t we learn it in school!)
SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
………………………………….

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

I was too overawed by Sr.Patricia that I could never muster the courage to have a conversation with her. Though I remember that I was touched when she came and told me that my mom was waiting outside while I was trying hard to crack the maths problems for the ICSE exam! Just goes to show how she could empathize with the anxiety of our parents. It was also encouraging to see her come and check on us while we were taking our crucial class final exams. She used to be concerned too if we stayed back late after school. That’s where the motherliness in her came through although she looked firm and poised especially during the morning assembly. It was an honor to be applauded by her and also a challenge as she gave it only where it was due. Perhaps that made her word of praise a memorable one for the receiver.

I have never seen her in a rage although I have seen her angry. Her face flushed and her otherwise rosy cheeks would almost turn red. She was firm and straight in her talk and she knew how to handle the not –so – rule abiding teenagers in the school with a rare calm and understanding! We would know for certain of the impending trouble if she announced in her peculiar graceful tone (she had a lovely voice!) that a particular class should wait back after the morning assembly! I also remember that she would not use the mike to give her "sternest sermons" to avoid embarrassment to us!

She was strict and set forth the rules without fear or favor and the best thing was that she guided by her own example. She never seemed to falter and that was so admiring about her. I do have my perspective (perhaps a little critical and unconventional!) about the convent school regimen but I realize that perhaps that was the way she thought best to control the 5000 odd students of the school. No joke to run a school that was even a residential one with no scandals or scams to speak of! She is an icon of the old school authority with a rare benignity which is difficult to find in the post-modern age. Looking back, if we should fondly remember the school, it is also because it reflects a life of dedicated service that Sr.Patricia has left behind. She has become synonymous with the history of Mount Carmel. It will not be an exaggeration to say:

Think of Mount Carmel
Think of Sr.Patricia

I would like to recall the song that we sang for her feast when we were in Class X. Incidentally, it was composed and set to music by Mrs Cabbot.It remains our final tribute to her.I have forgotten the first few verses but I remember the chorus:
“ And though in future we’re far apart
We’ll hold this love we have for you
Deep in our hearts
We’ll remember you”

I sincerely wish she were around because I would have loved to have a chat and a cup of coffee with her. I would have been brave enough to discuss with her my views, disillusionments and apprehensions about the education scenario and would have longed to have her take on things.
Sr.Patricia I do believe that you continue to guide us as we go about our duties with the responsibility and dignity that you have set forth as an example.

PS. I would like to add that I know I have not been able to sum up the entire personality of Sr.Patricia in this post. I am sure some of you would have more personal memories to share. Please add you comments or posts on your personal tributes and memories of Sr.Patricia.if you have a better foto of Sr. Patricia do upload it or send it to us.Thanks! sabina

Quiz -How well do you know your school?

How well do you know MCC?

1.What was the music played during our regular morning march past?
2.What was the newspaper read at the morning assembly?
3.What was the most popular drink at “Matha stores” while at MCC?
4.What was the price of the popular “sip-up” or “cool-sip”?
5.Did the lines on our school tie (house identification) slant from right to left or left to right?


...and the curriculum?

6.What was the name of the English poetry text we read in Class X?
7. Which novel of Uroob (Malayalam) did we study in class X?
8.The name of the "controversial"chapter in the Malayalam travelogue that was invariably skipped?
9.The ICSE maths textbook was popularly known by the name of the author/publisher. Who?
10.What were the two games we studied in the Physical education theory class?

This is for sheer fun… try it if you can and leave your answers as comments. We’ll see who comes up with the best/right answers. We promise prizes at our reunion after a consensus)! ;)sabina

Quiz is open only till Aug 10 th...so hurry !

Remembering TARGET in an MTV age!

How many of you remember the magazine TARGET- a favourite during our MCC days? Most of us subscribed to it and the magazines arrived by post to the classrooms. I remember the excitement at the sight of the usually colourful coverpage. Many of us would sneak it inside the textbooks to check the latest with Detective Moochwala! Although there were other popular Indian publications like Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha (most of which I borrowed from Arthy – do you still have those neat bound ones ?i loved them!) I think what set TARGET apart from the rest was that it provided wholesome reading—there were stories, comic strips, poetry contests and had a truly Indian flavor about it.And yeah, they did have some of the big names writing and illustrating for them (Manjula Padmanabhan,Ruskin Bond and so on).

Sad to say Target had a premature death (despite being a less celebrated sibling of India Today from the same publishing house)in the Indian print world although I wonder why it should have vanished when a lot of mediocre children's magazines have survived. I understand that the publications was aiming at a much larger crowd and hence decided to do away with Target. Pity! It might be a preposterous suggestion though to resurrect Target in this MTV age !! I happened to remember ‘Target’ recently when I was helping out some students in making an online magazine. I couldn’t show them a copy although I might find some back issues (if I’m lucky!)when I go home and rummage through old bookshelves.

I googled though and came across this wikipedia entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_%28magazine%29

I would also like to mention that Jyoti Nair (class of 88) won a prize in a poetry contest conducted by Target and it was also published in Target. Remarkable indeed and I remember Sr.Patricia inviting her to read it at a morning assembly. Was inspiring for us although I could never come up with anything remotely “poetic” (despite best efforts!)during my school days!!

sabina

The Big Tangy Bash!

Dear Friends,

We, the former students 

of Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian 

Higher Secondary School (“IJHSS”), are planning a 

first-ever large alumni reunion, of all batches, at the 

School, in Tangasseri, to celebrate what is to be called 

The Big Tangy Bash! This grand one-day event is 

planned be held on 29th December 2007.

Old Boys of every IJHSS batch since the School’s inception are expected to arrive

from all over the world to participate. Former students of our sister school Mount

Carmel Convent are also invited to this event. We eagerly look forward to the

pleasure of your company, with family, to make this occasion festive, momentous

and memorable.

As part of various events being planned for this reunion day, we also intend to

invite and honour some of our teachers, past and present, as well as certain Old

Boys who became accomplished and prominent members of society, who are a

source of particular pride to the school and to all of us.

Ideas suggested for The Big Tangy Bash! that were circulated among some IJHSS

alumni forums and Old Boy networks resulted in instant and overwhelming

excitement, besides global interest from many generations of former students.

Most Old Boys who have already heard about it have fully endorsed it and promised

to be in Tangasseri at any cost on 29th December! Meanwhile, teachers, past and

present, as well as the IJHSS management have displayed their enthusiasm and

support for holding this elaborate event.


H. E. Rt. Rev. Dr. Stanley Roman, The Bishop of Kollam, has kindly granted

permission to conduct the event at the IJHSS premises. School authorities have

wholeheartedly promised to offer the School premises as well as provide

other amenities for the event.

His Excellency The Bishop of Kollam also unveiled and blessed the Event

Logo at a private meeting, with a delegation of Old Boys, at the Bishop’s Palace

on 23rd February 2007 (pictured above). The Big Tangy Bash! is to be handled by

Kerala Travels Interserve Ltd (“KTIL”), a professional event management firm.

Costs are expected to be shared by all participants on a charge-per-head basis,

which could be subsidized to some extent by Event Sponsors (individuals and

corporate entities) that may donate voluntarily.


(From the IJHS alumni website)
www.infantjesustangasseri.com

There’s an invite to MCC too…do make it a point to attend if you can...i'm sure
it's going to a memorable event merging generations...they have been making
tremendous efforts to organize alumni from all the batches…Great work...
Good luck IJHS alumni association! Let's also think of organizing a mega event
like this!

sabina

TANGY

Outside one of the bunglows which caught our attention in Tangy. That bunglow used to give us a scary feeling each time we passed by it. So we named it the "haunted house".That's Roshni, Raji & Shajila with me. We used to enjoy walking down the streets of Tangy each Saturday after attending Ms. Delphin's Physics tutions. It was so much fun walking leisurely till the bus stop. Not to forget the occasional stop over at the "Matha Stores" for our favorite drink of ice cream soda. Of late, no one seems to know what kind of drink it is. To those who have never tasted it.........guys you have indeed missed something real good.