'It's Yesterday Once More' - School Reunion October 2015

It’s Yesterday Once More 

The trickle on the St.Helen’s page on Facebook gave way to torrents of tech savvy ex-Helenites  interacting –planning, guiding, brain storming and the likes as we moved towards October 2015. St. Helen’s my Alma Mater was going to be 125 and her birthday plans were under way. I was one of the passive girls.  I was audience to 
the Organizing Committee’s humongous task to unite the girls across the globe . Participating alumnae went from 20 to 30 to 60 to over 170.I registered and so did Marisa. Marisa came into my life when I was in Grade 2. She was the girl who taught me friendship – she very nonchalantly talks of a time when I bit her hand in the Merry - Go -  Round - Flat (when I saw her talking to another girl)

 

with Marisa

I have evolved since those ‘biting’ days and here I was an old girl looking for reasons to go back to my school. I had many a reason not to – but I chose to go back and visit that institution that was a part of a decade of my life : As October drew near  - My mind wandered to those days when I used to be this lanky, long –haired , a little perturbed day scholar- who didn’t quite like her school! That was 25 years back. Today I am all ‘grown up’ so unlike that girl I knew in St .Helen’s.   I am sure my class mates remember me as  this confused rebel, an average student, all hands and legs and a passive girl. The next twenty five years after school has moulded and reinvented me to who I am today- with that streak of rebellion still deep set in me.

I saw myself gearing up for the reunion. There was excitement on and off Facebook. Marisa and I spent hours on the phone talking about revisiting our school days,doing what we did in the 80’s ; walking on the railway track, sharing our tiffin, eating green chillies, running into trouble , giggling during the ‘Stations of the Cross’ during Lent. One thing that was bothering me ( and I am sure it bothered many of us) was- I was no longer that pretty young thing- Today I am older and definitely wiser and fatter. Can’t do much about the wrinkles – I thought to myself, however, I can do something about my signs of prosperity around my waist and cheeks! So my outfits had to wait when Manjula  ( Vice President of the Organizing Committee and a gracious senior and friend) was announcing the dress code for the three days meet. Post my summer vacation in Europe where I dined  and did injustice to my aging digestive system and my  all receptive fatty cells – I decided to go on a health spree- to look presentable and good at the school reunion- My aim was to ensure that   my ‘ image on the  inside’ and the ‘ image on the outside’ was in congruence. No matter what the world says – I still feel happiest when I am healthiest! A couple of kilos lighter, I put together a wardrobe, shopped for gifts for my friends and for the organising committee and  I was all set to travel to the hills.

I felt like a little girl as I stepped into the school premises to collect my ‘kit’ on the 1,October 2015. It was surreal – din't know what to feel! It was nostalgia and a few very deep set regrets – the emotions were definitely new to me, but I loved it. I smiled through my tears and met the   girls- some very familiar faces and some who were almost a forgotten part of my life. Met graceful seniors , sweet contemporaries and even sweeter juniors and present Helenites. As I did everyday  all through my years in school - I went home that evening too - to my sweet  parents  who lives in a greener than green house up in St. Mary’s Hill. It was indeed Yesterday Once More.

with the present Helenites

 The almost Autumn sun shone down on the beautiful  school and her  girls – young and old, for the next two days. I was a happy face among them –trying to soak in as much as I could , lapping up all the wonderful  moments, exchanging warm hugs and those 'how can I forget you' moments,  singing  joyfully during the inaugural mass, shaking a leg at the 'Dinner and Dance', engaging in heart to heart talks with old teachers and some very familiar support staff - I was no more in awe of them. I had to remind myself that I was an old girl back in her school. I went back in time- I stepped into the parlour which was once upon a time a ‘no-go' zone. I sat there talking , laughing and posing for ‘selfies’ with likewise girls. I hugged the sisters from the convent – offered them  ice-cream during the school fete. Marisa went missing in school and I was running all over looking for her- this was my version of our good old ‘Hide and Seek’ this time around. Appreciated the present day Helenites as they mesmerized the audience  with their  Maria and the gang – how I loved it!

...and I ran!

We marched down to the Hockey Flat – I self-nominated myself for the relay. I ran that day,ran the best I could.This was something I had  just dreamt of when I was in school for reasons that can be best forgotten . I was on that ground  for the first time running for my team ! We lost but I still want to believe that I won that day. I was choking when I spoke to Rahul – my school was still helping me grow and chase my dreams.

class of 1989 at the Reunion

After a last lunch in school –that was more about interaction with new friends and beautiful people - it was time  for  yet another goodbye. I walked down the slope with Marisa - all the way down to St. Joseph’s and beyond- into town. I was carrying within me a grateful heart that I allowed myself this opportunity  to revisit my past and to look at it with a grown - up heart.  As I walked down that slope of green and concrete,  I felt a sense of belonging- took me so  many years but here I was allowing myself that home-coming . Happy  to be back in school and happier still that St. Helen’s happened to me.

                                                                                                         

Claudia Joshi

Class of 1989

My Story

                                                                 

Where do I begin….. ( with the soundtrack  of  Dr.Zhivago  playing in my mind) I sit down to pen my story. I know I am not a celebrity or a famous  personality with my name on every lips ,but nevertheless, I have a story to tell -

My mind travels back in time to the 80’s growing up in cold, wet and green Darjeeling with the pristine Himalayas standing tall and staring at me as I walked to school everyday.  Angela’s Ashes by Frank Mc Court – I could draw parallels with his life  when it came to a Catholic childhood( even I threw up my first Holy Communion!) but not the poverty and the squalor that he so dismally describes in his book. I had a good , happy Catholic childhood  and the worse that could happen to you was  when you had a Bishop as your maternal uncle – that meant you were being watched, watched all the time; be a good exemplary girl or even expected to join a religious congregation when you grew up!. Amidst the Faith, Christmases and Easters, the evening prayers and hymns, the convent school that I didn’t quite like, my first friend Marisa,the never ending Monsoons and  Winters, the healthy organic food, the occasional picnics, Keventers'  cold cuts, rolls and Darjeeling  tea, steaming hot dumpling in  town ,the weekend walks , the annual holidays here there and everywhere , the supportive family, busy,  strict and stern parents  and very musical cousins…..I grew up leaps and bounds literally! All hands and legs and lanky I stood at 167 cms  – a little too tall for my little people with big hearts.

“She Understands”, I overheard my father saying these words about me  to my mother. I was very young and all ears!  And somehow these two words have been my mantra ever since. I have carried these two golden words in my heart and my soul, and my life have been woven around them. For a decade I was a Helenite and as if that was'nt enough I  went on to an all girls college- Loreto ,with a promise letter to my parents that I would study and never put them in any difficult situation and shame and I graduated with not only a degree but  with a realization that I was multi- talented and had leadership qualities, substance and style and more .  This beautiful girls college and her dynamic Mother Damien sitting at the helm, my best friends Suprina and Namrata, the ever so wonderful professors who spoke impeccable English, has left indelible experiences and beautiful learnings and memories that has made me what I am today.

A rebel at heart , a confident young girl, a gypsy soul, a self declared stylist with an eye for detail  – I found a home for the next decade with two airlines in contrary to my mother coaxing me to become  teacher( and get a comfy job not far away from home). I travelled extensively in India and across the globe rubbing shoulders with hoity toity girls  from numerous nationalities, learnt to adapt and adjust- to time zones and foreign shores, shopped and went sight seeing, practiced virtues like patience and calmness at 37,000 ft above sea level,  I made a trip to the Holyland with my parents- thus realizing my mother’s dream to touch the waters on which Jesus walked. The perks of a flight attendants life!

When I write my story – how can I not mention the  protagonist  who had turned my world upside down the day I met him  in New Delhi where  I was on a short trip to write my DGCA( Civil Aviation ) exams. Rahul  swept me off my feet with his Clark Kent glasses and his signature lop- sided smile. I am  forever indebted to Hotel Imperial where he was working at that time and my colleague and friend Shelley who played cupid and  propelled our ‘ love at first sight’ moment to a journey forever.

  

My heart signed off to him I saw myself flying to India more often than I could imagine. Meeting and parting became a norm. Swapping my long flights with girls to get me back to India, counting days – what love can do to people! I was a  written off victim of this thing called Love.

All good things come to an end – We decided to get married! We were looking for some commonality between us to take things further- there was none! He- a  rudraskh wearing Hindu, Me- a cross wearing Christian, He- a Vegetarian, Me – a Meat eater! Community and language – nothing was on our side except for our  crazy  love that made all these objective things look miniscule. Fighting in our own rustic way  we got hitched at the turn of the millennium!  I willingly became his wifey and our travels continued as my  airline fetched him free tickets and his hospitality job fetched us free stays at classy starred hotels .That definitely was a steal deal!

That was 12 long years ago. Today we are definitely older and wiser and  still very much  in love.  We have  two beautiful children and we have  realized that we have bigger hearts to accommodate these two new members   in our fold .  Motherhood has altered and taken my life to a different level all together. After having moved 6 destinations with Rahul’s  work, I still do the adapting and adjusting. I am still a gypsy soul and I love my life on the move. Resilient children who have taken to our  way of life – newness does not worry them! Making friends and leaving a trail of friends and school mates with each change of location! Where we four are together -that is home. Living among diverse people, we learn to  accept and  celebrate differences.

Being a wife and a mother is so fulfilling but  I did have a fire within me to do something for myself. Me in competition with myself and no one else. I have slowly but surely  honed my skills as a  life coach  – have realized that I can help people who are in need of guidance, share my knowledge of what I am passionate about- to be a catalyst for smart , confident and ‘ well turned out’ people.  As I write , those two words I overheard my father utter  many many years ago, ‘ She Understands’ resonated within me. I believe my life has come full circle and that I can only go higher and higher from here.