August augured well with MEET AND GREET

There was a sudden flurry, early August 2015, in every SMS alumni WhatsApp group that connects them with their batch mates. More names started getting annexed, and the white and blue invitations heralding the first countdown event to celebrate 150 years of St. Mary’s School started surfacing everywhere.

The ‘Meet and Greet’ was a luncheon hosted at the Classic Rock Coffee Co. at Kalyani Nagar, Pune on 30th Aug 2015. Around 250 alumni members gathered that day, mostly dressed in ‘colours of white and blue’, bringing back memories of the school days. The ‘belle of the ball’ was Meher Aga Pudumjee from the batch of 1982, who looked as svelte as ever in the school uniform!

The organising team, led by Maria Latiff (1987) ensured that it was a cheery, lively event. There was a photo booth, loaded with amusing props, to capture moments from the fun afternoon. The sumptuous food and drinks tempted the diet conscious too! The DJ added to the mood with foot tapping music from different decades.

Every alumni member left the venue feeling exuberant and eagerly looking forward to the next reunion.

The Prelude to the 150 years celebration had begun on a perfect note!

Come September with STAND UP COMEDY

It was a total sell out. The clamour for the passes for the eagerly awaited comic show continued till the very last minute, unfortunately,The High Spirits Cafe, Koregaon Park, could only accommodate 300 people on September 13, 2015.

Aditi Mittal (2000), along with fellow stand up humorists, Karunesh Talwar and Abhishek Upamanyu, had the enthralled audience in splits with their hilarious take on life and its banalities. Being an ‘old girl’, Aditi had us revel in the quirks of our school life.

It was a well delivered event organised by Sadhana Merchant (1976), and definitely built up the tempo for the forthcoming events.

In the meanwhile, the October event was getting set to reveal itself amidst enthusiastic inquiries from the alumni – what next?!

COOK, WINE AND DINE perfect for October

A cooking demonstration by Chef Shailendra Kekade of Stone Water Grill was the highlight of this event held on October 10, 2015. He had ‘old girls’ hanging on to his every word as he whipped up a colourful, easy-to-make and healthy menu.

The afternoon saw platters upon platters of sumptuous starters, live pasta counters, a very impressive Indo- Japanese fusion main course, unlimited wines (courtesy Fratelli), thirst quenching mocktails, friendly service, deliciously sinful desserts, and retro music that had many refusing to leave the makeshift dance floor.

Supriya Shetty (1981) did an admirable job of bringing the decades together at what was to be a series in the mega event presented under the ‘St. Mary’s School (Pune) Alumni Association’ banner!

Could I have some more please …..

FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA – A November Bonanza

The glamorous Fashion Extravaganza at the Poona Club,on November 6, 2015, was the harbinger of the colossal events planned for January 2016. When alumni voted for a fashion show as a countdown event, very few imagined how stunning the all-alumni show would turn out to be.

Organised by Usha Poonawalla (1976), the musical fashion journey through the decades was designed and conceptualised by Rekha Krishan (1969) with valuable inputs from show choreographer Ritika Irani (2003), show stylist Samita Moolani (2000), and Paromita Malkani (1984).

The Hair and Make-up stylist Richa Karia Haji (2003) ensured that the following alumni who sashayed down the ramp in designer apparel and accessories by Sheetal Creations took centre stage:

Anita Lalla (1981), Apeksha Shah (2002), Bhavana Sanghvi (1995), Irisha Poonawalla (2002),Jagruti Jethwani (2015), Jaya Shetty (1976), Lochna Mangwani (2012), Lydia Edwards (1976), Malavika Singh(1999),Mayanka Khetarpal ( 2000), Monika Aurora Desai (1987), Nikita Parmar (1996), Nikita Yeole (2015), Niyati Khandelwal (2015), Pooja Shah (2002), Prerna Achtani (2012), Ravina Mutha (2007), Resham Mehta (2011), Riddhi Soparkar (1999), Rubina Mandlik (2000), Samita Moolani (2000), Sangeeta Pingale (1982), Shazia Tinwalla (2005), Shweta Sanghvi (1993), Sonal Shah (1988), Supriya Jha (2012), Surabhi Godbole (1987), Vandana Jandial (1982).Miss India finalist, Hanika Paryani (2002) was the show stopper.

Not to mention, the lone male participant, Akshay Agarwal (2010 – Boys section) stole many a heart!

The show was ably compered by Mallika Malkani (2014) and Natasha Poonawalla (2006).

The models captivated the 850-strong audience as they sashayed down the ramp. Vice President of the Alumni Association, Sarla Kumar (1950) touched one and all through her from-the-heart speech. Venue and stage manager Monica Desai (1987) made certain that the event unfolded flawlessly.

By now, the expectation for the December’s festivity was high and enthusiasm even higher!

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY’S! - A Merry December gift

The all-alumni play ‘There’s Something about Mary’s’ performed at the Nehru Memorial Hall on December 13, 2015 was a trip down memory lane.

An affectionate look at what makes a typical ‘Maryite’, the play was directed by Mahrukh Bharucha (1985), assisted by former teacher Hina Siddiqui, who adeptly put together a cast and crew of around 30 alumni, spanning batches from 1981 to 2015.

The play orbited around an impending wedding, where the bride-to-be is an alumna of St. Mary’s School, Pune. While trying to fathom the compulsions and complexities that make the bride what she is, the groom encounters the ‘spirit’ of St. Mary’s - an ethereal figure that both charms and alarms him. The dramatisation takes the groom on an enchanting and entrancing exploration of the school, presenting to him the dynamics and verve that goes into building generations of poised and spirited women and men.

The cast included Ankita Athalye (2009), Ria Athalye (2015), Jahaan Bharucha (2014), Benaifer Bhesania (1982), Jasmin Dalal (1981), Khushnoor Dastoor (1993), Nafisa Hashim (1997), Johanna Israni (2013), Soumya Iyer (2008), Bakul Jachak (2015), Natasha Lord (1994), Rubina Mandlik (2000), Farah Nesargi (1993), Eshan Palkar (2012), Aanvi Patodia (2015), Omkar Purandare, Ali S Raja (2015), Dr. Swayam Rathod (1999), Arezu Rodricks (1999), Tasha Rohmetra (2015), Avanti Rachel Singh (2013), Riddhi Soparkar (1999), Aparna Thakurdas (1990). They were ably supported by Ratan Batliwala.

And then it was January 2016…

The Inaugural Service
As voices soared, filling the venerable old church to its burnished rafters, it was like returning to the past. It all came back in a rush...the words and the tunes of oft-sung hymns, memories of being at Assembly in the school hall, the urge to fidget at a solemn moment! The Inaugural Service held at the beautifully decorated St. Mary’s Church on the evening of 12th January was a fitting start to celebrations to commemorate the Sesquicentennial Year of St. Mary’s School.

Students, teachers, alumni, school staff, Board members and well-wishers alike joined hands in prayer to wish this wonderful institution long life and greater success. Young voices in the choir mingled with more mature ones as students, past and present, enthusiastically sang the School Song to mark the end of a moving service that brought many to tears.

It was a very emotional group of people that gathered outside the church over tea and snacks that evening. In the long history of St. Mary’s School, this was truly a momentous page.

Meet your teachers

White and blue balloons filled the sky, fire crackers burst noisily, and colourful confetti showered down as hundreds of alumni members enthusiastically greeted their teachers at the ‘Meet Your Teachers’ event held at the Poona Club Amphitheatre on 13th January. It was a sight to behold!

Squeals of recognition were punctuated with exclamations of delight as batch mates caught up after years, and together made a bee line for their favourite teachers. The teachers, some looking the same as during their teaching years, others dignified older versions, were visibly moved by the experience. Alumni clamoured to take photographs with the teachers, while others engaged in animated conversations, trying to jog sometimes fading memories.

Appropriately white and blue cakes were cut by current Principal Mrs. Sujata Mallic Kumar, Vice Principal Padma Nair and some of the school’s most senior former teachers – Miss Lawrence, Miss Hyams, Mrs D’Costa, Miss Devadawson – along with Veena Vora, President of the Alumni Association, to rousing cheers from the ‘girls’. Elsewhere, a sumptuous spread awaited those who wanted to continue bonding over sandwiches and samosas, in true SMS style.

Surekha Kher, displaying the exemplary leadership qualities that made her Head Girl in 1961, and her team of Farah Gustaspi and Aliasghar Godhrawala did a superlative job of organising what had to be a logistical nightmare! Bringing together more than 150 teachers from across the decades was a mind-boggling task that they took on with élan! Comperes Jasmin Dalal and Johanna Israni kept the business end of things going while Nicole Louzado’s rendition of ‘Que Sera Sera’ and ‘Wind Beneath my Wings’ were fitting tributes to the ladies and gentlemen responsible for nurturing generations of SMS-ites!

Club Night

On the night of 14th January, an enthusiastic bunch of alumni, spouses, partners and friends in tow, let down their hair at the Kue Bar, taking a well deserved break from the solemnity of the previous days’ programmes. It was a rocking Club Night indeed as excited groups took to the floor, dancing with spirited abandon. It was as if they had just been let out of school!

Back to School

“Oh, our 9th standard classroom was here!”
“Gosh, there’s the bell! Are we allowed to ring it?”
“Hey, is the tree under which we had lunch still standing?”

Ear splitting exclamations, excited chatter, beaming faces...there was unbridled happiness in the air that day as hundreds of alumni went ‘Back to School’ on 15th January. A chance to revisit the school that shaped your thinking is not one to be missed, and it’s not surprising then that so many alumni flocked to school that day. The watchmen at the gate were probably wondering what hit them when women of all ages began streaming in half an hour before time. One batch literally got back into their uniforms, much to the amusement of the school staff!

An hour later all the girls were in the auditorium listening to melodious rendering of songs by the school choirs – boys and girls. The screening of an interview with Sister Valeria, one of the last principals from Wantage, was a treat enjoyed by all, especially the senior alumni who have fond memories of the nuns. The programme was wrapped up with the school song sung with gusto by all.

There was more to come as Principal Mrs. Sujata Mallic Kumar invited all to partake of tea and well loved snacks from the school canteen; ‘girls’ wore looks of near bliss as they bit into the legendary samosa-stuffed chutney sandwiches ! Thank you to Mrs. Mallic Kumar and her team for throwing the gates of the school open – it was a treat for alumni visiting from overseas and cities across India, and really made the 150th anniversary celebrations special for all of us.

The Grand Ball

And finally – the grand finale! Elegant blue and white flower arrangements greeted guests as they entered the reception area of Inspire at the Westin on 17th January. Inside the hall, the tables and chairs were decked in silver and blue, embellished with pretty floral centre pieces with witty alumni memes on sticks. The shimmering backdrop set the mood for the grand finale of the week-long celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of St. Mary’s School.

Dressed to the nines and with a look of excited anticipation on their faces, alumni of all ages mingled, exchanging notes, discovering connections, and reliving memories. As the Lambada band set the pace with foot tapping music, couples began to veer to the dance floor and soon it was packed, leaving compere Mahrukh Bharucha completely bewildered at the change in the scheduled programme!

Veena Vora, President of the SMS Alumni Association, formally welcomed and addressed the guests and alumni, before the stage was taken over by the batch representatives who broke into a lively flash mob dance to the rousing beats of ‘Back to School’. Later Kamakshi Rai (2005), finalist on the TV programme ‘The Stage’, sang for the gathering.

Neelu Kelshikar (1976) and her team had planned everything in meticulous, eye-popping detail - from the delicately made corsages and scintillating decor, the props for the selfie corner, to the attentive wait staff serving starters, and the fabulous spread laid out under the stars.

Words cannot describe the wonderfully magical evening – so we will let the photographs do the talking.