About Us

SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT…..

St. Mary’s girls (and now boys) never forget their Alma Mater though years may pass after they leave the portals of their beloved school. Some memories never fade. Nothing proves this as effectively than the combined and concerted efforts of the alumni to come together each year, from far and near, to make every reunion a memorable event. This true SMS spirit was once again displayed in 2016, when we had an all year-round celebration of the 150 years of our school.

Celebrating ‘The Sesquicentennial’ is the culmination of a long journey that, for me personally, began in 1959, when my graduating class was invited to join the Old Girls Association (OGA). We attended our first meeting, held over tea in the School Hall, and thus began our association with the school as ‘old girls’. We bought badges that we proudly flaunted at subsequent meetings. The OGA also had a newsletter which gave us current school news, news about old girls who had visited the school, news about graduating classes, weddings, births and deaths.

In 2001, when I returned to live in Pune after being away for 23 years in the US, I discovered that the OGA was no longer in existence. I was told that a few older ‘girls’ from the batches if 1936 –1957 were having a reunion, organized by Homai Pudumjee and Sarla Kumar. Having urged them to extend the outer limit to 1965, the reunion luncheon at the Turf Club was very well attended. Spurred by the success of this event, Sarla and I began to locate other younger Maryites to form a committee to revive the OGA. Mrs Elizabeth Mathew, then Principal of the school, was a great support. The first reunion after 1985 was held in 2006 to commemorate 140 years of the founding of the school. Much to our delight, and thanks to the efforts of Sarla Kumar, Maya Thadani, Kashmira Parekh, Dipali Yadav, Naina Vir, Vinita Ram, Charmaine Suri, Radhika Paul ( and others I may have inadvertently left out), the reunion was attended by 620 ‘girls’ of all ages!

In time we were able to co-opt more committee members and the OGA was back in action! Apart from holding annual reunions, we launched a newsletter ‘Vignettes’, and inaugurated our website. During the 150th year founding celebration of the school, we expanded our scope to include the boys, who finally stormed the bastion of the all-girls school in the mid-1990s.We are now known as the St. Mary’s School (Pune) Alumni Association, and our goal is to create lifelong bonds and spread the alumni network to be more inclusive. We endeavour to engage increasingly through a variety of programmes, services and events. Our alumni are spread all over the world, pursuing different occupations, and we are actively reaching out, helping and supporting each other across batches.

On behalf of the St. Marys School (Pune) Alumni Association, I can proudly confirm that “Auld acquaintance can never be forgot’’!

Veena Vora
President
St.Mary’s School ( Pune) Alumni Association