Recently I'd an opportunity to meet my school friends of 1984-85 batch SSLC as we arranged a Guruvandana for our teachers.I really had a very good time during this event and would like to share some of thoughts through this blog.
It all started when Vithal Sarnobat met Narayan Deshpande on March 7th and they were having a chat at second railway gate in Belgaum. One more school mate Ravi Inchal joined them and they were talking about arranging an alumni meet at the school so that we can give back to the great school in which our foundation was built. Chidamber Kulkarni also joined the group as they were at the second railway gate and the urge for alumni meet increased. Vithal,Narayan and Ravi (I'll call them NRV from now) took the initiative of contacting the school authorities and getting the list of students from our batch. School authorities were also excited to hear about such a meet and they shared all the information. The search for finding the classmates started.
With the list provided by school, NRV started contacting people to get the contact numbers, emails etc from the people they could contact. As there were lot of people who still live in Belgaum from our batch, localites met to discuss this idea of alumni meet. At the first meet most of the time was lost in remembering the good old school days, cricket, teachers, other classmates etc and laughing about it. Slowly and surely the vision of bringing the classmates together was taking shape. One more week gone and NRV could contact more people who had left Belgaum and most of them were happy to hear about such a meet.
To proceed further there was a meeting scheduled on March 16th in Belgaum and again as more people joined the group there was more fun and laughing all the way. The decision was to contribute Rs5000 at least. Some real good minds of our batch came out with the idea of not forcing people to contribute but whoever can afford could contribute and others can join if they can. There was no compulsion for the contribution but we as a team wanted to make this happen. We got an opportunity to meet Charantimath sir on this day and we discussed different options for the donation to school.
Some pictures from March 16th meet below
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| Th Gang |
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| In the classroom |
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| Ladies |
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| Mr Charantimath Sir providing guidance |
One more meeting was planned on April 20th. That was the day of Vithal Sarnobat's marriage anniversary and we celebrated this in Paratha corner.This again was lot of fun and laughing all the way. Following decisions were made during the meeting
1. Donating 25 benches to school
2. Felicitating all the teachers and non teaching staff
Everybody agreed to this and the final date for the meet was decided as May 25th. NRV and other localites started the work on planning for the D day. Pictures from second meeting.
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| Vithal Sarnobat cutting the cake |
I traveled to Belgaum on 24th May for the Guruvandana. Narayan (Narya),Ravi(Ravya),Vithal(Vithalya), Chidamber(Chidya) and Punajigouda were getting ready to receive the benches to be delivered. The benches were manufactured at Punajigouda's workshop. We, along with the SVM school staff placed the benches in a classroom. We planned to meet at 8.30 am on D day.
On the D day there was lot of preparations for welcoming our teachers and friends from different cities with their families. Mustaq Bhavikatti and Sharayu Potnis (now Dumbal) were the anchors of the day along with Amar Sadarjoshi. Everything was planned from breakfast,photo session,welcoming teachers,ribbon cutting etc to lunch..Hats off to NRV for the great plan.
Some pictures from the preparation and arriving guests
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| SVM School |
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| The ladies gang: Sharayu,Rani,Surekha and Veena |
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| Mrs. Dharmatti teacher enters and see the smiles all around |
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| Chidamber and Sridhar |
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| Madhwesh Kulkarni |
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| B S Shahapeti was the pleasant surprise of this event as he traveled all the way from US |
Group photo
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| SSLC Gang with teachers |
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| Family members (photo courtesy Madhwesh) |
Bhavikatti and Sharayu started the proceedings to welcome the teachers and all the family members. At the beginning there was lightening of the lamp by the teachers followed by the welcome song. Ribbon cutting of the classroom in which new benches were placed was done by Mrs Dharmatti teacher. All the guests occupied the seats in the classroom along with the teachers.
Felicitation of the teachers as well as the non teaching staff was done and the floor was open to students of 1984-85 batch to share their experiences. Deepak Dhadothi,Madhwesh Kulkarni,Irshad Shaikh,Bhimsingh Olekar, B.S.Shahapeti and Mahesh Kulkarni shared their experiences.
With a heavy heart we remembered the teachers and students who had left us for heavenly abode. May their soul rest in peace.
The floor was open to teachers to provide the guidance. Mr Charantimath sir,Mr VG sir,Mr Punajigoud sir,Mrs Dharmatti teacher and Mr Ambedkar sir remebered the good old days and provided a great guidance through their speeches.
At the end there was vote of thanks by Vithal Sarnobath and it was really entertaining way to thank all the people involved in this meet. Vithal was awarded PhD for the vote of thanks speech by Mr VG sir. What a great honor for Vithal.
Lunch was served and the menu was too good. I thank all the family members for all the patience and interest shown in this event.
Then the time came for us to depart and no one in the group was ready to leave. With a heavy heart one by one left, hoping to meet again in the near future.
I really have very fond memories of this meet and I thank once again to all the people involved to make this event a successful event.
