SJHS Re-union

SJHS RE-UNION PART 2

Dear friends,

After the memorable first re-union of SJHS students efforts were on to have another re-union, preferably with family members of the students.  The efforts paid off and it took place on 28th & 29th June 2011.

Here are the highlights of those memorable days.

28TH JUNE 2011

THE VENUE...

To better their own performance, the trio of organizers Anup, Ramamoorthy and Dr.S.Ravi arranged this occasion in the famous age-old "Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation Resorts".  The venue was very large and had lot of facilities like China net, play areas, etc. etc. 

FAMILY GETS IN...

Unlike the first occasion some of our friends attended the re-union with family.  They reached in the afternoon on 28th and were allotted excellent Cottage type rooms.  As I didn't attend the occasion on 28th I am not in a position to describe how the events unfolded, though many of the friends felt that it was very pleasant and enterprising.

29TH JUNE 2011

ARRIVAL

As planned earlier, many of us attended the re-union on 29th June.  N.R.Sridhar (coinciding whose visit the entire event was planned), "Subbudu" of our group S.D.Srinivasan joined me at Mylapore (Rangarajan dropped out in the last minute due to some domestic commitments) and we travelled together and reached the venue around 9.00 a.m.  K.Rajan was in touch with us right from the morning to check about our arrival and the landmarks to locate the venue.  Rajan was initially not planning to attend the occasion, but his proximity to the venue did not allow him to avoid the golden opportunity.  Murugan was travelling in the opposite direction in ECR (from Chidambaram via Pondy) and reached much prior to us creating embarrassment to us as we reached a bit late.  We could find a solace as one of our friends arrived very late.... Guess who? (secret will be revealed soon)

Anup, Ramamurthy and Dr.S.Ravi received us and guided us to taste the delicious breakfast.  We could then meet our friends K.L.Balaji (Basketball player), Sridhar (Bangalore), Haroon Rashid, Nallathambi (B Section), Bhaskar (from Hyderabad), another Bhaskar (from Selaiyur, Tambaram - who studied in B Section), Devendran and others.  We had a nice chat and those who attended with family introduced their family members to us.

MAGIC SHOW

Another jewel in the crown is the fantastic "Magic Show" arranged by the trio.  It was held in the conference hall.&n`sp;   He had a simple green bag, some cups and coloured balls (resembled cherry fruits).  He performed usual hide and seek tricks with the coloured balls and the inverted cups.  He involved the crowd in some of the tricks. But the stunning item was there to follow.  Displaying his yoga skills, he started bringing out pebbles from his stomach (must be from there I suppose).  First he started with pebbles of smaller size and finally brought out huge pebbles bringing about shivers among us.  It was amazing to see him tap his throat producing the pebble sound.  Then he shocked everyone by displaying two snacks trying to attack him and escaping from it. The crowd lifted their legs and even started moving backwards. 

It was a very simple but interesting magic show.

SELF INTRODUCTION

Ramamurthy called each of us to give a brief self-introduction. 

N.R.Sridhar was the opener, who started the address like a politician and there was a good response for the way he addressed the gathering.  He explained about his education, profession, etc.  He also recalled his experiences with SJHS friends.  He pleaded more friends to join the googlegroup and be in the thick of action.

I was the next one to add.  After giving a glimpse of my profession and family, I thanked the trio for organizing the event and also recalled the efforts of N.R.Sridhar in creating the googlegroup. 

Murugan spoke about his profession and also emphasized the need to be in the group as it would enable the friends to understand the needs of others and offer simple help like arranging accommodation in a new city, guiding the students in their career, etc.

K.Rajan was also shared his views and recognised the useful contributions from the google group.


S.D. narrated his experiences in his own style.


Bhaskar of B Section also used the opportunity.


Some of the family members of the friends also addressed the gathering.

Now time has come to reveal the real hero who brought us solace....

When I felt a little bad for having arrived late, Kumaravel arrived very very very late and all of us started criticizing him for that.  He however made amends by picking up the microphone and tendering his apology.  He also spoke about his family and profession.

Standing (From left): Haroon Rashid, Anup, Bhaskar (Hyd), SD, Salavakkam Ravi,
Murugan, Nallathambi, Shankar
Sitting (From left): K.L.Balaji, Dr.S.Ravi, N.R.Sridhar, Kumaravel, K.Rajan
Squatting: Sridhar (Bangalore)

CRICKET

This was the most disappointing aspect of the occasion.  No bat and ball was provided to play cricket (Mamalla Resorts scored over TTDC in this aspect).  We managed to get a bat (which I brought from Chennai) and gather the stumps, but the TTDC official bought a "punctured ball" and our cricket match ended without even starting.  Even the response was very poor among our friends, as cricket aspirants like Rangarajan, Prasad, Krishnamurthy (Udupi) and Raghavachari were absent this time.

SWIMMING

Even swimming was a flop as many of the friends who stayed overnight already had their share of swim in the morning.  I decided to go alone.  SD and N.R.Sridhar accompanied me to the pool though they didn't take part in swimming.  It was a much needed swimming session to overcome the harsh rays of sun beating down in the typical "Chennai" fashion.

LUNCH

Then we had a delicious lunch comprising of separate sections for Non-Veg and Veg.  After the delicious lunch and ice cream, we started back to Chennai as N.R.Sridhar was in hurry to catch the Delhi flight and SD had to leave for Bangalore in the night.

It was a great experience as anticipated.  But the response was poor.

Notable absentees were Prasad(Hyderabad), Suresh(Tuticorin), N.Rangarajan(alias Nembugol), Dr.Pichumani, Krishnamurthy, S.K.Ravichandran.

Hopefully we will get more people joining the re-union in future.

Anyway kudos to the trio of Ramamurthy, Anup and Dr.S.Ravi for having organized another great event.

Regards

S.Ravichandran.