Magazine

Usha Kumar recalls the 50^th reunion of batch of ’73 of Convent of Good Shepherd,  Chennai

The group consisted of a great grandmother, many grandmothers and mothers. The numbers had crossed the magical 50 and the organizers were thrilled, but finally we had to settle for 44. Although there were three generations in the group, it must be noted that all the participants were of the same age. It was the 50^th reunion of the Batch of ’73 of the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Chennai. After bidding farewell to each other in March of ’73, few of us were together when we joined the same colleges. Then for about two decades, there was hardly any interaction as a group until it dawned on us that our silver jubilee reunion was just around the corner. With great effort and with the help of the good old telephone directory, we traced our class mates by calling up their parental homes. This was in the year 1998 much before the dawn of WhatsApp and other social media.

The intervening years from 1998 to 2023 has seen the group meet many a time. However the Golden Jubilee meet was indeed super special. The planning started in April of 2022, and when we zeroed in on The Tamara Resort, Coorg, everyone was excited and on cloud nine. It was a holiday and a reunion that we would remember for the rest of our lives. We cut a cake, there was plenty of catching up to do. We danced including the Salsa, sang, entertained, gossiped, went on treks, ate and drank and had a whale of a time. We met few of our classmates for the first time after 50 years, and did it feel strange? No, not at all. We just took off from where we left in 1973. We had friends coming in from all parts of the world. Our enthusiasm embarrassed some of the guests who were less than half our age. Age was our strength and we used it to the hilt. Sixty five felt like the new thirty five. Although we say that family comes first, let me tell you nothing like having our contemporaries with us at all times! Friendship is the best ship to weather all the storms.