Sydney Reunion - batch of 1962

The 1962 batch has been very busy! And very reminiscent! Some of them also got together in Sydney, Australia for a reunion. I think this was taken in late 2008.

Class of 1962 - Bangalore Reunion

Some of the 1962 batch met for a reunion in Bangalore in January 2008. Some of them flew down from other continents (Europe, Australia!) for this! Thanks to Celia and Gail for the pictures! I think they were taken on school premises. They had a great time and even managed to fit in a surprise visit to Miss Suares who was thrilled to see them all.

First pic:

Prema, Miss Susheela (yes, she taught this batch too - 46 years ago!), Jyotsna, Nalini, Arti Kumar, Celia (Joyce) Fivash, Edna Benn

Middle Row: Hema, Gail (Irish) Mendens

Back Row: Dorte Sorensen, Chandrika, Girija Shankar, Rama, Ilana, Usha Reddy

Second pic:

Back row (Left to Right): Dorte, Hema, Gail

"Middle" Row: Prema, Ilana, Arti, Chandrika, Rama, Girija, Jyotsna

Front Row: Celia, Nalini, Princess Franklin (the current principal of BCGS)

Tiny little reunion

Which basically means two OCs got together after ages! Here's a picture of the shortest, smallest OC reunion! Meera Appaswamy and me (Nazu Tonse), when we managed to meet up for a coffee when she was down here a few months ago. We are both batch of 1981 ICSE.

A Golden Oldie from the 1930's!

Isn't this an lovely photo?! This photo with a number of girls dressed for what appears to be a Shakespearean play was taken in the 30s. Clearly we've had a long tradition of drama at Bishop Cottons!


This photo was sent in by Cheryl Irish (1975 batch). In the picture is Cheryl's mum Ida D'Bras who is standing in the back row (second from the right) and graduated from Cottons around 1936. All three of Ida's daughters - Gail, Dawn and Cheryl were Cottonians too!

We'd love to know if anyone has any more information about the event or the other "old girls" in the photo!

Cotton's Teachers circa 1950s

Here's another picture sent in by Celia, of the teaching staff at school during the 50s.

Emily Pharoah (Celia's aunt) is in the middle row, 6th from the left. Mr. Godbole, Hindi teacher is far right, top row, Miss Susheela is top row 3rd from left, and Miss Suares is middle row 2nd from the right.

Just in case the caption is hard to read, here is the list again (if anyone knows the missing names - or has more info on any of the people in the picture, do let us know so we can grow our history book!):

Top Row (left to right): Mr. Ramamurthy, Mrs. Galloway, Miss Sushila, Mrs. Whitbread, T5, Mrs. Pereira, T7, T8, T9, Mr. Godbole

Middle Row: M1, Mrs. Latt, Mrs. Robey, Miss Mortimer, Miss Britto, Miss Pharoah, Miss Mulley, Miss I. Stevens, Miss Stevens, Miss Suares, Mrs. Fewkes

Front Row: Mrs. Arkley, Mrs. Clark, Miss Moore, Mrs. C. Gaughan, Mrs. Schiff, Miss Biddy Scott, Miss Millington, Miss Holder, Mrs. Robinson

Sports Day 1962

Celia (Joyce) Fivash sent in this picture - here she is collecting the cup for Maiden House who won that year. Celia was captain of Maiden House, and she's also one of 10 girls from her batch who are getting together for a reunion of the 1962 batch in Bangalore in January 2009.

Reunion - batch of 1962

Not bad for us Old Girls (well, we can give the Internet a little credit too!) We have been reaching out and as a result, have been getting in touch with OCs around the world, with news and info and pix hopping about from continent to continent till they arrive here! This picture has travelled from New Jersey to Sydney to Bangalore!

Here's a picture of a "mini-reunion" of some of the batch of 1962, sent in by OC Gail Mendens (also batch of '62) from Sydney Australia. The girls in the picture are (left to right) Arti, Rama, Kala, Nalini and Malini, (sorry, don't know their surnames or maiden names) and the reunion took place in New Jersey USA in September this year.

2004 reunion of some of the 1974 batch

Jane sent me some pix for the blog, of this get-together of 1974 batch-mates at the Bangalore Club - pix taken in July/Aug 2004

front row - L to R - Mina Calla, Radha C V Iyer, Yasmin Tonse, Jane John. Back row - L to R - non-Cottonian Anita (who could not be cropped out of the picture without also chopping Mina's head off), Usha Philips and Sheela Mathew ... all except Sheela (1975) were '74 batch.

"The one with us sitting inside are Mina Calla standing behind, L to R Yasmin, Usha, Jane and Sheela ... "

Thanks for sharing, Jane!

Any other OCs out there want to share your pix with the rest of us? Do get in touch!

Reunion - Batch of 1975

It's been amazing to see the number of Old Cottonians re-connecting with one another on facebook and the blog in recent months! As Kala Lingham remarked recently it seems that the arrival of facebook and the blog coincided with a time when "we 40 somethings are all feeling a little nostalgic for that simple life we had back in the 70' and 80's! .... its been slightly surreal"!!!

Well here's a bunch that have stayed in touch over the years...The batch of 1975! This photo sent in by Sheela Mathew, was taken a few years ago. We hear the gang continues to meet regularly in Bangalore!1st row - front - Janaki KV, Shobana Swamy, Vijitha Reddy and Sandhya Seetharam
2nd row - back - Sudha Rao, Sandhya Vani, Roopa Rathnam, Sheela Mathew, Hema Shetty and Heera Nawaz.
Thanks to Ameetha V (unfortunately not in this picture) for helping out with the names...

A picture of Miss Suares - from the 1980's

Maya Thomas (1983) sent in this picture of Miss Suares smiling away. Mrs Clarke is in the background, and the teacher seated on the left is Mrs Collison.
Can someone with good eyesight figure what the thought for the day says on the black board and also help identify the other seated teacher please?

Twenty years on .. Miss Suares and The First Kiss (Part Three)

Ok now, don't go getting any funny ideas. Those of you who've visited my blog (Art Earth Ink Soul .. and if you haven't visited it yet, you must!) will remember my recent visit to see Mrs. Seshadri - where I'd written about The First Cup of Coffee - that Seshu had made for me personally (it's these little milestones of life that keep me smiling!) and so it seemed only apt that I make a separate entry for this new milestone: my first kiss and hug from Miss Suares!

If anyone reading this doesn't know Miss Suares, they won't understand the significance of this. But most of you reading this are her ex-students, and you will understand.

Miss Suares, tall, daunting, awe-inspiring - able to silence an entire auditorium just by entering it - none of us would have dared to give her a hug and kiss back in those days! So it was delightful to be welcomed with open arms and a warm hug and kiss on the cheek when we walked in to her home to visit her yesterday!

We also got The Second Kiss when we were leaving. After I kissed her goodbye, she put her hands up to her cheeks, an odd expression on her face. "Oh dear," I thought. "She can smell the cigarettes on my breath."

But no.

"Steady," I heard her murmur softly to herself. Miss Suares, indomitable as ever, held her tears back, and saw us out with a glorious smile.


to be continued ..

Twenty years on .. Miss Suares and The Order of Facebook (Part Two)

Left to right: NK Nandini (batch of 1981), Nazu Tonse (1981) Nalini Manasseh (1969), Supriya Hegde (1980), Marjorie Suares (1942), Heera Nawaz (1975) Hazel Suares (1940s), Edna Benn (1951)

Left to right: Anu Kurien, NK Nandini, Nalini Manasseh, Supriya Hegde, Marjorie Suares, Heera Nawaz, Hazel Suares

What a lovely evening it was. There was so much to talk about, so many memories - of school days, sports events, all the people whose lives we had all been a part of. Miss Suares hosted us to a little tea party too.

Miss Suares is going to turn 87 this November - 87 years YOUNG. She's full of life, full of memories of all us girls. She sets a clear example of what a life full of sport and exercise can do for one! Although she's now recovering from a back problem, and wears a brace around her waist for extra support, she's so full of zest and enthusiasm. We must confess that before we met her, we were wondering if we would be meeting a frail bedridden lady, so it was such a lovely surprise to meet her and find her so alive and alert and very much present! As Rajshree had pointed out in an email recently, "She was always indestructible .. "

To be continued ..

Twenty years on .. Miss Suares and The Magic of Cottons (Part One)

It started with The Secret Order of Facebook, where various old Cottonians who had wandered down the vast corridors of the internet, found themselves in front of a magic door marked 'Log In'. And here it was that Bartonians, Foleyites and Maidens reunited and rekindled much of the olde magic of Cottons.

Then, with the magic tingling in her fingertips one day, Leena Athyal sat in front of her computer and uttered that omnipotent spell: "Google!" And so it was that the magic wound its way around the web and Miss Suares was found!

The internet Owls winged their way across with Leena's findings - Miss Suares' whereabouts and most importantly her phone number - and I found myself on the phone, asking to speak to "Mrs. Marjorie Suares". This did not get any positive response from the young vivid voice on the other end of the line. I thought for a moment and quickly amended my request, "I mean, MISS Marjorie Suares." This worked immediately.

"Speaking," was the answer.

(What a lovely affirmation for us single women! That an 87-year-old lady can communicate in that one little exchange, the pride and self-recognition of who we are - in a country where the misses are seen as women who have "missed out" - not that a Miss or a Mrs or even a Ms is superior one over the other - but that we are who we are, and we state it with our heads held high and our voices and self-worth firm as ever.)

And so the magic spread across the web. Soon letters were pouring in from around the world, and plans were made. And yesterday was the day - twenty pages printed out on yellow (imagine Gold) paper and wrapped in a Green folder, bound with a red satin ribbon (school colours, and Barton - for those of you with colour-blind memories!), and seven of us Old Cottonians frantically rushed to be On Time (after all, Miss Saures had told me, "Saturday at 4" and when "Suaree" gives specifics, you make sure you follow orders!)

Three hours later, we left, unwillingly, taking with us lovely memories and inspiration and even some useful anti-ageing tips!

To be continued ...

Shades of the same person...

The year was 1979, the month was April..2 good little girls dressed in their Saturday best were eagerly awaiting all the food and beer the Fete would bring. Notice the butter won't melt in our mouth smiles... one's at attention, the other at ease! Raj..if we could even be a shade of our former thin selves..guess I should speak for myself :-)

And then this shows up..blackmail material forever, bwahahahaha! Latha Nair and Raj playing dress-up!

pics to go with my blog - the great Madras Choir Competition

Molly and Annie

Well its not just us ex-students who are catching up and having a yarn...the old teachers are at it too!!! This picture, taken at Chenganoor yesterday (16 Aug 08), was sent in by my mum. On the right is Mrs Elizabeth (Molly) Joseph, former School Principal (1988 – 99) and English teacher (1970-88). Those of us in her English classes will have wonderful memories of discovering the skill and wit of Shakespeare and the inspiration of classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird

under her keen tutelage! To the left of Mrs Joseph is my mum Mrs Annie Athyal, Barton House Mistress and teacher between 1970-81, who gently navigated her students through the travails and joys of learning Chemistry. We were certainly lucky to have a suite of dedicated teachers at Cotton Girls...It would be great to see pictures of more of them up here on the blog

Pictures from the 60s

Leena found this website made by an Old Cottonian from the 60s, it has some lovely old black and white photographs of the quad etc. Click the link below to go there:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2960/cottong.htm

1979 - SPORTS DAY

Maiden house is just not doing well ...I think, just look at those faces! Gloria Woolger, Supriya Hegde, Shoba Mathew, Anita John, and...

Lights... Camera... Action

Remember the drama of all those school concerts, plays and Inter House Dramatics Competitions.... the hours spent in rehearsals, preparing costumes and props...all leading up to the big production?!!!! Well here's a sample of those momentous occasions in the next three posts.

The Shoemaker and the Elves - Standard II, 1971.

This item was presented by Mrs Dickson’s class in 1971. I can’t remember all the names…but here's a shot -

Front Row: The Shoemaker's children: Madhu Matta, Kumuda, ?, and Marina Joseph; the Shoemaker’s wife Viji R, The Shoemaker: Nalin?, Queen: Nurith, King:Bobby Gupta, Prince: Thomas?, Princess: Firdaus, The Six Elves: ? has their head down, Suja Philips?, Shiney Ninan, ?, ?, Leena.
Back Row: Other Customers: John Arul, Sandra Marley, ?, Nina Dhruve.

Barton House presents Sganarelle, a play by Moliere - 1978

Barton House performed this play in 1978 and went on to win the competition that year. Notice the amazing props that were painstakingly put together by all the Bartonians in the boarding! ...and don't you just love Sganarelle's (Lakshmi Daniel) head gear?!

Cast (picture on the right)

Standing: Sganarelle:Lakshmi D; Sganarelle's wife:Madhu; Celie:Sumathi, Celie's betrothed Lelie:Sharmila, Celie's father:Anuradha.
Seated: Lelie's servant:Krishnamani, Celie's Nurse:Leena

Also in this picture is one of our favourite places at Cotton Girls - the tree in the middle of the Quad