Reunion of the Batch of 1973

(This write up on the reunion of the first batch of St Augustine’s School, authored by Julius Machado, was featured in the Mumbai Times supplement of the Maharashtra Times newspaper in Marathi)

Memories of your school and your peers are always etched on everyone’s mind. Once the school days are over, everyone settles down in different places or in different countries in search of their careers, their own way of life, trying to make their dreams come true. And then one day they all come together for a reunion. Such a day is indeed full of joy and brings back various memories. A reunion of the first batch of St Augustine’s High School took place on May 29, 2022, after 50 years, and was indeed a memorable occasion.

Bro Whiting and Bro Murphy, the founders started this English medium school in 1966 with the first and the fifth standard to begin with. We were enrolled in the Standard fifth, an amalgam of 50 students who migrated from Carmelite Convent and St Anthony’s Convent. As we progressed, so did the classes, and in 1973, our group of 22 passed out from the school as the first SSC (eleventh standard) batch.

Coincidentally, the reunion came about in the school’s golden jubilee year with various events for the celebration thereof being planned. But as we reminisced about the good old times as chums in school, there was also the sobering thought that quite a number of our classmates had left for their heavenly abode during the intervening period. Aptly therefore, the meeting started with solemn remembrance and prayer for our deceased buddies,before we got blissfully immersed in the fond memories of the past. What is special is that all the surviving classmates were present but for two, (one based abroad and another who was off to his native place) came together for this event.