[1]It was a normal school girls’ reunion, but what made the difference was the ‘girls’ were 75 years of age and had travelled from far off places like New Delhi to Chennai to catch up with her schoolmates.
About 20 grandmas, alumni of the 1952 and 1954 SSLC-batch of Srirangam Girls Higher Secondary School, caught up with the each other at Alwarpet just to keep their friendship ticking. And this is the eighth year of their reunion.
When Mrs Jambaka Lakshmi (77), wife of retired deputy superintendent of police V. Rajagopal, invited two of her friends, Kalyani and Vasantha, for her 70th birthday, they came up with the idea of getting all their friends together in person.
From then on, the 'girls' make it a point to meet up at Mrs Kalayani Raghavan’s Alwarpet home as she had been in touch with most of her schoolmates over phone. “I am even in touch with one of our maths lecturers till now,” she beams with a smile
.
Though their rendezvous date is mostly centred around the convenience of their children, “we make it a point to do this annual meet as this is a tonic for us,” says Mrs Kalyani, who is missing two of her regulars as they are away in Assam and the US.
Last year, when the grandmothers turned 75, they had a gala party with a big cake made out for them, This year too, the women got themselves a same design saree to mark the occasion.
Apart from girl talk, gossip and health, the ladies enliven the mood by recalling the pranks they played on each other. “We had a boy’s school separating our compound and it is still lots of fun to recall those mischiefs,” says Ms Janaki Krishnan.
Averring that this kind of reunion after 60 years will be an impossible feat for the modern generation, all the ‘girls’ in unison vouch for their true friendship and hope to come back next year “if God willing”.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/31pattisjpgcropdisplayjpg-114