Class of Eighty

Class of Eighty

I have been to C M S college  Kottayam ,Kerala,India very recently after a gap of 33 years to be with my class mates in the alma mater.

Time has nt made much difference even though we parted at the prime, even though we thought we were elder to all

But even the teachers, when we look at the old black and white prints were so young and play ful compared to us.

These were the teachers we mocked ,we made caricatures ,we thought we were different. Three decades changed all

We missed meeting S Krishna Iyer,that doyen whosee smile would tell all ,at whose hands Shakesperean characters notably Fallstaff and the like would come alive

Or OP Thomas

Whose famous lines four score and five years .In US (America) I asked some one where Long island is?

He replied to me nobody asks about such places. Before I knew America OP taught of the land

OR Bagshaw who revealed the intimate details of TS Eliot`s Waste land

 In the principals room which still maiantains its grandeur near the chapel where we used to go to see pretty girls in all colours

We were nearer to gods watching them in their mirth and splenduor

I studied some English lines

For a boorish person such English was heaven

Here George Koshy,our dear department head would take Hairy ape or Hamlet bringing in America or England of Elizabethan age

Such histrionics he has

One day we felt he has brought the ghost of Hamlet among us

Dear Marina arrived as a ghost herself to add drama to the class

We missed Vijaylakshmi who left us three years back

I remember her Monalsa type smile ,enigmatic, beautiful and honest to the core

 What a lady

I thought she would be an ever presence in my life

My prescience betrayed me.

She left us without a glimpse of her for several years

Then there was Susie who was such a narrator of stories and incidents

Her students in Thiruvalla would be blessed

But for us she was like an imp playing games

An association for  40 years with Susie ,Georgie, Marina,Anu,

And self

Then Finny who is so handsome even now and so articulate

He should have been a teacher

Pradeep was there,the man always dearest to my heart

Who always touched me  though we were always seperated by years

And Eliyammaa who followed her dictates in idealism

Meera asked me” Do you still follow the idealism” I replied “partly”

Meera should have remained with us

Anu has remained the same

I hope multinational companies would not steal the secret of her being young and lively at this age

For me who has become old and grey she was such a shock

For me the college was great

 It was here I have learnt the first lessons in Shakespeare and love

Johnie Abarham taught us the secrets of poem

It was our Mackeral inn

My thanks to Georgei,Jessie and Nivedh, Korah and all

Antony who was a real treasure whom we found

And my class mates who could nt make it

Like Roshni,Bibi,Blessy ,Gigi,Sheela, and Anne  

Also thanks to Suresh Kurup who made it on his birth day

And remembering our dear Ravanan who let us enjoy our college days

And finally for those who are left out who might be the one who has really  guided us more

I hope others in my class would fill in

With love for all .