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Acute nostalgia went viral at Jaco-Camaraderie, with The Telegraph

Friends caught up with each other, couples danced to romantic numbers, and Jacobeans relived their schooldays as they reconnected with their former teachers. All this and more came about at Jaco-Camaraderie, the 19th annual reunion of the St. James’ School Alumni Association in association with The Telegraph, which took place at the school campus last month. The evening  started with the school song, segued into a live performance by Sanjay and Band and ended with a sumptuous dinner.

TT Bureau Published 31.01.18, 12:00 AM
The St. James’ Alumni Association committee.

Friends caught up with each other, couples danced to romantic numbers, and Jacobeans relived their schooldays as they reconnected with their former teachers. All this and more came about at Jaco-Camaraderie, the 19th annual reunion of the St. James’ School Alumni Association in association with The Telegraph, which took place at the school campus last month. The evening  started with the school song, segued into a live performance by Sanjay and Band and ended with a sumptuous dinner.

(L-R) Andolan Sarkar, Shreyaan Bhattacharyya (both of the ISC batch of 2017) and Debankur Saha (ISC batch of 2015) were happy to be reunited. “Bunking classes with innovative excuses in different scenarios was a lot of fun,” said Debankur. “There was a small classroom beneath the staircase in our school that we called ‘The Dungeon’. It was our favourite hangout spot,” reminisced Andolan.
The ICSE batch of 1992 celebrated their silver jubilee by cutting a cake decorated with school memorabilia like pens, rulers and notebooks.
Father Shabbir Ashraf (ISC batch of 1993) and son Shaheer (ISC batch of 2016) made a dapper duo. “My father won the best sportsman award in 1993. In 1990 he had set a high jump record that is unbeaten even today,” said the proud son. “My son was the dance captain, his favourite spot is the stage,” added the beaming dad.
“My grandmother, Sadhona Biswas, taught at this school for over 30 years. My mother Shukla Monica Pandit (left) taught here for some time as well. My brother, Rohit Pandit, also passed out of this school. He couldn’t be here so we are Skyping him,” said Romit Pandit (ISC batch of 2016).
“I have experiences here as a teacher as well as a student. When I was a student, our boxing  instructor told us to resolve disputes in the boxing ring. This method always worked and ended in friendship. When I was a teacher, I became the house master of Cotton. I had a bet with the boys of my house whenever they played a football match that for every goal they scored, I would give them a bottle of cola. I had to stop this practice because the boys scored a lot of goals and I would end up spending a lot of money!” said Marcus Rodrick, alumni association president and former vice-principal.
Arunima Basumallik, who joined St. James’ in 1987 and has been teaching there since, was felicitated at the event. “When I was teaching Nursery, a boy affected with cerebral palsy wanted to join our school. I was hesitant, but the principal was very encouraging. To my surprise, the other boys treated him with a lot of care and affection. That boy passed out recently and it would not have been possible without the help of his classmates. That is the spirit of St. James’ School,” said Basumallik.
Performing live were Sanjay and Band, who kept the audience on their feet.
Principal T.H. Ireland matched steps with his wife to O hansini. “The boys have grown up with feelings of brotherhood. Wearing a uniform and a badge gives you a sense of belonging. I am very proud to know that so many of our boys have done so well in life,” said Ireland.
Rishi Tandon (ISC batch of 2007) flew down from Singapore to attend the reunion.
Couples danced to retro hits like Yeh shaam mastani, I am a disco dancer and Yeh jo mohabbat hai.

Text: Deepshikha De
Pictures: Arnab Mondal

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