(it is evident Leo's mail is after the telecon he had with Arun)
dear arun
nice talking to u. as agreed, i am mailing my mind:
as i sit to write, i recall i've sent a few earlier mails giving my thoughts for our reunion program. frankly i hv little to add to what i already said. also, these r only my opinions, likewise each other mate will hv his own. so why don't we put all such views together to finetune our program? it's what democracy is all about.
frankly i was disappointed we changed from january. june is monsoons, grey weather. it is never possible to please all; others may back out of june. but, hind sight aint worth a damn, as billy carter once said. so we'll look ahead.
far as i know, this is being planned/organised by our kodial chapter. which is how it shd be, since it is the venue (of our alma mater too,) and where most alumni reside.
i do not hv a clue of where we stand today in terms of ayes, nays, maybes. and who come with/without spouse. once this is known, we work on the nays/maybes. this seems to be the only logical modus operandi to me.
let's walk thru the prog below. i'll give u my candid opinion:
SATURDAY THE 19TH. JUNE 2010
11: 00 am Meet at SAC for group photographs - one with the wives and one without.(pavoos permitting)
good start ......... how about we start earlier, say 0900 or 1000? at our age noone will sleep late. also monsoon morningss are realtively clear, it generally rains afternoon onwards. except for some spells which go nonstop for days.
12: 00pm
Head for the venue by coach - singing all the way starting with our school
anthems - "comrades raise a joyful chorus and Bhuvana salahuwa karuna nidhi".
where is the venue??
1:00pm LUNCH
TOAST TO OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS AND OBSERVE A MINUTE'S SILENCE.
GRACE - Fr. Walter Andrade SJ
Lunch to be served
sounds fine
Each classmate by turn gives a brief resume of what he has done since leaving school.
I don't know about this. those wh hv done well in life may like to crow. but the less fortunate will cringe. so, instead of each one going to a podium and speechifying, we must find a more tactful way about this. this in my opinion will turn off quite a few. even i who hv not done badly, wd hesitate to talk about myself. is this really necessary??
Anthakshiri ( divided into two teams - after the 1st team has sung the last
syllable the 2nd teampicks it up with another song (English, Hindi, Konkani, Tulu, Coorgi, Kannada and Malayalam).
sounds okay .... when do we get a chance to be ourselves, just to chat, joke, reminisce, with old friends in old spots?
4:30pm Tea
6:30pm DINNER
Toast to our good ladies.
Bingo.
Quiz ( 2 teams - questions relating to our school days, Mangalore etc)
very, very early indeed. which self respecting mangy will dine @ 1830?? he needs his spiritual uplift in the form of a few hydrocarbons afore tackling the carbohydrates.
SUNDAY THE 20TH. JUNE 2010.
12:00noon ASSEMBLE AT THE VENUE.
this venue has me foxed, is it sac?? and what do we do untill midday?
LUNCH.
Karaoke
( songs from our good old days)
sounds fun .......
4:30pm TEA
Whist Drive.
I don't think more than a few will be up to whist. why not make it card games. mates choose any old mangy games like court, 28, et all. that's what we did @ sigi's
7:00 pm: DINNER
Each one to relate the most embarrassing moment of their life or a joke
(including the wives).
sounds fun
Lucky dip.
More singing and dancing.
Vote of thanks.
Auld Lang Syme.
I don't know about this, hvn't stepped out in years. ballroom stuff is all i may just about handle now. i hv OA in both knees and am the one of the youngest (1945.) i don't know the state of my elders.
summary: now u hv my views. similarly run this by other mates, ask for their opinions/preferences. when u hv heard from all, a committee can club these responses, arrive at a compromise program that wd be the optimum.
but the inportant thing is u hv carried everyone along. this will create a sense pf participation which may persuade a few doubtfuls.
each mate will hv his own friends/memories, wd like to relive them by visiting memorable spots in school, or even the city, with those who shared those times.
e.g., my 7 yrs were in the boarding. i'd like to spend time investigating each nook n cranny of the bh with my mates. this was home to me from 1953 to 60. others will hv their own preferences.
also let us not have all meals together. we cd break for a few meals. esp if we are at sac, where each of us may like to hv old favs at restaurants of yore. few restaurants are still there. this will also help personal choices, as some may even like to visit homes for meals.
i want to stress, i am not being critical. my aim is to get the maximum participation so i see as many classmates as poss this june.
cheers ....... Leo
dear arun
nice talking to u. as agreed, i am mailing my mind:
as i sit to write, i recall i've sent a few earlier mails giving my thoughts for our reunion program. frankly i hv little to add to what i already said. also, these r only my opinions, likewise each other mate will hv his own. so why don't we put all such views together to finetune our program? it's what democracy is all about.
frankly i was disappointed we changed from january. june is monsoons, grey weather. it is never possible to please all; others may back out of june. but, hind sight aint worth a damn, as billy carter once said. so we'll look ahead.
far as i know, this is being planned/organised by our kodial chapter. which is how it shd be, since it is the venue (of our alma mater too,) and where most alumni reside.
i do not hv a clue of where we stand today in terms of ayes, nays, maybes. and who come with/without spouse. once this is known, we work on the nays/maybes. this seems to be the only logical modus operandi to me.
let's walk thru the prog below. i'll give u my candid opinion:
SATURDAY THE 19TH. JUNE 2010
11: 00 am Meet at SAC for group photographs - one with the wives and one without.(pavoos permitting)
good start ......... how about we start earlier, say 0900 or 1000? at our age noone will sleep late. also monsoon morningss are realtively clear, it generally rains afternoon onwards. except for some spells which go nonstop for days.
12: 00pm
Head for the venue by coach - singing all the way starting with our school
anthems - "comrades raise a joyful chorus and Bhuvana salahuwa karuna nidhi".
where is the venue??
1:00pm LUNCH
TOAST TO OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS AND OBSERVE A MINUTE'S SILENCE.
GRACE - Fr. Walter Andrade SJ
Lunch to be served
sounds fine
Each classmate by turn gives a brief resume of what he has done since leaving school.
I don't know about this. those wh hv done well in life may like to crow. but the less fortunate will cringe. so, instead of each one going to a podium and speechifying, we must find a more tactful way about this. this in my opinion will turn off quite a few. even i who hv not done badly, wd hesitate to talk about myself. is this really necessary??
Anthakshiri ( divided into two teams - after the 1st team has sung the last
syllable the 2nd teampicks it up with another song (English, Hindi, Konkani, Tulu, Coorgi, Kannada and Malayalam).
sounds okay .... when do we get a chance to be ourselves, just to chat, joke, reminisce, with old friends in old spots?
4:30pm Tea
6:30pm DINNER
Toast to our good ladies.
Bingo.
Quiz ( 2 teams - questions relating to our school days, Mangalore etc)
very, very early indeed. which self respecting mangy will dine @ 1830?? he needs his spiritual uplift in the form of a few hydrocarbons afore tackling the carbohydrates.
SUNDAY THE 20TH. JUNE 2010.
12:00noon ASSEMBLE AT THE VENUE.
this venue has me foxed, is it sac?? and what do we do untill midday?
LUNCH.
Karaoke
( songs from our good old days)
sounds fun .......
4:30pm TEA
Whist Drive.
I don't think more than a few will be up to whist. why not make it card games. mates choose any old mangy games like court, 28, et all. that's what we did @ sigi's
7:00 pm: DINNER
Each one to relate the most embarrassing moment of their life or a joke
(including the wives).
sounds fun
Lucky dip.
More singing and dancing.
Vote of thanks.
Auld Lang Syme.
I don't know about this, hvn't stepped out in years. ballroom stuff is all i may just about handle now. i hv OA in both knees and am the one of the youngest (1945.) i don't know the state of my elders.
summary: now u hv my views. similarly run this by other mates, ask for their opinions/preferences. when u hv heard from all, a committee can club these responses, arrive at a compromise program that wd be the optimum.
but the inportant thing is u hv carried everyone along. this will create a sense pf participation which may persuade a few doubtfuls.
each mate will hv his own friends/memories, wd like to relive them by visiting memorable spots in school, or even the city, with those who shared those times.
e.g., my 7 yrs were in the boarding. i'd like to spend time investigating each nook n cranny of the bh with my mates. this was home to me from 1953 to 60. others will hv their own preferences.
also let us not have all meals together. we cd break for a few meals. esp if we are at sac, where each of us may like to hv old favs at restaurants of yore. few restaurants are still there. this will also help personal choices, as some may even like to visit homes for meals.
i want to stress, i am not being critical. my aim is to get the maximum participation so i see as many classmates as poss this june.
cheers ....... Leo
Maxie's post-script:
Dear all....
Leo has taken pains to comment on each item in the itinerary (for the re-union) drawn up by Arun - good for you Leo, and thanks. Your mail puts the whole thing in perspective...
I go along with all your views as they exist now, or as will be decided on when views of all others (hopefully) are received. I really don't care what the nitty-gritties of the itinerary are, as long as the re-union affords me an opportunity meet face to face as many of my batch of 1960 - at least 9o% of them after 50yrs.
But the moot question: "How to elicit these individual views from the lot of others".
Why are the majority of our mates dumb-struck and totally silent? This, despite getting every mail generated from whosoever it be, being endorsed to every available email address of our mates.
Apart from just a handful whose numbers can be counted on the fingers of one hand, not one of our other mates - especially the ones based in Mangalore, has opened his mouth or moved his hand to voice his/their opinion in the past two months - since the initial initiative through a joint email from Harry, Waltie, Stany & Patrick. Why is it that even these gallant four are totally silent now? All the mail since their initial one, in my collection - and I have it all on the Blog - is from only the ones currently based outside Mangalore and none from within.
Is it that the exuberant joy and reaction exhibited by all those outside Mangalore, to the Re-union, has alarmed the ones stationed in Mangalore so much that they are not sure what they have let themselves in for? Is it that as things stand it is only the ones from outside Mangalore are keen on the Re-union while those is Mangalore are wary about it - and only interested in "wait and watch"?
I do appreciate Arun's initiative in drafting the tentative itinerary, and the reactions to the same (full or partial) so far from Leo, Raphael and Prabhakar; but untill and unless those in Mangalore speak their mind, and especially Mangalore being place for the Re-union someone in Mangalore takes the lead and holds the reins firmly in his hand to say, "...this can be done, and this can't!", I'm afraid this much hyped Re-union will just not come to be, and we'll all end up disappointed without it being a reality.
So I am constrained to speak my mind and appeal to Harry (since I consider none other than Harry in Mangalore is better placed or better suited) to take the lead, and commandeer the help and assistance from whichever members to form a local core team that he may constitute for the purpose. He may then spell out to all what's in store; whether or not at all we can hope to have a re-union of sorts.... where as many of us as possible can meet for the primary aim of just meeting; for the sheer joy of just seeing each other (for many of us after fifty years).
And we need not be sticklers or fussy about whatever itinerary Harry and his team draw up - if some part of it does not suit individuals, so what, and so be it - I do not know 'whist', I would gladly try and revive my memories of other card games like 'court' and '28' that Leo has suggested, and so on. It is not necessary that I have to force myself to play 'whist'. Also, like Raphael has suggested, Rex may consider organizing a scrabble competion too for the lot of us.
I take it, Arun's mention of the 'venue' that's foxed Leo, apparently is the Mangalore Club? At least that's what I had gathered from my interactions with Arun - from where I had also gathered that Arun has already asked Harry to book the place well in advance for the decided dates; and, if I am not mistaken both Arun and Raphael have asked Harry to also book rooms there for their stay. From some previous knowledge and past experience, I believe the Mangalore Club venue is indeed a nice choice and ideally suited. I believe it will also be easier to cater to individual needs of veg or non-veg and the like through the Club's facilities. Commuting to and from this venue will only be for the 'locals' and for those not staying at the Club. Possibly some of us may like to stay with relatives or friends in the vicinity if that's considered more convenient - even though in the overall interest it'd be wonderful if all stayed under one roof at least for one night.
Someone in Mangalore also needs to form a sub-committe only to track-down and contact the families of the dear departed from our batch. It would be a graceful and much-appreciated gesture on our part, especially for the families of those no more from among us, to know that we have not forgotten our departed colleagues. This contacting of families needs to be done now!
Lastly, and this is very important, it is possible those based in Mangalore are wary of the additional expenses they may have to burden themselves with; undertandable and natural. The Re-union is going to cost money, with huge additional travel costs too for those making it to the 'do' from abroad or other distant destinations. Classmates like Raphael, Arun and Terrence have already indicated that they have booked their flights. In this connection, my second appeal to Harry - to please draw up a tentative estimated expense list and the respective 'share' for each of us to contribute.
It has already been mentioned that some among us may not be well to do enough to be inviting additional burden of a re-union on their family budget. Such of them if they truly exist, may indicate their position confidentially and only to Harry who may then share with the core team only the total sum (without disclosing the identities) that needs to be raised to ensure that lack of funds is not the excuse for anyone to stay away from the re-union. I am sure we will all have no objection to trust Harry's word for it.
I could go on and on, but I think I have said enough. It might appear there is still ample time to plan and act, I believe the available time is not enough, if we are really serious about the re-union and to make it a memorable event for all of us.
I reiterate, my appeal in the end is to all those based in Mangalore or its vicinity, for if they do not take the reins and start calling the shots, we might as well not have the re-union.
Do pardon me if I have over stepped in whatever I have stated here.
With warm regards to all...
maxie
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