Vibes

I am the alumnus of one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, namely the Convent of the Good Shepherd. This institution was started in the year 1923 and is in its 86th year. What prompted me to write this article now is the fact that I joined a group of Good Shepherd Alumni on Facebook last evening. It thrilled me to know that this group had a membership of over 500. This may not seem a large number considering the fact that thousands of students have passed out of its portal. However one has to take into account the fact that it was only in the last 15 years that the computer has pervaded our lives and hence only a very small percentage of the alumni are tech savvy. Anything to do with GSC gets me all geared up. The reason could be the wonderful time I have had in the school. Even now I walk the grounds of the school with the same enthusiasm as I did in my school days which were from the year 1963-1973. I joined school in January of 1963 in the third term of Standard One. Mrs. Heart, was the class teacher and she surely had her heart on her sleeves. She was the epitome of all things good and kind.

Those were the days when GSC was a family institution. If the eldest child of a family joined Good Shepherd, then it could be taken for granted that the whole brood including all siblings and cousins would go there. Those were the days when seeking an admission for your brother (there were boys till Standard Four) or sister was not at all difficult as there was an unwritten rule that admission would be granted. I remember clearly approaching the office at the end of my third standard for an application for a seat for my sister. When the filled in application was submitted, the admission was assured. The same procedure I repeated in the eighth standard for my youngest sister. This being the case, we were sure to know most of the children in the school as they would be your classmates’ sisters or cousins or your sisters’ classmates. I never thought much about this familiarity till much later in life. It goes without saying that this great seat of learning would definitely leave an imprint on its students. There is a certain something that can be sensed among those who have passed through its portals. It could be a combination of what we learnt along with our teachers’ attitude or the sprawling campus or the games we played or the numerous ice creams we shared at the Buhari Ice cream cart or the visits to the chapel just prior to the exam or the good time picking tamarinds that fell from the trees and so on and so forth. Whatever the reason my antenna is up on hearing the name Good Shepherd Convent and surely I feel an ESP when I bump into another Good Sheperdian.

While visiting my sister in Boston Massachusetts in the summer of 1994, we went to the Hindu temple at Ashland. Like in most places in the US, situated at a stone’s throw from the temple was an Indian Grocery. It was customary to round of the temple trip with a visit to the Indian store. It was while walking the aisles, that I saw this young Indian couple enter the store. On taking a second look, I realized they were from South India. A third look and I confirmed to my sister that the girl was from Good Shepherd. My sister was not as excited as me and said a very vague, it was possible. On telling her that I was dead sure, she told me that I could go ahead and confirm. She did not want to have a role in the embarrassment that followed, if it turned out any other way. (I guess living abroad does take away the effusiveness or is it curiosity that is so pronounced in India.) I had nothing to lose and so went ahead with my query. How right I was, she was indeed from GSC and was about 4-5 years my junior. She knew my other sister very well as she had done her medicine in the same school as my sister. It also turned out that her husband and my sister and brother in law were class mates in the medical school. Telephone numbers were exchanged and the relationship continues between the friends. There was this other time in 2000 when I was traveling by train in Kerala. I saw this family in the next bay and again had this gut feeling that the lady was from GSC. How right I was proved when she answered in the affirmative. The rest of the journey just whizzed past as there was so much to talk. This lady lives in the US and I had to up date her on so many happenings in the school. She again happened to be my junior by 5-6 years. There have been many other instances when I have been correct and a few when I have goofed up. However that has not tampered my enthusiasm.

That certain something of which I mentioned earlier is what I call VIBES. I don’t need to see a Good Shepherdian to experience this vibe, just a hand written envelope is enough to set me thinking as to which of my classmates have sent it. Like the many imprints left by this Great Institution, our hand writings are one.

PS. May our tribe grow in the virtual world. Since I know most of my sisters’ friends and their siblings and also have with me addresses of more than eighty of my batch mates, I am really intent on getting them to join the Facebook group. The next time I visit a city or another country I hope to have a page full of addresses.