THE SEVENTY NINERS IN SERENDIP

PGP 1979 push the boat out in Colombo on 38^th year Reunion

By Girish Moorthy PGP 1979

When ’79 gathered near Galle
Being hell-bent on making ‘dhamaal’,
One by one did they reach

That hotel by the beach
And they all had a whale of a ball.

That ought to suffice for our trip report, but for those who want more, read on.

The batch of 1977-79 recently celebrated their thirty-eighth-year reunion near Colombo in the town of Waskaduwa. Overall, there were almost fifty PGPs, and spouses included, the tally nearly ninety. Special mention must be made of Renu Khurana (w/o Ashok Sethi), who, despite fracturing her ankle just before the meet, went straight from the hospital to the Delhi airport to fly down. Now that shows some spirit.

Citrus Waskaduwa is a spacious and airy resort situated on Sri Lanka’s Western coast right on the Indian ocean. It lies an hour’s drive south of Colombo on the road to the Galle district. It was a fitting locale for such a meet: while providing the necessary requisites for group events, it was large enough and offered sufficient latitude for people to do their own things, be it hanging out by the pool, walking on the adjoining beach, quenching their thirst at the well-stocked bar, or simply indulging in bull sessions.

The organizers, led by Pradeep Mathur and assisted by the committee of Srinivasa Gopalan, M. K. (Bonny) Singh, Rajiv Dhar, Pradeep Koppikar, K. Badrinath, Prahalad Agiwal, Anand Ladsaria and Nishith Arora had planned this event meticulously for the past several months. And it is because of their tireless and unwavering efforts that the resultant experience was very smooth for the rest of us right from the time our flights touched down at BIA airport in Colombo up to the point where we left the island with sweet memories and wistful yearnings for the next such gathering.

The event kicked off with a heart-warming (and side-splitting) speech by Pradeep Mathur who gave us the batch highlights, comprising both the accomplishments as well as the sad news. Since the past reunion, we have lost three of our dear class-mates: S. Anantharaman, P. Raghava Reddy, and most recently, N.N. Srinivas (known to us as Vasu). Awards were given out to various people for things that ranged from noteworthy career accomplishments to volume of CP in the Yahoo group and (more recently) the WhatsApp forum.

What also merits remarking on are the second innings of many of our classmates, who are involved in initiatives that we believe, will make a difference. A little time was devoted to talks on these:

• Sambandh (founded by Sanjay and Rita Seth) is focused on anti-tobacco, and is also doing great work on mental health (led by Rajiv Agarwal)
• The IIMA Alumnus Hyderabad chapter (Ram Kaundinya, V. Ramanamurthy) has opened a school, Udbhav (the journey) for the underprivileged
• Srinivasa Gopalan works closely with the founders of Jeevan Public Stem Cell Project on strategy, also assists the Ekam Foundation, who work in Child Healthcare, and lastly is personally working on an idea to launch an affordable care general hospital – the mission being to deliver high quality care at 20% to 25% of the cost at Branded Multi- Speciality Hospitals
• Light of Life Trust (Pradeep and Vinita Koppikar) which helps with career counselling, Jagruti (encouraging job choices while allowing people to remain in the villages), and mobile hospitals (vans)
• Ramesh running a school for poor children in a small village in Tamil Nadu
• Sundar teaching basketball to underprivileged children, fostering sports excellence
• And so on

The next day saw a group outing. It started with a visit to the mask factory where we watched artisans patiently working on crafting beautiful pieces with intricate designs. This was followed by a boat ride down the Madu Ganga River with a stop on a mangrove islet where we witnessed the production of peeled cinnamon, that fragrant spice, reminding me of Bishop Reginald Heber’s famous (or infamous) lines about the island:

What though the spicy breezes blow soft o’er Ceylon’s Isle,
Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.

Fortunately, the vile spectre of terrorism has receded from Sri Lanka, and the economy seems to be growing again, tourism and tea being the twin engines that nurture it. We also observed smooth and well-constructed highways, and every town we drove through was devoid of litter. India can certainly take a leaf out of Lanka’s book.

And then there were the break-out sessions: Yoga in the mornings, led by Padmini Mathur (w/o Pradeep) and Lata Laddha (w/o Shyam) in the large Oceanside hall, a truly idyllic setting for meditation and exercise. On the theme of Eating for Health, Shiela Moorthy (w/o Girish) conducted a session that was very well received with lots of CP. And Deepak “Partner” Sethi taught the group how to think using a “systems” method, the idea being not to react reflexively to situations, but to reflect analytically, an approach that is supposed to lead to the desired outcome. Both these so-called “optional” presentations were not just standing room only, but probably violated every fire code in the book dealing with maximum occupancy, so great was the interest!

On the last night there was a special entertainment and dinner programme in the hotel’s ballroom. We were treated to ritual flame-throwing dances followed by a grand dinner to the accompaniment of karaoke with Ashank Desai leading the charge. I could go on and on, but I recall reading an article in The Economist, which stated that a skilful poet can express in fifty words or less what a prose stylist might take a page to cover. And so, I shall sign off here and end by describing the sentiments of this reunion, best captured in these lines excerpted from a poem composed by our very own Shantha Kumar.

All the pre-reunion angst:
Am I more wrinkled, have I lost my wit?
And dare I confess that I did not ‘make it’?
And what do I bring to the table
That won’t sound like babble?
All of that melted in the warmth of old friendships.

One last point: I wanted to include a brief note about the add-on tour in Sri Lanka that a few folks attended immediately after the reunion. To provide some context, Pradeep Koppikar (Kops), who was one of the organizers, suddenly had a life-threatening medical emergency, requiring immediate neuro-surgery. We are all extremely relieved to learn that he is on the mend, and ought to be back to normal in a few months. The add-on trip is best described in an extract from an open letter from K Chandrasekhar (Chandy) to Kops.

Dear Kops,

It is so nice to hear from you and know that you are well on your way to a full and speedy recovery.

All of us missed you and Vinata throughout the Sri Lanka trip.  Thanks to your efforts and thoughtful planning and organizing, all of us had a truly enjoyable add-on trip.  The itinerary was great, the schedule none too punishing — with the right mix of light activity and decadent eating and drinking thrown in.  The company was exceptional and made for much revelry and fun throughout.

Badri stepped ably into your organizer’s shoes, and was somewhat like a benevolent monarch making sure that all his subjects had a great time but cracking the whip ever so slightly when he needed to.  All of us felt that with his exemplary showing on the add-on trip, he has proved his mettle and shown himself to be eminently qualified to take on broader responsibilities in a hurry — so, if ever Pads and Gopal want to take a break, Badri will be raring to go.