KOCHI: ‘After a long time on FB just to watch this,’ was the Facebook comment posted by Biju Sethumadhavan who lives in Sharjah. He made the post while watching the live streaming of Sunday’s Ambalamedu High School (AHS) alumni reunion function on their Facebook page AHS School Vaapasi 2 - Athukkum Mele(More than that). The school which was shuttered in 2004 hosted the second reunion function organised by generations of its alumni.
Sethumadhavan was just one among the many who watched from the far corners of the world their former schoolmates coming together to relive those halcyon days. “People from the US, West Asia( GCC member states) and other parts, who couldn’t make it to the event, saw the programmes via Facebook. It was a grand event and gave us a lot of memorable moments,” said Nandakumar Nair, senior associate vice-president, Carborundum Universal Ltd, from the Class of 1980. He said the various cultural programmes performed by the alumni entertained the audience.
Pleasantly surprised by his former Math teacher Ms Indira’s decision to take to the dais and shake a leg with a group of dancers, Nair said, “We never expected she would come up to the stage. The function gave us such fond memories.” An interactive session with the former teachers - around 35 of them were there - of the school was held on the occasion. Several of them belted out songs, blessed the alumni and expressed their happiness at being given the opportunity to attend the function.The programme also had an interesting award ceremony named ‘Ozz-kar’ Awards which were presented to various alumni who participated in the promos uploaded on the AHS School Vaapasi page.
Adv P Sunil Nair from the Class of 1988 said recreating the assembly hours made them emotional. “Reciting the prayers, pledge and the National Anthem transported us back to those days of glory. The fact the school doesn’t function anymore is hard to digest but it was decided prior to the function we will organise the function to share happiness and celebrate it without any tinge of disappointment,” he said.
Sunil highlighted the fact the school had been run by the FACT management and all of them lived like a family.
None of the participants wanted to leave the school even when the function got over and majority of them was literally in tears, he said. Sreelakshmi Menon, an architect and a student of the last batch, said though she met several former students for the first time at the function, it was just like meeting siblings.”It was a lifetime experience and an emotional one too”, she said.The previous reunion was organised in 2015.