CHENNAI: With greying hair, enthusiasm and a love for their school that does not seem to have dwindled, the 1964 batch of the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School (MCCHSS) celebrated their reunion.
Wearing tags indicating their nicknames and fondly recognising old classmates and meeting their spouses, the alumni plan to celebrate their 50-year reunion in style over two days.
The MCCHSS with its 175-year history has a set of illustrious alumni spanning various fields, like politician P Chidambaram, musician A R Rahman, director Gautham Menon and sportsman Leander Paes. The batch of ‘64 too has seen people go far in life. Prakash Karat, general secretary, CPM, belonged to this batch.
The alumni gathered from various parts of the globe to reminisce about their six years in the school.
“I have great memories of this school and to be here after 50 years is a big deal. We have all had different journeys with our ups and downs but our alma mater is our common bond,” Karat said speaking to more than 100 batchmates who had gathered.
The foundation of much of what he learnt, he said, he owed to the school. “I remember the first time I won an essay writing competition when I was in school which took me to a competition in Tokyo. The six years in the school helped me unfold my capacities,” Karat said.
The owner of Abhirami Theatres, Abhirami Ramanathan, is an alumnus of the batch and will be hosting a free show for his batch on Monday.
“It gives me great pleasure to witness the reunion of the ‘64 batch when I was born in the same year,” said the present headmaster G J Manohar, who has worked towards upgrading and expanding the school and the introduction of the primary section. The school is a co-educational institution now and might be looking at a CBSE section in the near future.
The old and new students alike voiced their opinion that the best part of MCCHSS was the social and economic diversity of the students.
“We aim at providing quality education at a low cost and this has worked well. One of the occasions when I asked the students for donations for a charitable cause, the maximum amount came from one of the Tamil-medium sections that had many people from weaker economic backgrounds,” said Manohar.