Reliving those old moments price less

4:53 PM Posted by ukmad


The St.Pauls batch of 1993 today concluded their reunion meet at the school in camp.
The batch is very active on the internet and with help of internet this even was planned and executed to the best, that what ex-Paulite Dr.Handgandi told this blog.
This year’s event was mainly concentrated on cherishing those old pranks played on teachers and fellow friends. The event began by paying tributes to those teachers and fellow batch mates who are not with them today. Then the school anthem was sung and event proceeded.
A professional database was also made at this time which will be used later to share job openings and references within the group.
In the pciture: Ex-paulites enjoying playing back.
The batch mates were filled with joy to see each other; a few saw each other after 15 years, a few after 5 years. In fact a few like Mr.Faiz and Vishal Raut who had left the school in 8th std came for the event to see their old day buddies.
Blast from the past; a creation of Mr.Devikant which was a collection of old photos from school was very applauded by the batch mates. The chronicles of 1993, a collection of all the pranks and tricks played with teachers was the best event of the day and many new confessions came up which everyone was surprised to hear.
To narrate just one of them; Mr. Vinay Kothari said that he had lifted a cake given to their calls teacher and then the whole class equally ate the cake and at the last before the teacher left the class, one student told that, “Sir we ate the cake” and the teacher replied” If you all shared it then it’s a good thing”. The best thing is the person who lifted the cake from the teachers table never ate anything as it contained eggs.
All old memories and dances on the songs of that era like, Muqabla of Prabhuudeva, Jumma Chumma etc were played and all enjoyed it. A short film of last reunion held in 2003 was also showcased in a packaged format to relive those moments also.
Mr.Chingale told this blog a mega event is in the planning for 2013 where it will be a 2 day event and will include all teachers and complete families of the students.
All the batch mates supported the organizers and they also plan to give back to the school and the society from the amount collected at the reunion as it was done in 2003, by donating the remaining amount to Karunalaya, an old age home.
People bond together without any prejudice just as a community to work betterment of the society, a noble cause indeed.
All the best for next reunion.
Disclaimer: I am part of the batch.

St.Pauls Vs Chitnis on Thursday for Royston Cup

10:18 AM Posted by ukmad

G G Chitnis beat Military school and entered the finals of the on going Royston Memorial Football tournament.







In the 2nd semi final St.Pauls beat St.Xaviers by 2 goals to 1 in a nail biting match. St.Pauls had taken a 1-0 lead in the first half but in the 2nd half Xaviers came back with only a single attack and scored a goal. Then the St.Pauls team tried hard and at last succeeded in hitting the goal No.2. The St.Pauls goalkeeper took them to victory with some glorious saves in the dying moments.

Admission tensions are boiling over!

7:52 AM Posted by ukmad

I had blogged about LKG admission earlier [link].

Here is an important follow up. All schools, especially English medium, saw long lines of parents to obtain forms. This time the English medium schools had greater demand as the vernacular schools (predominantly non–Kanada) were banned by the Karnatak government for not teaching in Kannada. Many schools had taken permission saying they would teach Kannada but switched to teaching in English. Having received this ban, these schools appealed to the court but unfortunately the court refrained them from teaching in any other language other than the one they applied for.

"I was one amongst the thousands of parents waiting in line for their child's admission. The best part about the process is that I made friends with parents of other children. While waiting in these long queues, we would share information about other schools (like St Xavier's forms availability on Apr 17th) and discuss strategies of obtaining new forms."

At Divine Providence School, I saw parents lined up at 10 pm the previous night – just to get forms. They even chose to sleep at the gates to be the first in line. I could not personally muster the courage to sleep overnight and instead went there at 4 am in the morning. I was amazed to see 200 parents already lined up at 4 am – all very anxiously waiting! Imagine the difficult scenario. By 7 am all the forms were given out and parents were asked to go into classrooms, about 50 in each – fill the form & pay Rs.10. After which parents sped off to St. Joesphs in Camp, Belgaum.

There are 180 odd seats and 2000+ applications in all schools. This discrepancy could be because some may be applying everywhere but still the demand and supply difference is huge! In some instances the school management is being considerate to parents who camp overnight – they are handed coupons so that their queue is marked, as a result of which they don’t have to stay over night. On this same day, the line for St. Pauls was most likely the longest.

After we submitted the forms, we were given an acknowledgement wherein the date of interview was mentioned. They completed all interviewing within two days. Most children were asked similar questions – What is your name baby? Who is this – your dad or uncle? Sing a rhyme and so on.

Now that the interviews over, the fate of admission is hanging in uncertainty. With God’s grace and a combination of the child’s ability & luck the admissions will be determined! If the child is selected the parents will certainly celebrate. If not, then what? Touch the management or some other VIP’s feet, pay a hefty donation and get the child in school (?)

At this moment all the parents are eagerly awaiting approval. All admission results are expected in the next week. Some schools have said they would post the decisions (via mail). This week will be a nightmare for most parents. Our innocent children are oblivious to these complicated & tense situations – they only have a pure wish of ending up in a big school soon.

Personally, I am under immense pressure! I have never had such tension in my entire life – for any exam or result. What if my child doesn’t get admission? What should be my future course? Many agents have surfaced in Belgaum city to plunge into the new trade of admissions. Most of them will be fake (from a qualitative perspective). All I can say to the parent community is to stay optimistic – things will hopefully workout for all of us – May God be with you!

Edited with inputs from PK.

Schoolmates collaborate for a good cause

1:34 PM Posted by ukmad