Those were the days: A group organized an LKG reunion after 45 years in Chennai

School life, considered one of the best phases of one’s life, is often associated with middle or senior school right before one enters college life and steps into adulthood.

However, there’s nothing quite like the memories of primary school, of a time when we were just toddlers with handkerchiefs pinned on to our pockets, tiny bags on those tiny backs, water bottles around our neck and perhaps our first group of friends outside our family and neighbour circles.

School-goers, irrespective of their generation, often tend to longingly look back at those years, now painted in sepia-tint in their memories.

Last weekend, one such batch of school goers in Chennai from the early 70s met together in a reunion after over four decades.

Six friends from the 1971 LKG batch of ICF Nursery School in the city decided to get together with all the 80 batch mates from that year.

“About fifteen people from the batch were already in touch with each other and we tried to find the rest through Facebook and common friends over the course of three months,” said Nikkil Murugan (49), one of the six friends.

Sharing one of the best experiences from the reunion, which took place on Sunday in a city hotel, Nikkil said, “Our principal Sulochana ma’am, who is now 83-years-old, still remembers our batch. She recollected one instance with my friend Jaiprakash- of how he got injured while playing and then she took him to the hospital. That is like 46-years-back!”

The reunion saw nearly 40 of the 80 students from the batch get together in the city, with many even coming from different parts of the country and world.

“Jaiprakash used to always tie Cynthia’s (a classmate) shoe-laces together, so each time she would get up, she’d fall down. Two of our LKG friends also got married, one is a neurosurgeon and his wife is a pharmacist. It was so nice to meet them all,” said Nikkil who had a lot to catch up with in the reunion.

Soumendra Chakravarthy (49) calls himself an “outstanding” student, primarily because he could mostly be seen standing outside the class serving punishment the teacher had doled out to him.

But now that he is an Assistant Commissioner of the Income Tax Department in Odisha, he credits his school and teachers for shaping him. “They have shaped me and made me what I am today. It was great to meet all my friends and teachers after this long,” he said.

Though half of the batch could not make it to this reunion, another such event is being planned later this year and the organisers are hoping to get a full house this time.