After sack lunches (tuna fish sandwich, chips, apple, juice in a box), we trudged back up to the residence level, where all the dorms were having open houses. The newly-renovated Midlands was to be dedicated by TZ Chu (’52), who funded the renovation, and his sister Li Chu, in the names of their parents. I missed the ceremony myself, but heard it was beautiful and very touching.

The outside shape of Midlands is just what it was in our day, and the peaked roof of the tower has been reinstated. The tower is now home to four or five computer rooms, at every mezzanine level right up to the roof.

Lots of broken image links to fix… when I have time. Meanwhile, you can see the full gallery here.

walking up Frivolity to Midlands

shot Oct 31, 2004, 5:07 min, 7.2 MB

Midlands is certainly a lot more comfortable than it’s ever been, with central steam heating in public areas and a kitchen on every floor. It has lost its old funky charm and the deep window seats we all loved to sit in (and occasionally fall out of). Is it escape-proof? Time will tell.

You can see that twenty years have passed by the growth of the scrubby trees around the dorm – there’s no longer a view of Witches’ Hill from what used to be the senior wing, only from the Upper New Wing. Personally, I’d be in favor of trimming the trees, both to encourage them to grow wider (they’re very spindly) and to restore the view, but there are strict laws against tree-cutting in Landour, and in general that’s a good thing.

…and over to Hostel…

where very little has changed, except for a slow slide into decrepitude. Plans are under discussion for a complete revamp, as has been done at Midlands.

shot Oct 31, 2004, 0:52 mins, 2.3 MB

Making rumali roti for the banquet.

After the banquet, there was a one-hour wait for the closing ceremony, which included speeches from three current and former principals and some other dignitaries, songs by various groups, a mass group singing of “Shadows,” and some of the finest fireworks Mussoorie has ever seen.

However, the Class of ’81 knows all this only by hearsay. We were tired, cold, and too impatient to be speechified – we snuck back to the Hanifl campground for a warming bonfire and a midnight biryani feast. From the Hanifl campground we could dimly hear the speeches and singing, and got a glimpse of the fireworks through the trees.

staying at Hanifl

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Oct 31, 2004 – morning through lunch

After church Sunday morning, we all assembled at Hanson Field. First, of course, we had to get there. They say it’s 250 steps down from Ridgewood, I’m not sure if that counts just the actual stairs or also the (few) level bits.

A crew turned up from Sahara Television. They wanted to interview Sanjay, but he insisted that they also interview Durjoy, Chris, and me. In Hindi. The others spoke it impressively; all I could think to say was: “Meri Hindi sub kucch bhul gaya hai.” (“I’ve forgotten all my Hindi” – very frustrating, considering how many years I put into studying it.) So they interviewed me in English. We all tried to explain why we came so far for this shindig, and why Woodstock and our classmates are so important to us – we’re family! – but I don’t think they really got it.

Then Sanjay and I were interviewed by Tom Kidder (current or ex-staff) and his recently-graduated daughter for the Woodstock archive. “Move closer together,” said Tom, so we put our arms around each other. Then his daughter asked hesitantly, “Did you two meet at Woodstock?” Well, yes, but we’re not married.

Tom asked us why the class of ’81 is so special and united – a question that many of us were asked by various people throughout the weekend.

Sanjay’s answer was that he thought it was because so many of us had been together since early grades (see the photos above); we were the last class to have such a large group of long-timers.

I agreed with this, but added further that I think it has to do with the demographics of the class. I suspect that we were the only class to really fit Bob Alter’s “ideal” of 1/3 Indian, 1/3 North American, and 1/3 other – remember what happened when we tried to elect a Miss Woodstock? We were such a diverse group that we had to work hard to unite (as I recall, we started to do so around 10th grade), and we have therefore stayed united. Yes, all my years of badgering and pursuing you as self-appointed class secretary had something to do with it, but I don’t want to take too much credit – there would be no interest in being in touch if we hadn’t all liked each other in the first place.

I’m told that someone asked one of our class: “What’s it like to have two millionaires in your class?” I don’t think that we think about it in those terms. It’s wonderful that Sanjay is so willing to spend his time and money to help gather us all, and he clearly does it with no thought of offering charity, nor even any desire to be thanked (he rather tends to shun the limelight). He truly enjoys being with his classmates and is happy to do what he can to make it possible. The attitude among the class, as far as I can see, is that he and Jeet are classmates like the rest of us – we don’t think of them or treat them differently just because they happen to have money. Maybe that’s why millionaires need their old friends.

shot Oct 31, 2004, 1:23 min, 2 MB

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shot Oct 31, 2004, 3:28 min, 6.7 MB

Lots of broken image links to fix… when I have time. Meanwhile, you can see the full gallery here.

Excuse the unevenness of the camera work – I was trying to sing part of the time that I was filming. And if I lingered more on the faces that were more familiar to me, I trust you’ll understand.

NB: Most of the orcherstra had just returned from Activity Week, and hadn’t had much time to rehearse.

I have rarely willingly gone to a church service in my life, and I hadn’t originally planned to go to this one, no matter the occasion. But I woke up early enough that, by the time the rest of the gang was ready to go (most of our class attended), I was ready too, so figured I might as well go along. And I’m glad I did. The music was beautiful, with a combined chorus of present and former Woodstockers conducted by Vance George. (One area where Protestants definitely have it over Catholics: in the (very few) Catholic masses I’ve attended in Italy, the congregation rarely gets a chance to sing, and doesn’t know how.)

By the end of Bob Alter’s sermon, there probably wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Me, I bawled my eyes out, in part because he suddenly reminded me of my recently-deceased (and much-loved) father-in-law, Mauro. But, discussing it afterwards with Sharon, she pointed out another reason: Bob has long been a father figure for many of us, and the realization that he won’t be with us forever is a hard blow. Something of the heart will go out of Woodstock when Bob goes.

Download sermon in MP3 format (24 minutes, 11 megabytes) – I hope my sniffles aren’t too audible. I ran out of tape during the last few seconds.

Hanson

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I didn’t get any photos or footage of the banquet – it was too damned dark. After a 40-minute bus ride down to Mussoorie’s fanciest hotel, JP (actually in Barlowganj), we shivered in long queues for food, then sat at tables where we could barely see what we were eating (though it was pretty tasty). Drinks were also difficult to come by, and expensive – and by this time we had all been spoiled by the free booze that Sanjay had supplied in such quantities.

The evening’s program included a skit by the Centennial Class of ’54, which was doubtless amusing if you had graduated between ’49 and ’59 and therefore had some clue what they were joking about. Sveral members of the class of ’81 have made a solemn vow that we will never subject the rest of the school to a skit. We may someday recant, though – it’s a prerogative of age to bore the young, I believe.

At any rate, the class of ’81 gracelessly fled back to Hanifl to hang out and talk, or to a party at Tenzing’s house. There was some to-and-fro between the two venues, as new people kept popping up and coming to greet old classmates, including some who had been sound asleep.

church

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To view the video, you need to have installed the Macromedia Flash Player, available here.

To use video controls (Play, Stop, Rewind, etc.), click with your right mouse button on the video (Mac users: right click or control + click).

shot Oct 30, 2004, 1:52 mins, 3.6 MB

Oct 30, 2004

Our old traditional June Sale has been replaced by the Mela, a themed party and bazaar usually held in spring. This year, for the benefit of the visiting alumni, it was held in October, opening with Woodstock band renditions of “Cheer for the Brown & the Gold” and “Shadows.”

Speeches were inevitable, but hardly anyone was listening – there was too much else going on.

 

shot Oct 30, 2004, 3:40 mins, 7.1 MB

while Chris played air tabla:

fresh jalebis – yum!

The current students had been instructed (or ordered) to make an effort to be nice to all these weird old people wandering around. We all had name tags with our class year and place of residence, which made it easier to find a way to start conversation. Two kids took the initiative to speak to me in Italian, one Italo-Brit whose parents have a business in Bali, one Sikh who was born and raised in Rome. I had met the latter on my previous visit, when he was still wearing a turban. Having recently cut his hair, he suddenly looks very Italian! Both were polite, interested, and interesting, as Woodstock students generally are even at very young ages.

Students and staff also had plastic photo ID tags, which they now must wear at all times, for security. Parts of the campus are also fenced now, and there are chowkidars(with fancy uniforms, click the picture on the left) at every entrance.

Being able to check email throughout the weekend was an issue for some. Personally, I mostly avoided it, but, when I had a little time to kill before the Indian music recital, I took advantage of an unattended computer in the library. This is the room that used to be a classroom (German?) just outside the library, now totally dedicated to Internet access – for research purposes, of course.

Students now have access most of the day, in the dorms as well as in school buildings. Many of them also carry cellphones, though of course they are not allowed to use them in class. Constant communication with the outside world is assured – a huge difference from our day. I think I spoke with my parents on the phone only twice in my four years at Woodstock.

the banquet

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