I parked outside the main gate and made to enter the school premises once again. It was a new janitor who greeted me and I stood thinking that this fellow must have been a very young man when I passed out twelve years ago. I could not recollect his face. Yet no sooner did I stand below the statue of Jesus, memories came afresh.
Mithaiwallah had become an old man and it was his son (I recollect he was also in the school as a student for some years) who now managed the show albeit at a new location under the shed barricaded and well served with the security of his wares so lacking in our times. I thought I saw the same box though from which all those yummy churaan used to come out..
Over a bottle of cola I had a hearty chat with father and son. I came to learn about SLOBA and of my old friends. In the heart of my heart I felt pangs of regret at not being present in the activities of the old boys for a long long time, busy as I was with the building of my own career. The very next day I requested my friend Dr. Pradip Narayan (now on his way to England for higher studies) to enrol me as a life member of SLOBA.
The "adda" on Sunday mornings where batchmates, seniors and juniors all come together enthrals me no end. I hardly ever wish to miss those sessions though unavoidable engagements goad me to despair on most Sunday mornings. I miss three things in these sessions - my teenage mind, my school badge (can it not be revived in some form for Lawrencians ?) and the simple commitment we used to make on every class and home work copy : FOR GOD AND COUNTRY.