The full gallery of photos from the Woodstock School 150th celebration held in October, 2004. (Probably too full and in need of cleanup, in fact…)
Tag Archives: WS150th
Woodstock 150th: Back to Delhi
shot Nov 2, 2004
Most of the group left Mussoorie Monday morning in Sanjay’s buses. Anne and I took the Shatabdi back to Delhi that evening (about half the seats were occupied by Woodstockers), joining Marilyn at the Park Hotel where the three of us shared a room. Tuesday we shopped all over Delhi, visitedJantr Mantr, and Marilyn flew out Tuesday night after an excellent dinner at the Park’s restaurant. Anne and I were joined by Yuti on Wednesday for still more shopping, then had dinner, drinks, and music with Yuti, her husband Sumit, and Pinder (who had meanwhile been in Chandigarh, shopping for furnishings for his new home in Nairobi).
shot Nov 2, 2004, 1:15 mins, 3.9 MB
We wrote song requests out on napkins and gave them to the DJ, who was probably wondering who these old fogeys were.
Anne and I shared a car to the airport at midnight and kept each other company (thankfully – Delhi airport is awfully boring) until our flights left around 3 am.
Next?
We’re all agreed that we want to see each other again, often, and soon – and preferably more of us. The open question for the moment is when and where to do that. Sanjay has suggested a regular appointment each year in Mussoorie, around the first week in November. Which is certainly fun, but not convenient for everybody, especially those who have kids in US or European schools.
One possibility would be to piggyback on the WOSA-North American reunion next June 23-26, in Silver Bay, New York. And some of us are looking into other suggested reunion spots, such as Italy and Iceland.
Woodstock 150th: Hanifl Center
Lots of broken image links to fix… when I have time. Meanwhile, you can see the full gallery here.
Hanifl Center terrace
We were the first large group to stay at Hanifl Center, and a very pleasant residence it was, with comfortable beds (some private double rooms, some with four or eight bunkbeds), incredible views, and almost enough hot water (entirely solar-heated) for everyone to take showers in the morning (or whenever they got up).
Sanjay had made all the arrangements, including bringing up three cooks and a busload of supplies from Bombay. Excellent hot breakfasts (pancakes – with peanut butter!, cereal, parathas, eggs, toast) were provided there at Hanifl, other meals varied, though many were in fact cooked by these same talented cooks.
 
On the morning of Monday, November 1st, Dick Wechter invited us up for tea and biscuits to watch the sunrise over the snows. I didn’t wake up in time, so was a bit late for the actual sunrise…
Woodstock 150th: Dorm Visits & Banquet
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.
Woodstock 150th: March-Past & Games
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