Recalling fun times: St Patrick’s alumni attend 150th reunion

Father Todd was the centre of attention at the event.

KARACHI: A corner inside the Bar BQ Tonite restaurant seemed to be reserved for a group of people that included CEOs, nuclear physicists and teachers. They were all attending the Old Patricians’ annual St Patrick’s Day Reunion dinner.

Father JB Todd, 91, was accorded the warmest welcome of all by his ex-students. Some of them humouredly asked him if they were allowed to talk in Urdu in his presence or not. Todd nodded his approval, and said that, “They are all greeting me right now, but a lot of them would remember me as the guy always carrying a cane.”

The fact that the ex-Patricians were gathered at a place other than their school grounds did not perturb them. Formally dressed and accompanied by their spouses in some cases, they had a lot of things to talk about, like “kneel-down” punishments, various teachers and their eccentric habits, and, of course, Sir Dean’s stick that they had nicknamed “maula baksh.”

“I owe a lot of my success to my school,” said Hissam Yusuf, director of group purchases at Avari Hotels Limited, and a member of the class of 1962.

“I have yet to see St Patrick’s graduate who is unsuccessful,” chipped in Amanullah Kherati of the class of 1992, who is currently Wateen Telecom’s manager of international business development.

Another Patrician said these types of reunions also provide networking opportunities for people, in addition to fundraising opportunities for their alma mater. “We have received so much help from our school. Why would we mind contributing to our alma mater,” he asked.

Majyd Aziz, a prominent businessman from the Balagamwala and member of the class of 1967, observed that boys currently studying at St Patrick’s are fairly lucky that their institution is now coeducation. “We had to go to St Joseph’s [school] to see the girls.”

One group of ex-Patricians was discussing the emphasis their school used to place on language, manners, and culture. Another group reminisced about the times when Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis, Bohras, Bahais and Jews would sit together in classes and study.

The St Patrick alumni received the 150th edition of their school’s magazine as souvenirs on the occasion. Quite often, a student would take the book to Father Todd, and recall the times that were captured in pictures. Some students started wearing and passing each other the old Patrician hat and then posing for group photographs.

A group of three friends invited a photographer present at the occasion to take shot of them together. “We belong to the same family. We’re all Hashmi’s.” One of them was a director at Hub Power Company, the other was the chairman emeritus of Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, and the third was the chief executive officer of Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. All of them graduated from St Patrick’s in the 1950s. President and secretary of the Old Patrician’s Society, Kadar Shajani and Menin Rodriques, said that the event is an annual feature, and provides an opportunity for ex-students to have some hours of face-time with their fellow classmates and teachers in this age of e-mails and social media.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2012.