The Lyceum School celebrates 25th anniversary with alumni

Over 5,000 people have graduated from The Lyceum School since it started 25 years ago.

KARACHI:

There were three things missing from The Lyceum School’s reunion on Friday night - Qamar Apa, Faiz Baba shouting “baby log driver nahi aya” and Bashir Bhai.

Organised by the school’s alumni association, Elysium, the reunion dinner was held at the Beach Luxury Hotel, a place most Lyceumites are familiar with as the school usually holds their graduation ceremonies and other events there. The spirit of giving back to their alma mater, teachers, colleagues, and to society in general was palpable as over 120 former students attended the dinner which coincided with the school’s silver jubilee.

The atmosphere inside the hotel’s Jasmine Hall was heavy with a blend of colognes, perfumes and chartered accountants as the alumni had dressed to impress. Everyone moved around trying to find old friends and crushes, some people were popping over their Urdu or Economic teacher’s shoulder to ask them how they were doing and remind them about the shenanigans they got up to in class.

Who could imagine that these sharply dressed individuals were once teenagers, who were often caught trying their best to cut through space and time to make it to Sir Naeem’s 8am class without being shouted at?

The alumni broke into an applause as Aysha Sheikh, Elysium’s general secretary, and Shehrzad Aminullah, the president of the school’s alumni association, recalled the services rendered to the school by Scheherazade Asdar Ahmed, one of its founding members and the current director studies, and its founding principal, Razia Shabbir Ahmed. Aminullah, who was among the first hundred students to graduate from the school, reminisced how the late Urdu teacher, Razia Shabbir, affectionately known as Jiya, would invite students to her house to watch Umrao Jan Ada. In memory of Jiya, the school has a Razia Shabbir Urdu Award, which is given out to a top performing student at the commencement ceremony every year.

And of course, no Lyceumite needed to be reminded about the time and effort put into the institution by Mrs Ahmed, or Scherry as she is known among colleagues. While she could not make it to the event due to prior commitments, her son, Shahriar Asdar Ahmed, read out a speech prepared on her behalf. “Don’t fear pain or suffering. Embrace them, and then process them until they evaporate into nothing.”

Remember the titans

One of the oldest Urdu school teachers in the city, and a legendary disciplinarian, Qamar Apa passed away on May 15. Memories of her carefully walking down the stairs to get to the canteen to order Bashir bhai’s signature fries must have crossed a lot of minds as the alumni observed a moment of silence for her.

Later on, the three pillars of the school’s academic prowess - Naim Suhrawardy (Accounts), Azizul H Bhuiya (Economics) and Shamim Azam (Maths) received special mentions. Anyone expecting Suhrawardy to greet them by their name was in for a shock, as the accounts maestro joked, “I have a habit of forgetting three things: names, faces, and I forgot the third thing.”

Shireen Saeed Khan, co-principal of the school, remarked that she hoped to continue to build on the history of the institution.

Recalling old times

Two stalwarts of the school’s debating society from 2006, Ahmed Ali Hussain and Raja Taimur, acknowledged the role played by their alma mater in shaping their lives. “The school helped us build on the skills that we already had,” said Hussain, before adding that initiatives like the alumni reunion offered people an opportunity to get together and collectively work for the betterment of the society. Taimur agreed, and added that the country was in need of people to work together in harmony to address the problems it faces. Samir Suleman and Rabia Lakhani, from the class of 2001, said that the reunion had brought back memories from their own student lives. “Things appear to have changed so much, it’s really nostalgic, being here tonight,” said Lakhani. While recalling Suhrawardy’s legendary temperament and expectation of punctuality from his students, Suleman, who is a chartered accountant remembered how his friends used to hide his backpack to make him sure he was late for class. He says, he always kept his backpack with him for the rest of his time at school.

Social Media: How the word got around 

Arij Jawed, a member of the class of 2005 and a member of the Elysium’s executive committee, said that the reunion organisers had to rely on social media to get the word out to the over 5,000 alumni who were scattered all over the globe. According to Sheikh, nearly 150 people had purchased the entrance tickets for the event, out of whom over 120 attended.

“We did not have access to up-to-date contact information of the alumni, therefore social media was our best bet,” said Javed. Over 1,500 people have “liked” Elysium’s official Facebook page, but only 700 people are part of the alumni database so far.

“We relied on the word of mouth [for this event] as well. We now have many ‘class coordinators’ who are supposed to keep track of alumni for their graduating class, which should help us in planning future events,” said Aminullah. Our Correspondent

After School: Community matters  

Community service organisations like the Darul Sukun have always been an integral part of the extracurricular activities at the school, and dozens of students take out time from their schedules to visit foster homes for physically-challenged children or teach disadvantaged children at the school itself.

However, three of the school’s alumni managed to take it a step further. Bemisal Iqbal (class of 2007), Nabeel Abbassi (class of 2008), and Ibad Abbassi (class of 2008) formed the Jaag Meray Talib-e-Ilm, an organisation that focuses on the need for people in the country to pursue education at all costs. “Children crave for education in this country the way we crave [Bashir bhai’s] fries,” said Iqbal.

The Beginning: Tracing the roots 

The Lyceum School started off inside a small residential building behind what was then known as Shaheen Supermarket.

As the number of students pursuing the Cambridge International Examinations increased in Karachi, the school was forced to first relocate near Mohatta Palace, and then again to 78 Clifton, its current location. While the school has made its name as one of the pioneering A’ Levels institutes in the country, back in 1987 when it first started, it used to offer O’ Levels as well. Our correspondent 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.