By George!

The boys have long turned men,some in their 40s to others all set to reach their 80s but quiz them about their school days and they will all admit euphorically-it was just yesterday! What fun days those were.

Written by Jagmeeta Thind Joy
April 27, 2009 10:45 PM IST

3 min read

The annual get-together of Georgian Association ran high on camaraderie with former students exchanging notes

The boys have long turned men,some in their 40s to others all set to reach their 80s but quiz them about their school days and they will all admit euphorically – it was just yesterday! What fun days those were. It was a disciplined life but we managed to do lots of masti, spoke not a recent alumnus but the oldest of them all! Truly,the annual get together of the northern edition of the Georgians Association held this Sunday in the city packed in quintessential school reunion camaraderie as former batchmates exchanged notes once again along with family members. Yes,I would be oldest Georgian in the house today, chuckled a spirited Col Balwant Singh (retd) from the class of 1941! For the unaware,the Georgians Association is a body of ex-students of Military Schools (formerly known as King Georges Schools) based at Chail,Jalandhar,Bangalore,Ajmer,Dholpur and Belgaum. Today,its back to school days once again, Singh,who was once senior prefect at school,remarked fondly. I was only punished once,that too for making the most of a trip to a fair, he shared as fellow Georgians,Maj Gen Bachitter Singh (retd) and Col Kashyap lent an ear.

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Among those who have seen diligently made efforts for the boys to stay in touch and be there for one another is Maj Gen S S Pathania (retd). I studied at Jalandhar from 1941 to 1947, informed the major general who has seen the association grow over the years. All of us are proud of being Georgians and thats why you see us come together in such numbers, addressed Pathania as he did a quick trot down memory lane for us. I remember some boys had to prepare for their matriculation exams but the lights in the dorm would go out at 9 pm. Thats when our house master Mr Mehta would call us in at his residence and we would study well after midnight and he kept us company all through, reminisced Maj Gen Pathania. Equally thankful to his teachers was Maj Gen Nirmalok Singh who is posted as MG (EME) at Chandimandir as he remembered each of his teachers names as well! We are what we are thanks to them…my House Master S S Lal,my English teacher Mr Noel and Mr Upadhyay who taught us Hindi, mentioned the general who studied at Ajmer and graduated in 1970.

As the afternoon moved on,so did the annual general body meeting that was addressed by Col JS Suraj,SM who stepped down as president and made way for Lt Col DS Grewal (retd) who was,in true Georgian tradition,elected unanimously. Its this bonding that makes me come back for the get together each year, admitted Vijay Khosla,a California based entrepreneur who also made a handsome donation. Its the least one can do, Khosla cheered as the friends got together and raised a toast. Until next time…