It’s great to be a SMOB

We were all in school once and we all lived to tell the tale. The most appreciative audience to whom we can relate stories of youth excesses and excitement can be found at a High School reunion. Reunions can be emotionally charged as participants cherish old memories and create new ones. The St. Mary’s Old Boys School reunion held recently was no different, as SMOBS converged in Australia to re-establish connection with long-lost friends.

St. Mary’s High School in Mazagoan, Mumbai was established in 1864 to provide education to catholic boys of the AngloIndian community. Over the years, school admissions were open to all communities. The Alumni boasts of some very famous people from around the world including Bollywood favourites Boman Irani and Sooraj Barjatya, musicians Zubin Mehta and Freddie Mercury and Olympian Adil Sumariwala, to name a few.

The SMOBS reunions have been held for the past twenty years with the last two held at Toronto and Mumbai. This year, about 60-70 boys and their partners visited Melbourne to reminisce about ‘the good old days’. SMOBS travelled from Ireland, India, Brazil, Perth and Sydney to touch base with childhood friends and make new friends in over a week of fun filled events. A special welcome was reserved for Malcolm Raymond, the oldest SMOB (class of 1955) who also attended the reunion in Melbourne.

In Sydney, the SMOBS celebrated by organizing a Salsa cruise on Darling Harbor, a walk around Sydney, finishing with dinner at the Rocks and a final dinner at the Irish Pub. Ivan Dias was responsible for the success of the Sydney leg of SMOB’s reunion, while credit went to Richard Perkins for coordinating activities in Perth before the SMOBS and their partners headed to Melbourne.

In Melbourne, hosts Phil and Peter Shaw-

Dennis had organized a week of activities starting with a meet and greet at Ramada Inn, golf evening at Australian Pitch & Putt, Puffing Billy train ride and a farewell dinner and dance at St. Anthony’s Parish, Noble Park. Fun and food were constantly on the agenda whether it was a spit roast dinner, subsidized golf, a delicious meal on Puffing Billy, Rockin DJ or a sumptuous Indian buffet.

Phil Shaw-Dennis and his wife Debbie made light of all the effort that goes into coordinating such an event right from locating school alumni, preparing and mailing registrations, booking venues, selecting the menu or caterers, collecting fees and organizing every little detail. “It was a lot of running around but we managed it with the help of all the local SMOBS, Peter and his wife Patricia,” said Phil. “It’s worth the effort to see everyone having a good time and remembering, what most claim were, the best days of their lives,” said Phil.

For the SMOBs it was a positive and reaffirming experience to catch up, talk about what everyone’s been up to, how they’ve changed, and what they’ve accomplished over the years. Notes on careers and families were exchanged, old romances revived and romantic dreams relived. Francesco and Nancy Nunes who travelled all the way from Brazil will now host the next reunion in Rio De Janeiro.

Sampling the hors d’ouvres and dancing the night away, SMOB Henry Robbins summed the event beautifully. “Reunions are a great social ritual. I love attending them to reconnect with old friends and purge emotional demons (not that I have any). While this event brought a flood of old memories it also created new and exciting possibilities. Here’s to the next reunion in Rio, Copacabana and carnivals here I come…,” he said enthusiastically.