Celebrating 25 Minus One!

On May 5th 2018, 40 odd Fatima Old Boys from the Class of 1994 descended on the College’s playing field at Mucurapo Road for a long-awaited reunion – the largest of its kind since graduation. There was no landmark anniversary to celebrate here as it was 24 years since parting ways. However, the classmates were not prepared to wait any longer to reconvene this dynamic group of characters.

Instigated primarily by Dingiswayo Smenkhara, the reunion vibes started through a series of smaller limes during the Christmas season of 2017/2018 and via a newly formed WhatsApp group. The latter started with a dozen friends and quickly burgeoned into an interactive community of about 100 strong.  The urge to do something on a larger scale grew stronger and stronger by the day until an on-site barbeque and football lime was decided on. As plans were being made via social media, stories from the past were dug up – sometimes with slight exaggeration. The constant laughs and sharing of memories only built anticipation for the reunion day.

The main event came and completely lived up to all the hype as classmates tested their culinary skills led by Chief Chef and class comedian Marc Jardine. A range of meats and drinks were enjoyed while friends reconnected and got up to speed with the goings-on with each other. In the intervening years some had changed in appearance to the point where national identification documents were requested to ensure that there was no random “storming” of the festivities. Of course, given that class of ’94 possessed some world renowned “football peongs”, a lime would not be complete without a small goal football encounter. Some wanted to prove that they had retained the football skills of their glory days at the college.

In the end, a great time was had by all with the pictures to prove it. Today, the banter, debates and occasional “cussouts” continue via WhatsApp with no decrease in enthusiasm. It appears that it will not be too long before this group of concerned citizens, professionals, family men and brothers reconvene one more time.

Photos from the reunion can be viewed here.