The Hindu : New Delhi News : A friendship that stood the test of time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

A friendship that stood the test of time

By Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI, FEB. 22. Sharing the same desk space in a classroom that taught them history, together they had dreamt of a free country. Over five decades on, they may live separated in a world where history lessons are dictated by geographical boundaries, but for women like Souriya Anwar and Usha Whig, Tuesday was meant to celebrate "friendship'' that had stood the test of time.

Growing "younger" was the buzzword here, with the 60-odd alumni of Lahore's Kinnaird College taking a trip down memory lane today as they looked back at the long road travelled and the one that they hope to take in the future. Forty of Kinnaird College's Lahore alumni are currently in town to visit their Indian counterparts.

Dressed in their best silks and donning the finest pearls, they laughed with abandon, teased each other with enthusiasm and relived the secret moments that have stayed with them through the years. They may not have been from the same class, but being from Kinnaird was clearly a strong enough bond for these women.

"We are meeting after such a long time and yet whenever people have come to Pakistan or we have come here, it has always given us the feeling of being part of an extended family. It is very nostalgic,'' said Souriya Anwar, president of the Pakistan SOS Children's Village and director of the alumni cell.

It was a meeting that saw many names being taken with awe and some being remembered for the terror they created in the hearts of students. If McNair's strictness seemed to be on the memory of everyone present here, the fear that principal Mangat Rai created was yet another point of discussion.

The last batch of Indian students to have graduated from the college in 1946, for Prem Mathur and her two friends Usha Whig and Uma Katra, the alumni meet was also an occasion to exchange notes on their present.

"Things were very strict back then and we never flouted the rules. Since we were not allowed to go out of the hostel to eat, we would make a list of eatables and give it to the "tongawalla'' near our hostel to get us things from Standard, which was a favourite with us,'' remembered Prem Mathur.

With relations between the two countries improving, the need for more exchange was highlighted at the alumni meet.

"Things are good now and so any co-operation is being welcomed. But the alumni managed to keep up ties even when there were tensions there between the two countries, which is commendable'' feels Shubhag Singh.

But what makes these alumni so special is the decision to keep the contact with India intact by enrolling children of alumni members who are old or have passed away. "I had always heard so much about the school from my mother that I always felt a part of it. And although I never studied there, the elders have always made me feel a part of the group,'' said a young participant here.

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