OHMYOHMYOHMY! I went for a school reunion this week after ages, for the centenary celebrations of St Teresa’s Convent High School, Santa Cruz (1922-2022), where I studied as a kid. It started with a Mass at Sacred Heart Church at the boys’ school next door (ha! sweet revenge: when we were in school, the Principal would announce at assembly that we were not to look at the boys from Sacred Heart, who perched on our school walls and blew seetis at us). I’m Hindu, but my entire education has been at excellent Christian institutions: St Teresa’s Convent school, then St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

After the Mass, we went to St Teresa’s, where there was a staff get-together, and I caught up with my school buddies Sujata Bhat (Sujju), Kalpana Kanchan (Kalpu), Premilla Rodrigues and others, all thanks to Yamini Kunder, who alerted me about the centenary. I was delighted to meet a few teachers, who would be in their 80s at least—Miss Duarte, who taught us French, and Miss Cleta Rodrigues, who taught geography and was historically called ‘Murgi’ for no reason I can recall. Memories came in a rush, and I could only shake their hands in awe: Ms Duarte was still spiffily dressed, her back erect, in command, as always.