Tuesday, February 20, 2007

50 years of St.Aidan


Its a funny thing how a photo can awaken a flurry of whizzing technicolor lights in your head.Today, it happened to me.A simple black and white school photo of me way back in 1978.I must have stared at this photo for a whole 10 minutes before it dawned upon me that I just could not connect myself with the little boy of my past.7 years old...arms folded tight...looking as if I hated standing on a bench under the blazing sun to smile for a photo which,at that time, just didnt make sense.(or maybe I had to pee or somethin'..:) )
until now..
Gosh..I would do anything to trade places with that 7 year old.No bills to pay, , no undue work stress,no traffic jams,no taxes, no worries about receeding hairline or increasing waistline...heck..what was I to grumble about back then???Homework??Maths??
Even now as I skim the faces of my childhood school mates, one question begs itself to be answered..where are they?What do they look like now?What are they up to? Ting Pei Pei,
Lawrence,Wong Victor,Khairibi,Choo Chee Boon,Tarmizi,Yong Lee Thing,Hemalatha,Mona Lisa....goodness..they all seem like a distant memory...almost like ghosts trapped in a parallel universe. (thank god I re-connected with my old buddy Vijayan, who is now a doctor in Sabah)
Sigh...
Memories...its the one thing we cling to the most..and the one thing that slips by the fastest.
This year marks 50 years of the school I grew up in..literally. St.Aidan Bahau, a magical,wonderful fable of a place back in the 70's when I lived within its premises . I would go on to spend my first 10 years there...a decade that would go on to shape my life, setting the stage for bigger things,challenges..yet,no matter where or what I was doing,my mind would never stray too far away from my warm childhood days of St.Aidan.
I started this blog inspired into preserving those cherished yesterdays. Unfortunately what should have been an alma mater of distinguished proportions,has withered away,a shadow of what it should have been.In fact its in shambles and it kills me to see a foundation that sprung so many great memories,students,teachers,men and women, disintegrate away into nothingness.I shall play my part to keep the memory of the good ol days running, and to bring together a community who can share the best times they have had growing up within and around the parameters of this enchanting school.
In the meantime what this blog will do,is, provide a canvas for some thoughts,photos and insights of my journey back in time to a place I cant let go off.And sometimes you just cant break the friendship and bond that were always meant to be.Like the special place that I hold for the family I have known all my life, my neighbours - the Naidu's.
In fact,we made a vow 2 years ago during a mini reunion (Shirin,Naz,Sab..i hope you gals remember..) that we'd someday link up with the stories from our childhood and share it with everyone. Im also hoping to get ex-students and teachers of St.Aidan to send me their stories and feedback in which I will be able to post up on this blog. So far, I have Jeeva (Mr.Nadarajah's son, a former teacher who also lived in the school quarters) and Terrence Declan, the son of Mr Devadas, the respected former headmaster of StAidan, to join forces with me.
Looking forward to getting this into gear.Cheers! (p/s I'm 9th from the left..standing)

1 comment:

brian said...

Hi, Siva.

I was browsing the net and accidently pop into your blog. Great job. Keep it up.

Well i would like to introduce myself to you. I was from BAHAU too. Born there and studied in smk dato Mansor. I continued my form six in SMK tunku besar tampin which was in year 1991-1992.

Now i am living in Kuala Lumpur, working as a sports teacher in a secondary school.

My name is Ravi. I am a Chindian.I met you a few times when i was in Tampin and once in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi when you where there looking for me (year 1994).

Siva i am writting all this becouse, your blog has made me to go back to my old memories and it was very touching.

I hope you will read this comment.

pls drop me an email to me at sravishan@gmail.com and maybe we can meet up.

U take care my friend

from

Ravi Shan