Hi Baldwinians,

      Greetings on behalf OBA Kerala chapter. This note may be belated but none the less, heartfelt in its sincerity.

       This chapter was inaugurated on July 2010, under the able leadership of Pres.Kuruvilla Jacob. Bullied, pushed & prodded by Bala, BG and Sridhar (all of B’lore chapter) to host a YOM at Kochi in Feb, curiosity got the better of us and we decided to take the plunge. Little did we realize , that it takes some effort and with backing from our main sponsors, BG Koshy, Bindhu Madhav, Clement Hickson, UB Group, Dr Kurien Mookken, Babu Varghese, Binoy Abraham, Anil Kumar, Rajan Mathews ,Team Kerala created, what others refer to as, the mother of all reunions.

       Friends, we are so proud in bringing together old Baldwinians, yet again. I still remember, in the earlier news letter, we promised you, that at this reunion, bonding will be so strong that parting will be difficult.                

       Welcome banners at various venues said it all, Long time no see, Walking down memory lane, Gonna be good times and at the finale, Once a Baldwinian Always a Baldwinian. Thanks to Seshadri Venugopal ( OBA, B’lore) for the designs.

       Folks, we don’t want to brag, old Baldwinians from all over arrived at the'YOM at Kochi' without an agenda and just allowed exchanges to happen, be it, the bar counters or dance floor, sunset cruise or the  outdoor bash, Meet & Greet Nite or Back to School Nite. Camaraderie at its best.

       Inhouse talent was evident throughout. The two firebrand sisters, Hansa & Annie (Kochi), pepping up the entire crowd with their  games & jiving, Homecoming King Shakeel (B’lore) with his singing & shakety shakes, the Homecoming Queen Shanti Naidu ,Philip Jaipaul (B’lore) strumming away & leading us at the Sing Along session, Francesco Tavera (Goa)  teaching the oldies the art of Goan gyrations, Rajan Mathews & Grace( Delhi) the singing duo, Radhika Murali(Kochi) yet another singing sensation ,the effervescent Gowri Shankar, to name a few. To top it all, we had  59 year old Spiderwoman Annie (Trichur) climbing up a tree with a few 50+age old gals. As for me, I tried being witty but did I get gritty, whatever....Bonhomie to the hilt.

       We have received so many thank you notes, notably,

“Stupendous”

“Mother of all Reunions”

“Great show & great comradeship”

“In Gods own country, with Gods own people & one common denominator, Baldwins.”

“Excited, delighted reunited”

“We wined, we dined & we acted refined”

“A cracker of a Reunion”

 A classic case of “Old shoes & Old school friends are best for relaxing”

 “School friends are like wine, they get better with age”

“The best antiques to collect are good old school friends”

“It is one of the blessings of old school friends, that you can afford to be stupid with them”

 "The convention hotel choice, great cocktails, yummy snacks & food throughout,  a superb “ Meet & Greet Nite”, an Outdoor Bash at a scenic lake resort, the caricaturist, a 12 member Kerala style percussionist band performing soul stirring Singarimelam and the “Back to School” finale at the Casino Hotel with DJ Gino serving the best of 1960’s- 80’s. As a parting gift,  every guest was garlanded with a Spice maala. Very touching. Hats off to OBA , Kerala chapter."  

      Umpteen more and its hard to say goodbye. Friends, we at the OBA Kerala chapter will keep this 2011 Feb last weekend close to our hearts, won't you ?

Take care & bye for now,

Jikku Issac,

Sec, OBA