By eight in the morning many old Rkcians were rushing towards Hotel Fortune Landmark, in Ahmedabad to get ready & to start the Function. What was surprising that when Subodh Nath and I (Anal Dalal) reached the hotel by 8.15 am we had a whole lot of Rkcians already, waiting there. You can guess the immense love they have for their SIR, the man with the Midas touch who turned all he came in touch with into 24 carat nuggets. There was a phenomenal display of emotions, of love & affection that every person present felt.
We had expected about a 100 Rkcians but his charisma & respect SIR, commands, made the figure swell to 150! (We should have expected this!) It was nothing short of a Tsunami.
Invitations were sent to one and all around the world, thanks to the Internet. The Principal, Mr.Thakkar of The Rajkumar College was to be the Chief Guest; the present staff was given a special concession of Rs. 250.00 and the OBA Ahmedabad had requested for special transport to be provided for the staff wishing to attend. Senior Old boys were written personal letters requesting attendance. Hundreds were telephoned, emailed .Old boys in RAJKOT, BARODA, MUMBAI, PUNE, JAMNAGAR, JUNAGADH, AHMEDABAD, BANGLORE, U.S.A., U.K, MALASIA and many other regions got their act together and the result was HISTORICAL.
153 Old Boys from all over, many along with their spouse; were there for this august gathering.
By 9 am, the old boys started moving towards the hall and the first registration was done. Old Boys (OB's) were seen hugging, laughing, and back-slapping and the atmosphere was just electric. There was video recording of 2006 RKC TATTOO and a previous meet organized by the Old Boys Association to Honor Miss Cooper being screened. The hall was filled with RKC Tattoo music and of course the chatter. Old boys were moving around and refreshments (Tea / Coffee & sandwiches) were served.
At around 10.15 am SIR, Mr. Ayaazkhan along with Madam Kirtida and their lovely daughter Ms. Neha arrived. And my, everyone was seen rushing to meet and greet him. The scene reminded me typically of people waiting before sunrise at Srinathji for the Lord's Mangala Darshan- and the as the gates are thrown open, everybody tries to be the first. It is more than evident that SIR was, is & always will be the Lord in our hearts.
While all this was going on the OB's Ahmedabad team was frantically working to see nothing goes wrong and guess: Mr. Subodh Nath came to me, and he had panicked! He had lost his prepared SPEECH. But as perfect he is or rather we OB's of Ahmedabad are, he had a back up in the laptop!
By 11.30 am we all settled for the main occasion (after Mr. Yogendra Jadeja (Vice-President OBA RKC) in conjunction with Mr. Subodh Nath (President OBA Ahmedabad) successfully managed to prepare the list of people to be sitting on the dais. (An exercise in comprehension!!)
I will straight away go the felicitation part.
D.S. Shivraj Sinh Dhank being a very simple and down to earth person gave a speech in honor of SIR, which was well-spoken with reminiscences of their school days, without going into lengthy details.
The OB's of Ahmedabad presented SIR with a memento. It was in the form of a shield with a Silver plate on it mentioning SIR's dedicated service of 45 years in RKC. The honors were done by Mr. Subodh Nath.
Mr. Kumar and Mrs. Harsha Shah presented SIR with a lovely Scrap Book which was suggested to be called "Golden Leaves" with messages from OB's to SIR. Kumar and his wife talked about SIR in "Shayari" form and it reminded us about the skits we had in RKC.
Jayant Kaneria and Jayesh Anjaria presented SIR, with a lovely memento made of crystal on the behalf of Pune Boys.
Old Boys had a chance to come to the podium and say something about SIR. There was a rush for it. We had OB's STAMMERING, CRYING, EMOTIONALLY DRAINED, LOSS OF WORDS and more, while speaking about SIR.
Mr. Ayaazkhan hugged each one of them, and again I am at a loss of words to describe.
D.S.Punjawala gave a superb speech which in the words of Uday Mahuakar (Associate Editor of India Today) had the perfect wit & humour, style & substance and delivered with laudable dramatic gusto…also making the packed hall rise to give Mr. Ayaazkhan a Standing ovation. I (Anal) must mention that he was very instrumental in drafting letters of invitation sent to The Principal of Rajkumar College, Rajkot, The present Staff of the Rajkumar College, Rajkot and the general invitation on the Internet, due to his excellent command of ENGLISH.
Sanjay Joshi spoke about how he: a tribal boy was helped by SIR in school. Today after a stint at The United Nations, Sanjay is a high ranking Government official in Ahmedabad.
From far away (U.S.A) came, Mr. Vijay Yagnik, who was amazed to see such a gathering and above all to meet Mr. Ayazkhan after more than 30+ years. He recollected his years at RKC with SIR, Miss. Cooper and the late Mr. Peter Rogerson.
From Malaysia came forth Mr. Bharat Avlani. While talking about SIR, he became highly emotional. (I could see that as I was just next to the podium behind him) I, at that point of time was thinking about the tremendous impact SIR has left on us. Bharat had a message from Ms. Cooper for SIR, which was read out. It will be available on the Internet. He also had the prayer which Mr. Rogerson used to read in the assemblies, especially, printed on small beautifully laminated cards, which he distributed to all. Great. Bharat we salute you.
Many wanted to speak but due to paucity of time we had to cut short.
SIR touched upon his years at RKC, all the while showing gratitude to his predecessors, Miss. Cooper & Late Mr. Rogerson.It came as a pleasant surprise to all of us when he paid tributes to Mr. Wynter Blyth, as one of the best Principals RLC has ever had. He was very vocal in his praise for other staff members too, like Mr. Lavkumar, Mr. Vikram Sinh, Mr. Bharat Singh, Mr. Ghate and others. He put on record the role of D.S. Satyajit Kumar Jasdan, who was his student, then a parent and then a member of the Council as having been a pillar of strength and support to RKC overall and to him personally. SIR also noted the role of Rani Saheba Alaukika who is the very heart of Priyalok, if Miss Cooper is its soul. His emotions overflowing, he thanked all present for the overwhelming love and affection shown to him.
We (OBA Ahmedabad) requested Mr. Vijay Yagnik from U.S.A., to unveil two types of Stickers, one a normal type & the other, the glass type. The stickers have the name "Rajkumar College, Rajkot." the Crest of RKC and "RKCian" written on it. The design is like a shield. There was a big applause and we ran short of them by the end of the function.
Kumar Shah had got special leather wallets having the RKC Crest on them in a limited number for the old boys to purchase. He too ran short of them in a jiffy.
As the felicitation function proceeded further we arrived at the unveiling of the RKC ALUMNI web site. (www.rkcalumni.com)
D.S. Shivraj Sinh Dhank (OBA President of RKC, Rajkot) unveiled the web site. This web site has been possible due the relentless efforts of Mr. Rahul Patel and Mr. Amit Shukla. The latter explained the site details and requested all to upload one's details and to use the site.
Lunch started at about 2.30 pm. There was:
Soup: Tomato Dhania Sourba.
Green Salad, Russian Salad.
Baked Vegetables.
Panner Lababdar, Mixed Vegetable.
Naan, Roti, & Laccha Paratha.
Kali Dal, Green Peas Jeera Rice.
Chef's Choice of Chicken.
Mag ni Dal no Shiro.
Ice Cream with Hot Chocolate.
After lunch there was sale of Stickers which were priced @ Rs. 50.00 for a pack of ten, followed by registration for the full DVD of the function. The DVD was priced at Rs.150.00, which would be sent later.
This was followed by a group photograph and fellowship till SIR left to return to Rajkot. The parting left people floating in a sort of a vacuum in spite of the heavy hearts created by SIR's departure for Rajkot.
What a Man, What a Teacher, What a Fan- Following, What Love, What Adoration, What Respect… and What a Day!
It was a "DAY TO REMEMBER, ALL RIGHT"
Written By:-
D.S.Punjawala & Mr. Anal Dalal.
List of all attendees:-
Aatman Thaker
Chandan Nath
Jaydevsinh Jadeja
Ahemad Ali
Chandulal C. Janagi
Jayesh Anjaria
Ajai Jhala
Chetan Vyas
Jayesh Doshi
Ajay Mandalia
Chirag Patel
Jitendra Ahuja
Alkesh Thakrar
Deepak Khanvilkar
Jitendra Chudgar
Alpesh Dadhaniya
Deepak L. Patel
Kapil Mandawewala
Amit Kotecha
Dharamveer Jadeja
Kiran Wadhwana
Amit Shukla
Dhirajlal M. Patel
Kirti Javia
Anal Dalal
Dilip C. Patel
Kishore Anjaria
Anil V. Patel (Tidy)
Dilip Chauhan
Kishore Gohil
Anirudhsinh Jadeja
Dipak I. Sheth
Kumar Shah
Ashesh Vakharia
Divyesh Thakrar
lajjaben Gohil
Ashit Chhaniara
Dr. Dilip M Pancholi
Laxmansinh Deodhar
Ashok I. Patel
Gautam Ghate
Mahesh Ahuja
Ashok Thaker
Gautam H. Mehta
Manish Shah
Ashwin Patel
Gautam Patel
Mansinhji Vaghela
Atul Kalaria
Gulabsinhji Vaghela
Mihir Munshaw
Atulya Shah
Hans mehta
Mr. Manish Parekh
Avinash Thaker
Harishchandra Sinh Vaghela
Mr. P B Bais
Bhadresh Doshi
Harshad Patel
Mr. Sanjay Desai
Bharat Avlani
Himanshu J Sethia
Mrs. Amit Shukla
Bhavik Raja
Hiten Doshi
Mrs. Bhavik Raja
Bhupendra Champavat
Hitesh Chandrani
Mrs. Dilip C. Patel
Capt. Nrupendrasinh Kachar
Iyas Panwala
Mrs. Himal Ashit
Capt. Pruthivrajsinh Jadeja
Jayant Kaneria
Mrs. Ilyas Panwala
Mrs. Kumar Shah
Piyush Kaneria
Mrs. Nita Ashok Thakkar
Porus Wadia
Mrs. Porus Wadia (Jeroo)
Pradeep Anjaria
Mrs. Prerita Anal Dalal
Pradyumansinh Vaja
Mrs. Ramchandra Vala
Prithviraj Sinh Vreabar
Mrs. Shalibhadra Shah
Punjawala Mandavad
Mrs. Shripal Shah
PushprajSinhji
Mrs. Yogendra Jadeja
Raghuvirsingh Gangad
Mrs.Ayaaz Khan
Raj Shah
Ms. Neha Ayaazkhan Babi
Rajdeepsinh Jethwa
Nakul Zaveri
Rajen Vakil
Narendra Jatakia
Rajendra B. Shah
Naresh Modi
Rajendra Javia
Navin Vadalai
Rajendra Parmar
Navroz Tarapore
Rajesh Doshi
Nayan Modi
Rajesh Modi
Nayana Thaker
Rajesh Nath
Neville Ginwala
Rajiv H. Patel
Nikhil Kaneria
Raju Parekh
Nimesh Kothari
Ramchandra Vala
Niraj Kaneria
Ranjeet Melol
Nirdosh Mehta
Rikvesh Shah
Nirmal Masurekar
Sachin tanna
Pankaj Dadhaniya
Samir N. Patel
Paresh Anjaria
Sanjay Joshi
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