ACAB Newsletter Issue No. 1 January 2012

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ACAB
Yesterday
Today
Newsletter of the Apostolic Carmel Alumni Bandra
Tomorrow
Issue No.1 - January 2012
(for private circulation only)
It is indeed ironic that we spend our school days waiting to get out,
And our remaining days waxing nostalgic over our school days
Editorial
– Isabel Waxman
While at school we detested the homework and rules of discipline and yearned to get out of it, blissfully ignorant
of the Big World and its challenges. But if you read the above quote carefully, I’m sure all of you will agree with
it -- we are always nostalgic about our school days after we leave school!
The Apostolic Carmel Diaspora is spread far and wide; our girls, in different fields at work and in different
countries across the globe, have done our Alma Mater proud! And decades after we left school, life has taught
us that there’s no greater pleasure than catching up with old friends. Hence some of us came together to form
the Apostolic Carmel Alumni, Bandra.
ACAB Team
Top, L to R: Sr. Pearl-Anne greets Chief Guest Maj. Leon Fonseca at Reunion 2008; Our school today; Alumni with Sr. Maria
Rosa at Reunion 2010.
Bottom, L to R: Celebrating the School Feast 2011; Class of 1974 at Reunion 2008; Representatives from each decade at
Reunion 2008.
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A Message from Our President
A seed has grown.......
Three years ago, a little seed was sown in the garden of Carmel – the seed of the Apostolic Carmel Alumni Bandra
(ACAB). It was the first step towards fulfilling a long-cherished dream, through the instrumentality of its pioneers,
Anjali Heredia and Tanya Mascarenhas.
This little seed was watered and nurtured by a committee of sixteen dedicated ex-students. Its shoots began to grow
through frequent meetings. The rich exchange of ideas culminated in the roaring success of the first-ever ACAB Reunion
in December, 2008.
Since then, it has been my joy and delight to watch over the little plant growing steadily, through various activities
organised by the ACAB. This little sapling has yet to grow into a great tree. I believe that with God as our strength and
the support and commitment of our ex-students, ACAB can become that benevolent tree. My prayer is that its branches
spread across the globe and its fruits be enjoyed by the “happy band, both far and near.”
The Managing Committee
Sr. M. Pearl-Anne A.C.
Sr. Pearl-Anne
Anjali
Tanya
Millie
Chantal-Ann
Teresa
Jacqueline
Yvette
Alice
Petra
Christine
Arlene
Marina
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January 2012 >> 3
Left: Sr. Pearl-Anne and Sr. Thelma light
the inaugural lamp at Reunion 2008
Above: Committee members checking
passes at the entrance – Reunion 2008
The dawn of a new beginning
O
ur Alma Mater has been an important landmark on
Hill Road for the past 60 years. Year in and year out,
intelligent, confident and good-hearted young
women have walked out from our school into the
mainstream of the wide world. The Sister Principals watched
the annual stream of outbound students with enormous
pride; but the moment of their farewell was always sad, for
many a student left the school portals never to return, lost
in the labyrinth of life. While Principals and students did
cherish the idea of forming an ex-student association, this
did not materialize easily.
Then in 2006, Sr. Pearl-Anne came along as the new
Principal, cherishing that same hope of bringing the alumni
together. One day, two ex-students, Anjali Heredia and
Tanya Mascarenhas, walked into her room and gave her
what she’d been looking for – the assurance that they would
work with her to set up an alumni association. Sr. PearlAnne knew in her heart that she’d met her pioneers. Another
angel came along in the shape of Major Leon Fonseca, a
stalwart member of the St. Stanislaus Alumni, who offered
to guide the development of an alumni association at
Apostolic Carmel. Together, they contemplated and mulled
over several ideas -- the Alumni association began to take
shape as a concrete plan!
It was around this time that the batch of 1966 achieved
remarkable success in locating many of their classmates
resulting in the first-ever reunion which was held in the
school hall. They had a rollicking get-together to usher in the
40th anniversary of their leaving school. Several other
batches too organized reunions in Mumbai and in various
parts of the world. The joy in having found each other
reigned supreme during each memorable meeting. Old girls
reminisced about their school days and generally reveled in
just being reunited. The time was certainly ripe for the
school to reconnect formally with students from over the
years.
Finally, on 19 July 2008, the old school hall resounded with
happy, excited voices of ex-students reliving the good old
days and looking to the future; it was a gathering to celebrate
the school feast and discuss the process of forming an
alumni association. Sr. Pearl-Anne presided over this
function with an alacrity that was tremendously fruitful. It
took a brainstorming session of just 20 minutes before there
emerged a wealth of robust ideas and plans.
Yes, the Apostolic Carmel High School Alumni was
finally established!
The first Managing Committee comprising 16 ex-students
took upon themselves the onus of setting up the Alumni. Sr.
Pearl-Anne (Principal) and Sr. Thelma (Manager)
unflinchingly stood by them every step of the way. Their
contribution to the Alumni will forever be cherished. Three
years down the road, we can heartily say that our Alumni
embodies a “Happy band from far and near”, a blend of old
values, modern professionalism and versatility with that
heady dash of schoolgirl pluck, so typical of a Carmelite!
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ACAB’s Vision
I
n line with our visionary inception, we, the members of the Apostolic Carmel Alumni Bandra – ACAB, finally set
about laying down the Memorandum of Association and formally adopting our aims and goals. Three of these have
been designated as top priority:
n To provide a vibrant forum to establish a link between the school and the generations of students who have
passed through its portals. We need to build a community of students and alumni in which initiative, creativity
and the involvement of all members are valued.
n Taking into account the socio-cultural changes and technological advances in a fast-moving world, to consider the
possibility of social service and volunteer work; counseling programs, assisting in educating students who are
economically disadvantaged and marginalized and sharing career information and job-placement opportunities.
n To provide for the spiritual, moral, intellectual and social needs through at least one annual meeting organized
for this purpose. Reunions promote cultural unity and good fellowship and assist in the growth of the life-long
friendships formed at school.
Contact us at
achs.alumni@gmail.com
for the latest information
and/or updates or pictures.
REGISTRATION
Calling all EX-CARMELITES
who have not yet registered
with the Alumni, to use the
Enrolment Form provided
with this Newsletter.
The Alumni website has been officially launched at:
http://www.ApostolicCarmelAlumniBandra.org
The School invites all ex-students to a gathering each year on the Saturday following the Feast of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel - 16 July. At this celebration, the Annual General Meeting of the Alumni is held and it becomes a productive
meeting ground for positive thinking for the future. This also creates yet another opportunity to enlist new members
into the Alumni.
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January 2012 >> 5
In keeping with our resolve to assist the school through social service and
volunteer work, we have embarked on the following on an ongoing basis:
THE CARMEL HELPLINE and CAREER PLANNING.
The Carmel Helpline
I
n 2009 we kick-started the Carmel Helpline by
distributing bookmarks that contained the
contact nos. of 3 Alumni volunteers, to whom
our students could turn for help or solace when the
need arose, with the tacit understanding that their
conversations/telephonic interaction would be
treated in strict confidence.
We have realized that a widespread malady gripping our youth today is stress; the
anxiety to perform academically, the pressure of trying to measure up to the lofty
expectations of parents, not forgetting the trauma of loneliness, of valiantly
shouldering domestic responsibilities when parents are at work. All of this is
symptomatic of modern urban living. Overwhelmed and distressed, a majority of
children fight shy of approaching school counselors or teachers and prefer to
confide their misery to their friends which hardly serves the purpose. The spate of
student suicides is a mute testimony to the burden our children inadvertently
shoulder and often succumb to.
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Based on actual experiences, our three Alumni volunteers for the Carmel Helpline
have underlined just how practical and comforting this helpline is proving to be to
a large number of overwrought students, especially during the examination
season. Our motto V R with U is a reality!
Did you know…
Students first selected their
own School Cabinet
through a process of
election in 1969.
Mother Veronica, Foundress
of the Apostolic Carmel
Congregation, is on the way
to being declared a saint by
the Catholic Church.
The Ruby, Emerald,
Diamond and Sapphire
Houses are now dedicated
and renamed after St Agnes,
St Alphonsa, St Therese and
St Joan of Arc, respectively.
The current school uniform was introduced during the time
of Sr. Maria Rosa, replacing the original uniform – a white
blouse with a navy-blue skirt and either a red or blue tie.
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Career Planning
Livewire Session – August 2010
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it”
O
ur education system is largely structured around
academic learning, leaving to the individual the
task of turning it into a career. The Alumni are
committed to assisting our students in channeling their
career aspirations by acquainting them with the latest job
options and trends that await them, given their aptitudes
and general acumen.
To start with, our students need to be advised on what
stream, subject or college they should choose and what
We also assisted at the following event:
Carmel Dreamz
Genelia D’Souza, Guest of Honour with Sr. Pearl-Anne at Carmel
Dreamz – Oct 2010
exams they need to take to get into various streams or
professional courses. In a bid to equip our students with
the relevant information, we have enlisted the help of
LIVEWIRE LEARNING to conduct a Career Awareness
Camp for parents and students of Std. VIII and Std. IX
every year. The Alumni along with Sr. Pearl-Anne and the
school management have facilitated the Live Wire team’s
sessions at school and look at practical application of all
that is learnt at school through projects, field trips and
group sessions.
The Alumni played an active role in helping out during
Carmel Dreamz, a fete held in 2010 to raise funds for the
proposed Junior College. We assisted in fund-raising,
obtaining sponsorships, advertisements, donations etc. in
addition to active volunteer work during the fete.
Carmel Dreamz Team – Oct 2010
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A Happy Band Reunited
n The first-ever mega Alumni event that we had dreamt
about, worked for and for which we had even
experienced some measure of disquiet, finally did
happen on Saturday, 27 December 2008 on our
school grounds. This turned out to be a roaring
success. Whether it was the 600-strong high-spirited
Carmelites straddling 5 decades or the retired
teaching fraternity…there was delight, jubilation and
gaiety writ large on every countenance that evening.
Indeed everyone was “welcomed home”. It was indeed
a nostalgic highpoint when the entire gathering,
joining hands in a gesture of solidarity, rose to join in
a full-throated rendition of our school anthem.
school grounds started to resound to swinging music.
As the evening wore on, it was heartening to see
Sisters and students of diverse age-groups shedding
their inhibitions and dancing to the lilting strains of
the “Masala” … dancing the years away! The festivities
concluded with a sumptuous dinner and happy
anticipation of the next tryst with our Alma Mater.
n In addition to these events, individual groups have
been meeting up with their batch-mates from time to
time. The return of a classmate from abroad is ample
reason for a get-together.
n The batch of 1971 first met in 1991 when eleven of
n The second Reunion was held on 2 January 2010. As
in the first event, the kindred spirit that traditionally
binds the legions of Carmelites into one cohesive
“happy band from far and near” was omnipresent.
The revelry of our girls became more spirited as our
them celebrated their 20th school Reunion in
Cincinnati, Ohio. This celebration spilled over in
Mumbai when they donned the school uniform in
absolute glee and met with their erstwhile Principal!
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Rest in Peace
We cherish the memory of and pray for the many departed students and exstudents, Sisters and members of the teaching and non-teaching staff who have
left for their heavenly home over the last six decades.
May their Souls Rest in Peace
Diamond Memories Project – 1953-2013
n To celebrate the 60th anniversary
of our school, ACAB plans to
publish a commemorative volume
that will take us all back through
six decades of memories, with
photographs, quotes from
interviews with staff, students and
parents from over the years, and a
history of the school.
We also plan to create an archive
of moments from ACHS history
that will be kept at the school for
future generations of Carmelites.
We welcome contributions from
our alumni to this archive. Think
back on your years at Carmel. If
you have a story you’d like to tell
or photographs you’d like to share,
please send them in to us, at
achs.alumni@gmail.com.
n Your stories should be in MS Word
format (maximum 2000 words)
and should include your name and
year of passing the SSC/SSLC
examination.
n All photographs should be scanned
The last date for
sending in stories or
photographs is
31 March 2012
at 300 dpi. Please do not send in
digital photos of the original
photograph, as these are not
usable. Along with your
photographs, please send us a brief
description in MS Word format of
what the photo shows, with names
of people in the picture (if
possible).
n We look forward to your co-
operation and generous
contributions towards this project.
Cheques in support may be drawn
in favour of “Gyan Seva Samithi –
Apostolic Carmel Alumni Bandra”.
80(G) exemption will be available
as applicable.
The book will be
available for purchase at
the next Reunion on
4 January 2013
PUBLISHER: Sr. Pearl-Anne A.C., President, Apostolic Carmel Alumni Bandra
EDITORIAL BOARD: ACAB Team PRINTER: Tibah Enterprises DESIGNER: rainbowmediaindia@gmail.com