OSNA-e Annual Event in New York City, October 5, 2019 

Submitted by Zafarullah Khan SBD'65 

Saturday, October 5th was a beautiful day. The weather was typically fall and the sky was clear. I took the Metra from my son’s place in Brooklyn to 57th street in Manhattan. It was a pleasant 50 min commute, arriving at my destination ahead of schedule. I was greeted by Bholi Trehan (VGD’67), Natasha Das (SGD’02) and Bhawana Soni (VGD'12) doing the onsite registrations. It was nice being welcome, felt like a family reunion. Even though I did not know most of the attendees I felt completely at home. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with many of the OS from 1961 to 2012. I regret not having enough time to meet all the OS who had come from up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, from Boston to South Carolina and Georgia. Hats off to Ashok Gupta (NBD’77), the son of Dr. Gupta, who came across the continent, from Vancouver, Canada. 

Attendance by Vindhia topped the list, followed by Nilgiri, Himalaya and Siwalik. The 1980’s batches dominated the scene with a few from post 2000 and the 1960’s. It was nice that there were an equal number of men and women Sanawarians present.

 It was indeed a pleasure meeting up Sanawarian who graduated from the 1961 to 2012. The cream of crop from the best school of all were present. The many talented and successful individuals in the room was impressive – so proud to be a Sanawarian. 

The meeting kicked off with Aroon Shivdasani (NGD’61) welcoming everyone and introducing the Director of the Delhi Art Gallery who had so graciously agreed to let the OS use their facilities. She explained how the Gallery supported relatively unknown artists. She invited us to view the lovely art work on the walls. The food was catered by Navjot Arora (HBD'86) the owner of Chutney Masala, an Indian restaurant located in Irvington NY. The appetizer and the main meal were outstanding and there was ample choice for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. 

KumKum Bhasin (HGD’67) was up next and she briefly spelled out Sanawar Master plan, a multi decade document, that has been some time in development. It is now starting to be rolled out and the first phase was completed in time for Founders 2019.

 I introduced our new Chapter Coordinator and President in Waiting, Harveen Sachdeva Mann. She was in Sanawar for 6 years, from 1968-1973. She identifies herself as “a nerd in Sanawar – head buried in books or needlework, a goody-two-shoes, generally standing 1st in class”. Unfortunately, Harveen lives in Chicago and could not attend this meeting due to a trip to Portugal with her daughter that had been planned months ago. She did provide a brief video introduction as well. 

The Head Master’s short speech was an inspiration. We are all saddened by his desire to leave for personal reasons. He has been such a positive influence on Sanawar and he will be missed. Lunch was even better than the appetizers and the desert must have been outstanding as it was the first to disappear. It was time for a group photograph and we all sucked in and posed for the memorable photo (attached). The afternoon flew by and it was difficult breaking off from the gathering. The get together ended with the singing of the School Song, all three versus, led by Krishnan Subramanian (VBD’73) and Surabhi Singh (SGD’85). There were so many people still to meet ……. Many of us headed to the Peninsula Hotel, arranged by Leila Simoes (VGD'77) for an after party to continue with the socialization. Needless to say, the bar too was very well attended. Many hands worked to make the event a rousing success. The organizing committee was chaired by Aroon Shivdasani (NGD'61) and supported by Bholi Trehan (VGD’67), Natasha Das (SGD’02) and Bhawana Soni (VGD'12) at registration, Monit Kapur (VBD'83) arranged the sound system. Bhanu VIrmani (VBD'82) and Ranjit Bawa (SBD'89) organized the games. Mytri Singh (HBD'85) worked on the program, Supriya BaghlaVGD'00 created the poster, Navjot Arora (HBD'86) catered the lunch, Leila Simoes (VGD’77) selected the venue for the after party, and Sunil Verma (HBD'80) handled the accounts. A special thank you to KumKum Bhasin (HGD’67) whose leadership has pulled the OS in NA together and we now have a functioning OS society - OSNAe. It took a lot of effort on her part, like herding cats, but she persevered, clearly demonstrating the School’s motto “Never Give In”.