Class of ’62

My mom, Rukmani Nair (now Manay), hasn’t a class photo of the passing out Class of 1962, but the memories are abundant.

Always creative, while in Std XI, mom maintained a notebook in which she wrote about each of her classmates. The “Character Sketch” notebook, it seems, was a distraction, as mom used to be engrossed in it while the teachers were teaching. Mom recalls that it was confiscated by Mother Immaculate Heart, a Coorgi nun, during class and she took it away with her to the staff room, returning it only at the end of the school day. Mom guesses that she read everything she had written about the 43 girls in the class, and wasn’t amused! She told her that she can do this sort of writing after she finished high school.

While mom is still in touch with some of her class/school mates, it’s her notebook that brings back many of the memories of school. This batch was the last one that did the Std XI Bangalore European Secondary School Certificate Examination in December 1962. From the following year it was changed to a Std X school-leaving certificate.

Sacred Heart Girls’ High School
Good Shepherd Convent, Bangalore
Std XI 1962

Anita Abreo
Ahmeena A
Antoinette Gomes
Annette D’souza
Alki Kumari
Anna Rodriques
Amy Remidious
Berna D’souza
Colleen Shaw
Celeste Wilson
Christine Barry
Dagma Fernandes
Delise Doherty
Dechu Mudappa
Doreen D’costa

Draupadi V
Draupadi R
Geetha Acharya
Heather Faville
Jagbinder Kaur
Jacky A
Kusum S
Lalitha Menon
Merlyn George
Maureen Shillong
Mary Chandran
Meena Vig
Mohini Bhagwandas
Maria D’souza

Nirmala Naidu
Padma Magdum
Priya Murthi
Radha Rani
Rekha Saraf
Rosemary Fernandes
Roopali Sircar
Rukmani Nair
Satya Achayya
Sheila Sampath
Sumitra C
Ursula Silva
Violet Pearson
Vanajalakshmi

Perhaps, the most notable name in the list is Heather Faville. Heather was the games captain of the school and she played hockey for Mysore State, but what shot her to fame was the Miss Bangalore title. She went on to become the first runner-up at the Miss India contest 1970 and was India’s representative at the Miss World contest, making it to the top 15.