Reunion almost 50 years in the making for NGSS alumni

Fifteen of the 1975-1976 NGSS graduating batch at Nayeem Ali’s residence in Pickering, Ontario. Front row, from left Jennifer Joseph (Prince), June James-Muehler, Shanta Sinha (Suroojanie Muldeo), Aziza Rohoman (Bacchus), Joan Jaundoo and Valerie Yassin. In back row, from left, are Paul Bahadur, Paul Gomes, Joan Williams, Naraindra Prashad, Miranda La Rose, David Sears, Janice Perreira (Pieters), Harry Booklall (Lomraj) and Nayeem Ali.

Most of us were meeting again face-to-face for the first time after 47 years or more, and we didn’t know what to expect of each other even though the majority of us had been chatting via Facebook Messenger for over a year and we had bonded online.

It was on Thursday, August 4th that the first arrivals gathered at a meet and greet dinner at an Indian restaurant, Parathne Wali Gali in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. From the USA were Paul Bahadur and his wife Beena, and Shanta Sinha (Suroojanie Muldeo) from Florida, June James-Muehlner, of Texas, Joan Gomes (Williams) of Georgia, and from Canada were Valerie Yassin, of Ontario, Harry Ricky Booklall (Lomraj), of Calgary, Naraindra Prashad and his wife Zita, also of Ontario, Janice Perreira (Pieters) of Florida and Ontario, and there was me from Guyana.