40 years on, school friends rekindle bonds and donate to alma mater
The idea took shape when Dr Zeena Flavia Dsouza, Associate Professor of Commerce at St Aloysius (Deemed to be University), posted a message in their alumni group.
'We realised it had been four decades. The response was instant,' she said.
They even designed their T-shirt emblazoned with 'Victorians' on the chest and Batch of 1985 on the back, which they wore throughout the event and have pledged to preserve it.
Spearheaded by Dr Madhavi, an ophthalmologist from Vijayawada and the group's former school pupil leader, the reunion drew classmates from across the country and overseas — including Dr Poornima Nair, a well-known gynaecologist in Mangaluru; Supriya D'Souza from Muscat; Charlotte Pinto from Dubai; Ashritha Moras from Goa; and Shanteri from Cochin. 'One of us, Swaroopa Shetty, has even become a State General Secretary of the Congress party, and most of us are working in different fields,' Zeena said.
As part of their reunion, the alumni planted 40 saplings on a green patch of the school's hilltop campus, specially earmarked by the current headmistress, Sister Pushpa.
The planting was guided by Jeet Milan Roche, Mangaluru's well-known environmentalist, fondly known as the 'tree man'.
These trees now stand as a living memorial to their bond and commitment to sustainability.
In a show of support for future students, the batch also donated a sizable fund to the school's fund for underprivileged students — aimed at reducing dropouts and fostering inclusivity.
A special 'Guruvandana' honoured beloved teachers, including 81-year-old Anusuya, a teacher who briefly stepped back into her role as a biology teacher and drew figures from the biology lessons, even grilling her students on the various parts of a hibiscus flower, recalled one of the ladies.
The day ended with laughter, shared memories, and a deep sense of reconnection — proof that some friendships, like the trees they planted, only grow stronger with time.
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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Deep in the Amazon, the Gospel Arrives by Boat
LIVRAMENTO, Brazil—Spirits were high as the double-decker Missionary chugged down the Negro River, carrying some 30 Brazilian evangelicals home after a weeklong expedition deep into the Amazon. The missionaries said they aren't only doing God's work here—they are advancing the government's, too. Every month, Brazilian and U.S. churches send hundreds of evangelical pastors, doctors and dentists upriver to provide health services to the poor, converting fishermen and indigenous people along the way. Their ministrations are paying off. Brazil's first census in 12 years showed in June that the Amazon has the nation's highest share of evangelical Christians, accelerating the country's shift away from Catholicism. Over a quarter of Brazil's 213 million people are evangelical, up from 9% three decades ago. A third of indigenous people have adopted this branch of Christianity, and evangelicals for the first time outnumber Catholics in Amazonian states such as Acre and Rondonia. As the blue-and-white Missionary proceeded through the steamy forest, villagers crowded the river's silty reddish banks. The lower deck, where missionaries sleep on hammocks at night and pray on plastic chairs by day, was transformed into a makeshift ward for some of the 100,000 or so patients the boat treats a year. 'We don't just offer them medical care. We offer them Jesus,' said Germana Matheus, a dentist who runs the boat as part of Project Amazon, a campaign by Brazil's Baptist churches to evangelize the forest's nearly 30 million people. In the most remote communities, where locals have little contact with Western medicine, she said even a painkiller can seem like a gift from God after months of toothache. 'People are grateful for the simplest of things,' she said over a cacophony of gospel music and the drone of the boat's engine. The spiritual battle in the Amazon is also reshaping the world's biggest rainforest, environmentalists and indigenous leaders say. Brazil's evangelicals have forged alliances with right-wing agribusiness groups and landowners who have thwarted moves in Congress to protect the forest. Missionary activity could accelerate the erasure of indigenous culture, threatening communities that environmentalists say safeguard the Amazon. Deforestation rates in indigenous lands are more than 80% lower than elsewhere in the Amazon, a 2024 study by U.K. and Brazilian researchers showed. 'We're facing extinction,' said Eládio Curico, a leader of the Kokama people. He said he considers preachers with Bibles as threatening as loggers with chain saws. In the 1970s, he said, Catholic missionaries nearly destroyed his village near Brazil's border with Colombia and Peru. They persuaded some Kokama to abandon their culture, sparking family feuds and spurring many to leave. It took decades to persuade younger generations to come back, he said. 'Just as the Kokama were proud to be Kokama again, the evangelicals came to wipe us out,' said Curico. Brazilian laws protect indigenous communities and their beliefs, customs and traditions, especially within indigenous reserves. But the deeper into the forest, where government oversight is weaker, the murkier those rules become. Livramento, on the banks of the Negro some 15 miles outside the city of Manaus, is a regular stop for church boats including the Missionary. At the entrance to the village, whose name means 'deliverance,' Catholic missionaries decades ago built a small church. But the priest is absent; some residents said they thought he was dead. In contrast, the village of 350 families has five thriving evangelical churches. Their influence is everywhere. Teachers paid by the government regularly arrive by boat to give classes in indigenous languages such as Baré, hoping to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity. The classes are given in outbuildings of the Baptist church. The church housed the region's schoolchildren for a year recently while the village school was under renovation. Eleama Franklin, a 31-year-old missionary with Project Amazon who lives next door in a wooden house built by Texan volunteers, said it was the perfect chance to talk to children about the gospel. Getting into schools in more remote villages is even easier, she said. 'You can go and talk about Jesus with the children, you just need to have a word with the teacher.' Many parents in the Amazon welcome the evangelicals. In addition to health services, the missionaries give communities their best—and sometimes only—defense against illicit drugs that are increasingly common in the forest. Criminal organizations have spread across the Amazon, fighting over lucrative river routes to coca-growing regions of Bolivia, Peru and Colombia. Their expansion has scattered the forest with small-time dealers of crack and marijuana, community leaders say. The nearest police station—or any vestige of the state—is sometimes hours away by boat. But evangelicals are never far. 'The boat is one of the few blessings we have,' said Maria do Carmo, a Livramento resident who converted to evangelical Christianity from Catholicism several years ago. 'The evangelicals care about the people.' As night fell in Livramento and a storm gathered over the forest canopy, Franklin began the hourlong trek to visit an elderly indigenous Baré couple. The husband converted years ago after overcoming a drinking problem, but they were now too frail to reach the church or boat. 'It's not a problem—we just go to them,' said Franklin, stepping out into the darkness with her Bible and guitar. By her side was her husband, who is a pastor, and Sara Oliveira, a 17-year-old student who converted to evangelical Christianity during the school renovation. Oliveira dreams of becoming a missionary too. 'I was once sick of this place…It's just trees and rivers,' she said. 'But now I realize that this is my calling.' As the Missionary headed back to Manaus the next day, it had one final stop: the Missionary Training Center, one of the evangelicals' most ambitious projects yet. In a giant clearing on the riverbank, the center—dotted with inspirational messages about God on colorful signposts—resembled a cross between a summer camp and a wellness center, training missionaries to start churches where none exist. 'The trick is not to turn up and start talking about the gospel and preaching,' said Cirlene Macario, a 19-year-old missionary and member of the Kokama indigenous group from Jutaí, a village some 450 miles to the west. 'We try to make friends first.' Aspiring missionaries are taught to hunt and cook local dishes. They sleep in hammocks and relieve themselves outside in the forest—essential skills to survive and fit in with locals, Matheus said. Over the past 12 years, Matheus and Project Amazon have recruited some 200 missionaries to live in the forest, who have helped establish some 170 churches across the Amazon. The goal is to recruit 1,000. The Missionary docked in Manaus, where colorful canoes laden with fish bustled for space among cargo ships under the unforgiving midday sun, as another group of American evangelicals arrived from a separate mission upriver. 'We brought many folks to the Lord,' said Anthony Mustoe, an IT executive from Dallas, packing his belongings with his 17-year-old son. 'The Bible tells us to go far and, well, that's what we did.' Write to Samantha Pearson at
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Suspected snag: Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight diverts to Chennai
Representative image (ANI) NEW DELHI: Air India's Thiruvananthapuram (TRV)-Delhi flight AI 2455 on Sunday night with several MPs among the passengers safely diverted to Chennai following a suspected snag. On its approach to Chennai, the Airbus A320neo ((VT-TNL) was given a go-around by the air traffic control (ATC) — meaning asked to abort landing and then touch down in second attempt — which the pilots executed safely. However, the announcement of the flight diverting due to a snag, enroute bad weather and then the go-around added to the anxiety of passengers. Congress MP K C Venugopal who represents Alappuzha in Lok Sabha was among the parliamentarians on board. He said on X early Monday morning: 'AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi, carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers, came frighteningly close to tragedy. What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai.' 'For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt — another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo In that split second, the captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. I urge DGCA and aviation ministry to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again,' Venugopal added. Aircraft routinely go around for safety reasons due to a number of factors like unstabilised approach or a plane/vehicle being on the runway it is supposed to land on. Air India denied that AI 2455 was asked to go around because there was another aircraft on the runway. An AI spokesperson said: 'The flight crew of AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on August 10 made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions enroute. The flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. We regret the inconvenience caused to affected passengers…. At AI, safety of our passengers and crew remain top priority. ' Congress MP for Virudhunagar Manickam Tagore B who as also on board said on X: 'Shocked & shaken. Air India AI 2455 from TRV to Delhi, carrying MPs & hundreds of passengers, narrowly escaped disaster today — turbulence, flight signal fault, and a near runway collision in Chennai…. Passenger safety cannot rely on luck. We demand answers & action now.' Replying to him, AI said: '…diversion to Chennai was precautionary, due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. Our pilots are well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight…' Air India arranged another Airbus A320neo, VT-TQE, which flew the passengers from Chennai to Delhi as AI 2455. The usual flying time of AI 2455 (TRV-Delhi) is 3.5 hours with a schedule departure time 7.15 pm. According to flight tracking sites, it took off with a slight delay on Sunday at 8 pm & landed in Chennai at 10.39 pm. The alternate aircraft took off from Chennai at 1.40 am & landed in Delhi at about 4 am. Seasoned aviators say while AI 2455 had a routine suspected snag, passenger anxiety levels have expectedly been higher post the deadly June 12 AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad and subsequent incidents.
News18
a day ago
- News18
'Close To Tragedy': KC Venugopal As Trivandrum-Delhi Air India Flight With MPs Lands In Chennai
Last Updated: An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai after severe turbulence and a suspected technical issue. Congress MP KC Venugopal was on board. An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai on Sunday evening due to a technical issue. According to the details, the flight was airborne for more than two hours before it finally landed at the Chennai airport. Details about the number of passengers were not available. However, the flight took off little past 8 pm from Thiruvananthapuram and landed in Chennai at around 10.35 pm, as per information from Congress MP KC Venugopal was among the passengers on the flight, and described the experience as 'frighteningly close to tragedy" in a post shared on X. The post read, 'Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi – carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers – came frighteningly close to tragedy today." 'What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai," he mentioned. 'For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt – another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway," he wrote. 'In that split second, the Captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck," the post further read. Meanwhile, the airline, in a statement, said, 'The flight crew of AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on 10 August made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions en route." Air India said the flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. Alternative arrangements were being made to fly the passengers to their destinations at the earliest, Air India said, and regretted the inconvenience caused. In recent weeks, there have been instances of some of Air India's aircraft facing technical snags. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
