Tales -
It was amazing how well our group
got along - once again a manifestation of
the "Woodstock phenomenon". The five of us had no visible conflicts
despite spending so much time together in close quarters (I'm not sure how
the 3 family members perceived us - but there were silly moments shared
around the meal table where we acted not as 50+ year olds but perhaps more
as teenagers).
Philip and Deej who first arrived in India, slowly acquired us one by one during their last two weeks: Alice and Melissa, Li, Norman and Rowen and finally Robert (who had to take a taxi from Delhi airport to Mussorie); and then peeled off Alice and Melissa, Norman and Rowen, Robert who stayed on longer at Woodstock, and finally Li in Delhi . Philip's knowledge of India and locations were invaluable to helping those of us who had been away only too long - thanks Philip for being so patient.
The week I spent in Mussorie helped to remind me how out of shape I am - but I was proud that by the end of the week I could climb Winky's hill with only 2 stops instead of the multiple stops encountered the first day, after every 2 steps. Winky was the friendly host of the guest house we stayed in, down the hillside in front of the Picture Palace - with just enough rooms to house all of us.
The week started cold (long johns were necessary - it had snowed two days
before) but the temperature warmed noticeably each day. We were fortunate
that the weather remained on the whole crisp and clear with fantastic views
all around. Rhododendrons were in bloom - yes they still grow bright red,
and in trees. While Robert practiced piano every day for his concert, and
the others doing their volunteer jobs and climbing all over the mountain
slopes - yes, these are still very steep.
I found my niche in helping the
Business Office (the accounting group) in converting their files from Lotus
to Excel spreadsheets. The entire school has been converted to WIN95 with
MSOffice97 but unfortunately Steve who was behind all this conversion, had
had little time to spend with the group. Their major problem was dealing
with the Print mode (Excel defaults to a 8.5 x 11 in paper, assuming
everybody has a LaserJet but the office only has dot matrix printers). I
was able to demonstrate how they could get print outs and found a solution
for their formatting of printing out the information that we here in the
States get as part of our pay stubs. I taught a basic session on the use
of Excel, showed them tricks and short cuts - all in all a very rewarding
week working with a bright and very appreciative group. There was
noticeable relaxation of tension from the head of the group when I
demonstrated that we could easily move the Pension data file into Excel and
achieve a more pleasing output.
The reference books and tapes I carried over as part of my luggage were much appreciated, especially the bags of jelly beans I had enclosed. Next visit I feel I should perhaps take over a LaserJet for the Business office!
I paced myself and did not attempt to visit all the sites that are only
vague in my memory. My world at Woodstock was a vertical strip of land
including the upper campus and houses above. But the Quad is much smaller
and Alice and I visited the Upper Dorm where we had started our boarding
life - this was not nearly as large a room as remembered and the space has
now been converted to classrooms for grades preschool through 4th. We had
a delightful visit with the 3rd grade class where we exchanged information
about each other. Boarding is now limited to 8 years old so the lower
classes (only 6 in boarding among the 3rd graders) are comprised mainly of
staff and local resident children. We ate our
lunches in the dining hall
on the Quad where all the children still have lunch. There are no dorms on
the Quad and the elementary boys and girls are in dorms at Ridgeway and
Alter Ridge (which is next door to the former) and everybody has to scamper
up the hillside. And it was fun to see the (real) monkeys who swept
through the Quad on Friday, after all the students had gone - one of them
found a chocolate coated donut and proceeded to lick off the chocolate
first. sitting atop the Music building roof..
Parker Hall is much smaller and is in the process of undergoing renovation
thanks to the donation from alumni of one of the classes ($15,000). The
Media Center, mainly funded by grants from ASHA is impressive with its
Steinway and numerous pentium computers and software. This is where Robert
gave his wonderful concert
in the smaller auditorium on Friday evening.
The Music building with its practice rooms is still there, clinging to the
side of a hill although there has been expansion into space on the lower
floor of the wing on the Quad below the dispensary and a ceramics lab. The
Class of `52's project is to pledge moneys for a new music building.
Both libraries, in the high school building and in the Quad (which used to be the lower dorm) have separate rooms with half a dozen computers and the librarians were delighted with the help from Philip and Deej in accessing websites on the Internet, which had only recently become available to them.
Norman spent his time working in the Archives
and going through Whispering
Pines - the fruit of his labors are in the attached file (to be sent
later). We would be interested if this information raises any thoughts or
corrections - please pass them on.
All of us took a taxi ride (yes, taxis can now get to the school gates on
Tehri road and beyond) to Dhanalti where we drove on snow covered roads and
found spectacular views of the snow covered ranges - I do hope that among
all the cameras clicking, somebody was able to get the shot.
Prices in India are still very cheap and bargaining is in. I got some beautiful soft cashmerie embroidered shawls for $15 and $25! Our rooms at Winky's were 1100 rupees a night (including breakfast), about $28 and meals were 60-70 rupees. The ride from Delhi to Dehra Dun on the express train was $10 and taxi rides from the Picture Palace to Woodstock were 70 rupees. Of course, if one attempts to go on one's own, and through a US travel agency, the cheapest hotel room in Dehli is $185! - clearly still 2 separate worlds.
I'm mailing this to those of you who are not yet linked to our email network - there are now 30 of us who have logged on. If you do have access to email, don't hesitate to contact me at li.chu@alza.com and I'll see that you get connected to our group.
I hope you've received the postcard we sent from Woodstock. And do plan on joining us for the 40th class reunion which we are scheduling along with the WOSA/NA reunion to be held July 2-5,1999 at Rogers William University in Bristol, RI. We are hoping that we will achieve a large gathering. Plan on being there a few days earlier.
Li
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visits back. Or
Class of '59.