Available profiles... more to come
Shaun Cooper
School Captain of our batch (the highest post for students). Shaun was a surprise choice, given that the original choice rested to two people -- Kaisad Baria and Sohail Munshi. A fish out of water most of that time as SC -- he hadn't seen much of school captains, only two, and both during Billi's transition phase -- Cooper made one of the most daring speeches in our farewell, when he concluded with the admission 'I may not have been a Vijay Shah ('96 School Captain) or a Moinuddin Khan ('97 School Captain), but I have been a School Captain in my own way,' after delivering a mature, emotional speech, that was understood by only a handful and is remembered by even less.
I, me, myself
Now metamorphosed into a 6-foot 2-inch 110-kilo chap, I'm working as a sub-editor in the Mumbai edition of the Hindustan Times. And write this nonsense as a hobby
Ruzveah Gandhi
Invariably in every school sports team at the back, and in every standard in the front, Ruzveah Gandhi was, I always thought, that perfect blend of sports and studies. Until I met his brother. A man who took his defensive business seriously from Day 1, a young, third standard baby Ruz charged at the football one day, missed it, and ran straight into a pole. He was promptly christened 'Gainda', a tag he carried until the end. Other nicknames include 'sausages' and 'potatoes', but gainda is Gainda's most prominent brand. Now an aircraft engineer, Ruzveah holds a lifelong grudge against me for a perennial inability to spell his name correctly. Ruzveah? Ruzveh? Ruzeveah? Damn!!
Ramaniben Geetha
Class topper and one quarter of the 'Invincible Lightnings' (trust girls to come up with such attrocious names), Ramaniben is currently in the US of A, doing computer engineering...
P J aka Puja Patel
First of three American women to arrive at Billi's, Puja's way of pronouncing her surname 'Patheayel' made her an instant hit. She still says Patheayel, by the way. Now back in the US, in LA, Puja's out to become Florence Nightingale the second, eyeing a career in NGO / socially responsible causes. Has solid, unshakeable views. Is a Flaming Liberal. Gets my vote for most likely Billimorian to become Democratic Presidential nominee.
Abhijeet Goenka
Though nobody knows whether or not he can cook, a resemblance to our cook, no, no, let me rephraze that. A resemblance to our "chef extraordinaire" lead to a switch of names and Goenka was forever called 'Maharaj'. An earlier tag - Gorilla - failed to stick. Maharaj was extremely well know for his need to have atleast 14 hours of sleep a day. Since a good deal of it came after the official wake up time, Maharaj and our dorm matron both have some pretty intresting incidents to narrate, should they decide to.
Muditbhai Dhoot
Supposedly super-streetsmart, and with a skin structure that mimics the layers of denim fabric, Muditbhai (no relation to Ramaniben) has a burning ambition to become the doyen of cloth sellers in Mumbai. He took the first step in that direction about two months ago, when he opened the dictionary and found out the meaning of 'doyen'. Further news is awaited about the lad.
Shantanu Tonpe
Out to turn dreams into reality, Shantanu is into animation, with special reference to a complex, freakish software called maya. Gaya. Busy throughout, either fiddling on the comp or with himself, Shantanu Tonpe is usually unavailable on his cellphone. Since these computer-related fields are high on technology and require high investment, there's always a bit of a jackpot factor. So Tatya has every chance of winding up on your street corner with a bowl, keep a close watch. But if he makes a million dollars and the cover of TIME magazine, remember, you read it hear first.
Swapnil Kolvekar
Chief engineer and resident car expert throughout his years in Billimoria, SMK was also well known for his ability to get walkmans, cassettes, earphones and batteries - vital things for nocturnal survival - out of thin air. There for two years, 8th and 9th, Swapnil left when our Princi Pakya began to make things a little too and perhaps unnecessarily hot for him. Now looking to graduate, SMK's passion for cars remains. Latest darling: Chevrolet Optra.
Viral Navsariwala
Within our batch, I think, Navsari had the maximum number of official nicknames. Consider his formidable list: Jadhav, Walsankar, Dhotre, kanphat, Elephant / Hathi. These were further mixed and matched with accountancy, calculators, pocket money etc, since that is essentially what Jadhav, Walsankar and Dhotre did - they were the schools accountants. Jadhav has done editing, and works on teleserials. More on him when I find out.
Avani Fernandes
Fastest girl runner in school and part III of the Invincible Lightnings (Puja was another), Avani is now in New Zealand, learning medicine. She intends to do cancer research. Both her parents were teachers in the school, and yup, both taught our batch at some point or the other.
Kunal Gala
Bestowed with the names condom and phuga (which, in Hindi and Marathi means baloon). Famous for not signing a 'I want to go home petition before the Boards' during outr final days at Billi's - he was the only one to refuse, Gala played on every house team for every sport. More into volleyball and hockey.
Soumyadeep Datta
Reffered to as 'Butler', our man could walk real, R-E-A-L fast in walking races. His key claim to fame though, was the ability to sing (or so he said) Backstreet Boys' then hit 'Everybody' exactly the way they sung it. Nothing is known on Soumya, and no one I talked to has heard about him. Completely out of the loop so far.
Jigar Ghodasara
By rights, Jigar was the class joker, the one who made all the funny jokes - always on someone else - and got away with every smart alec thing he did. Old hats distinctly remember his mindblowing statement "My name is Jigar Ghodasara" which included a complete breakdown of the name, as our man dwelt on the sound of each syllable that created his name, thereby going 'Ji-ga-r Gho-da-sa-ra'. On arriving to Pune for college, Jigar did the smartest thing possible, when he enrolled himself as Jigar Patel. He is now in Switzerland for hotel management, and the last tit-bit I got on him says he's become 'ekdum funky style and all...'
Nitesh Agarwal
Nitesh Agarwal was never called Nitesh. Or Nits or Nitehya or Teshu. Nor was he ever called Agarwal. Or Agry, Aga or Agarwaloo or anything. He was titled, thanks to the corrupting influence that Gujarati had on the school's Marathi, manas. The 'n', was heavy, the kind used in manus as in Marathi Manus. Manas was titled manas because, by the seventh standard, he had metamorphosed into exactly that. When I landed in the eighth standard, he sported a full fledged beard, shaved, it would seem on hindsight, about once a month. And the grapevine had it on record that like Anil Kapoor, his hair began making an appearance half-an-hour after putting his razor to bed. Manas was from Nagaland, and told this engrossing three scentence story about secessation violence in the Northeast to anyone who'd care to listen:
One day, Black Cat commandoes came to Nagaland.
The day they came, their leader was shot dead.
Next day, they left Nagaland.
"They've never come back," he would add as a post script.
I've no clue about the truth in the story. And no clue on Manas either.
Rickin Kacharia
Among Viral Navsariwala's two favourite people in BHS to make fun off, Rickin Kacharia was one (I was the other). And you could substitute Jadhav's name by pretty much anyone else who fingered, the statement would still be true. Rickin was initially christned camel. Then crudeness enter the language, and my the time we left, Rickin was called 'jabda'
School Captain of our batch (the highest post for students). Shaun was a surprise choice, given that the original choice rested to two people -- Kaisad Baria and Sohail Munshi. A fish out of water most of that time as SC -- he hadn't seen much of school captains, only two, and both during Billi's transition phase -- Cooper made one of the most daring speeches in our farewell, when he concluded with the admission 'I may not have been a Vijay Shah ('96 School Captain) or a Moinuddin Khan ('97 School Captain), but I have been a School Captain in my own way,' after delivering a mature, emotional speech, that was understood by only a handful and is remembered by even less.
I, me, myself
Now metamorphosed into a 6-foot 2-inch 110-kilo chap, I'm working as a sub-editor in the Mumbai edition of the Hindustan Times. And write this nonsense as a hobby
Ruzveah Gandhi
Invariably in every school sports team at the back, and in every standard in the front, Ruzveah Gandhi was, I always thought, that perfect blend of sports and studies. Until I met his brother. A man who took his defensive business seriously from Day 1, a young, third standard baby Ruz charged at the football one day, missed it, and ran straight into a pole. He was promptly christened 'Gainda', a tag he carried until the end. Other nicknames include 'sausages' and 'potatoes', but gainda is Gainda's most prominent brand. Now an aircraft engineer, Ruzveah holds a lifelong grudge against me for a perennial inability to spell his name correctly. Ruzveah? Ruzveh? Ruzeveah? Damn!!
Ramaniben Geetha
Class topper and one quarter of the 'Invincible Lightnings' (trust girls to come up with such attrocious names), Ramaniben is currently in the US of A, doing computer engineering...
P J aka Puja Patel
First of three American women to arrive at Billi's, Puja's way of pronouncing her surname 'Patheayel' made her an instant hit. She still says Patheayel, by the way. Now back in the US, in LA, Puja's out to become Florence Nightingale the second, eyeing a career in NGO / socially responsible causes. Has solid, unshakeable views. Is a Flaming Liberal. Gets my vote for most likely Billimorian to become Democratic Presidential nominee.
Abhijeet Goenka
Though nobody knows whether or not he can cook, a resemblance to our cook, no, no, let me rephraze that. A resemblance to our "chef extraordinaire" lead to a switch of names and Goenka was forever called 'Maharaj'. An earlier tag - Gorilla - failed to stick. Maharaj was extremely well know for his need to have atleast 14 hours of sleep a day. Since a good deal of it came after the official wake up time, Maharaj and our dorm matron both have some pretty intresting incidents to narrate, should they decide to.
Muditbhai Dhoot
Supposedly super-streetsmart, and with a skin structure that mimics the layers of denim fabric, Muditbhai (no relation to Ramaniben) has a burning ambition to become the doyen of cloth sellers in Mumbai. He took the first step in that direction about two months ago, when he opened the dictionary and found out the meaning of 'doyen'. Further news is awaited about the lad.
Shantanu Tonpe
Out to turn dreams into reality, Shantanu is into animation, with special reference to a complex, freakish software called maya. Gaya. Busy throughout, either fiddling on the comp or with himself, Shantanu Tonpe is usually unavailable on his cellphone. Since these computer-related fields are high on technology and require high investment, there's always a bit of a jackpot factor. So Tatya has every chance of winding up on your street corner with a bowl, keep a close watch. But if he makes a million dollars and the cover of TIME magazine, remember, you read it hear first.
Swapnil Kolvekar
Chief engineer and resident car expert throughout his years in Billimoria, SMK was also well known for his ability to get walkmans, cassettes, earphones and batteries - vital things for nocturnal survival - out of thin air. There for two years, 8th and 9th, Swapnil left when our Princi Pakya began to make things a little too and perhaps unnecessarily hot for him. Now looking to graduate, SMK's passion for cars remains. Latest darling: Chevrolet Optra.
Viral Navsariwala
Within our batch, I think, Navsari had the maximum number of official nicknames. Consider his formidable list: Jadhav, Walsankar, Dhotre, kanphat, Elephant / Hathi. These were further mixed and matched with accountancy, calculators, pocket money etc, since that is essentially what Jadhav, Walsankar and Dhotre did - they were the schools accountants. Jadhav has done editing, and works on teleserials. More on him when I find out.
Avani Fernandes
Fastest girl runner in school and part III of the Invincible Lightnings (Puja was another), Avani is now in New Zealand, learning medicine. She intends to do cancer research. Both her parents were teachers in the school, and yup, both taught our batch at some point or the other.
Kunal Gala
Bestowed with the names condom and phuga (which, in Hindi and Marathi means baloon). Famous for not signing a 'I want to go home petition before the Boards' during outr final days at Billi's - he was the only one to refuse, Gala played on every house team for every sport. More into volleyball and hockey.
Soumyadeep Datta
Reffered to as 'Butler', our man could walk real, R-E-A-L fast in walking races. His key claim to fame though, was the ability to sing (or so he said) Backstreet Boys' then hit 'Everybody' exactly the way they sung it. Nothing is known on Soumya, and no one I talked to has heard about him. Completely out of the loop so far.
Jigar Ghodasara
By rights, Jigar was the class joker, the one who made all the funny jokes - always on someone else - and got away with every smart alec thing he did. Old hats distinctly remember his mindblowing statement "My name is Jigar Ghodasara" which included a complete breakdown of the name, as our man dwelt on the sound of each syllable that created his name, thereby going 'Ji-ga-r Gho-da-sa-ra'. On arriving to Pune for college, Jigar did the smartest thing possible, when he enrolled himself as Jigar Patel. He is now in Switzerland for hotel management, and the last tit-bit I got on him says he's become 'ekdum funky style and all...'
Nitesh Agarwal
Nitesh Agarwal was never called Nitesh. Or Nits or Nitehya or Teshu. Nor was he ever called Agarwal. Or Agry, Aga or Agarwaloo or anything. He was titled, thanks to the corrupting influence that Gujarati had on the school's Marathi, manas. The 'n', was heavy, the kind used in manus as in Marathi Manus. Manas was titled manas because, by the seventh standard, he had metamorphosed into exactly that. When I landed in the eighth standard, he sported a full fledged beard, shaved, it would seem on hindsight, about once a month. And the grapevine had it on record that like Anil Kapoor, his hair began making an appearance half-an-hour after putting his razor to bed. Manas was from Nagaland, and told this engrossing three scentence story about secessation violence in the Northeast to anyone who'd care to listen:
One day, Black Cat commandoes came to Nagaland.
The day they came, their leader was shot dead.
Next day, they left Nagaland.
"They've never come back," he would add as a post script.
I've no clue about the truth in the story. And no clue on Manas either.
Rickin Kacharia
Among Viral Navsariwala's two favourite people in BHS to make fun off, Rickin Kacharia was one (I was the other). And you could substitute Jadhav's name by pretty much anyone else who fingered, the statement would still be true. Rickin was initially christned camel. Then crudeness enter the language, and my the time we left, Rickin was called 'jabda'
posted by He be him at 10:07 PM
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