Mamaians meetup

For the nearly 60 alumnae of Karachi’s Mama Parsi Girls High School now residing in various parts of the Greater Toronto Area, the get-together on November 12, 2022 gave them an opportunity to refresh school memories that "may or may not have been beautiful but helped in shaping the lives and making Mamaians who they are,” noted a write-up by Niloufer Jamshedji in What’s On, the monthly newsletter of the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal.
The program included fun activities associated with school days, broadcast of video messages from the current principal Furengeez Tampal, immediate past principal Zarine Mavalvala and two well-loved teachers Shenaz Makujina and Miroo Gamwalla. Among those in attendance were four teachers — Mitra Bhesania, Havovee Maneckji, Anjum Karimi and Asifa Jilani — who cut the cake with ex-students from the 1970s to 2019 batches.

Top: Mama School and motto; above: alumnae meet in Toronto

While it was assumed that everyone remembered the School motto: "Let humility, charity, faith and labor light our path,” a specially designed trivia quiz tested the ex-students’ knowledge of Mama School through seven questions: What year was Mama School established and what year did it become a cosmopolitan school? Which year did the School mark its centenary celebrations? Name the three founders of the School; any four principals of the School; the mottos of the four Houses: Contractor, Dinshaw, Mama, Pochaji; all offices of the student council; three misdemeanors that could get Mamaians minus marks.
The active members of the WhatsApp alumnae group for Mamaians residing in Canada who took it upon themselves to plan the first meetup and even contribute to the out-of-pocket expenses included Sana Tauheed Ali, Saria Alvi, Zenobia Chenoy, Sarah Hussain, Jamshedji, Mahnaz Niaz, Fatema Mandviwala and Dr Sarah Alam who was also the lead sponsor. Encouraged by the attention and publicity earned on numerous social media platforms, the organizers look forward to celebrating 105 years of the School in 2023.