The nectar from a blade of grass on the khud below the top flat - the rubber ball slammed for a four from the chalk-marked wicket beside the library - the f ive o'clock drainpipe scaling for a bhutta- raid - soaked to the skin, the warmth of a cuppa at St. Mary's on the way back from Goethals...

Scattered moments, crystallised into ever-lasting gems of memory. Riches from both Victoria and Dow Hill that are our most precious possessions even today.

Most of us have not really outgrown school. Those who have are unfortunate, because they are bereft of that magical wealth, that elixir of life that rejuvenates us all. The Alma Mater continues to give us substance to this day.

But, after taking so much, what have we given back to the institutions that have nurtured us ? This question was uppermost when a few of us diehards decided to revive the Victoria and Dow Hill Association.

Nostalgia may have been uppermost on our minds when we got together. After all, childhood memories always remain the strongest. And the most cherished. But we cannot, in fact, must not stop there.

Successive generations of our Kurseongites have come away with thoughts and ideas of betterment in school conditions. All of us in VADHA would like to hear these ideas from ex-students.

We have already decided to perpetuate the memory of C. A. Bloud in Victoria School. Another plan is to create a fund to get at least one child from each school through the senior years of study. In other words, a scholarship for the really needy.

But we do need more such constructive ideas. And they can only come through boarders and day-scholars who have been through it all.

Today's event is, hopefully, the first of an on-going series of get-togethers. More than a social evening of togetherness, we hope these annual dinners will lead to a further strengthening of bonds.

It is these bonds that will help us raise funds for future programmes. And help the schools get back the glory that was yesterday.

And in this vein, a last thought. The present buildings of Victoria and Dow Hill - in their original forms - were first occupied by students of the two schools in 1897.

Does it raise an idea?.

Yes we think of a whole new Centenary celebration two years hence. A celebration that could include development programmes for the schools.

And yes. It could be just the occasion to invite the Victoria and Dow Hill Associations now going strong in England, Australia and Nepal.

Yes, the vista is expanding. Almost as wide as the Himalayas we growing with, in schools.