Page 9 - DAISPORA ALUMNI MEET 2024 - ISSUE 01

SUPRIYA SHAH KHANNA - CLASS OF 2008
6th March 2003. The first day of school. I was one of the few students
from town, trekking to BKC, years before the Sealink even existed. Nepean
Sea Road to Haji Ali was a stretch in itself. Then passing the bustling Dadar
flower market at the morning hour was another. Finally, we would
somehow make it through the inroads to BKC. There were no flyovers
then, or even restaurants. At best, we had an after-school snack at Subway
at the petrol pump and if you were lucky, a date at Baskin Robbins. But let
me tell you: those were the days.
Doesn’t that sound like something a parent would say? Funnily enough,
now that I am one and am keen my daughter goes to the same school,
I feel some sort of school pride while writing this article. Whether it was the
‘Dhirus’ we used in the canteen to drink a somehow-unlimited supply of
Nimboo Pani, or football matches that were so important that we’d come
to train even at 5 am, these school memories are somehow etched in our
memories as the best days of our lives.

As I looked around the classroom on my first day, I was nervous. Our class
teacher planned a fun activity — to draw your desk buddy and write
information about him or her around the drawing. As I removed my five
multi-coloured Uniball pens to do this, I remember telling myself at that
moment, ‘I think I’d like this school after all’.

My journey to being in the Arts began at DAIS. Art is not just what you see,
but what you feel. Learning about Claude Monet or Georgia O'Keeffe was
so inspiring that I decided to pursue a degree in Fine Arts at Parsons. Today,
apart from being a freelance graphic designer, I am also the co-founder of Raay Education, a platform that helps students apply
to internships around the globe: Because that’s one thing school instilled in me, to have passions outside of academics (perhaps
too much TOK and CAS fueled that too!). Even though the IGCSE and IB were particularly new in our time, this is the place
SHAIL BAJPAI - CLASS OF 2008 that taught me that learning can be fun too. I graduated being a more confident and independent version of myself.
Watching “Wonka,” the new and truly excellent Given this foundation at DAIS, I went on to graduate But the thing that most shaped me was the people I met: the peers, the teachers and the amazing staff. Friends who became
Timothee Chalamet movie, I found myself transported with honors in Mathematics at Vassar College, and family, teachers who were so much more than just a recommendation on your college app, and staff such as the gate guard,
not just to a fantastical world of top hats and flying subsequently was an engineering fellow at Dartmouth whose face will always have a special place in your heart. This is the place that shaped me and for that experience, I will
chocolates – I was also transported back in time to the College. Today, I am the head of engineering at an forever be grateful.
all too familiar feeling of being anxious to read. innovative sports technology company that powers the
performance of elite athletes at teams like Manchester
Spoiler Alert: One of the movie’s central plot lines involves United and The Golden State Warriors.
Willy Wonka having trouble reading and blindly signing a
contract, which in reality turns out to be a trap. Dyslexia is common, it affects about 1 in 5 people. USHMA GHATLIA MARWAH - CLASS OF 2008
You may not know it but there are dyslexic thinkers all
I found myself in a similar situation back in 2003 when I around you and many of them are exceptional. However, TWENTY YEARS LATER
first walked into the 8A classroom at DAIS. I excelled at success does not come in isolation, it requires family,
geometry puzzles in the Math Lab, was engaged in class friends, schools and mentors to create a conducive Twenty years is a long time – for recent DAIS alumni, more than an entire
asking famously bewildering questions like “What is environment, one that focuses on people's “Sea of lifetime.In most ways, my life in 2023 is completely different than in 2003.
fire?”, but lagged behind in my written assignments Strengths”, rather than their “Island of Weakness”. However, a striking similarity remains – the people I spend my time with.
and exams. Most other schools would have let me fall DAIS was able to provide this to me and numerous Many of the deepest and most meaningful relationships of my life – with my
through the cracks, but luckily for me I was at DAIS. other students. husband Pranav and with some of my closest friends – originate on that

Our first principal, Mrs. Ranee Noronha, and school This January, I am participating in Ummeed Foundation’s fateful day in April 2003 when we all entered DAIS as new students. Our
friendships began through shared classes, inside jokes, panicky study
counselor, Mrs. Girija Desai, both saw my challenges 55 km walk, to help them raise funds to support sessions and Subway pitstops. Twenty years later, we have supported each
clearly and recommended I get diagnosed as dyslexic. children with developmental disabilities, however I know other through college graduations, first jobs, first heartbreaks, marriages
My class teachers, Mrs. Sen, Mrs. Chakrabarti and Mrs. that my first steps towards making a difference started and children.
Das were patient with my shortcomings and created an 20 years ago when I first walked into the DAIS
environment where I was able to thrive. Most auditorium for new student orientation. Our time at DAIS has given us the foundation on which to build happy,
importantly my classmates had my back, unlike most productive and constructive careers. In our hearts it will always remain the
other dyslexics, I was never teased but encouraged to place where we were taught to ask “why”, reminded that there is
express myself. absolutely no limit to what one can achieve through sustained effort, and
inculcated with a self- belief that has become part of our DNA. Twenty years
later, we still retain this resilience and sense of purpose.
Twenty years later, coming back to DAIS still feels like coming back home.

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