WWD, Mela and Homecoming 2023

15 Dec WWD, Mela and Homecoming 2023

The month of October is the traditional month of WOSA, and October 2023 was extraordinary! From Worldwide Woodstock Day alumni meetings all over the world to Homecoming and Mela on campus, the spirit of our community was evident in the excitement and fondness for Woodstock shown by our alumni, former staff, and friends. It was a time of celebration for everyone.

We’re sharing the pictures from Homecoming and Mela and a few of the gatherings that took place in 12 countries below for everyone to enjoy – and to inspire you to start making your plans to gather with fellow Woodstockers on campus and around the world in October 2024.

Homecoming and Mela at Woodstock School

On October 28, Worldwide Woodstock Day, the Alumni and Advancement Office organized the 2024 Homecoming and Mela, a fantastic day of activities on campus. Homecoming and Mela is a traditional time to have fun, celebrate our community, and welcome alumni and friends from across the ages and around the world back to campus (which included the classes of 2003 and 1983 who were celebrating milestone reunions this year). The day was bustling with alumni engaging in football games with current students and staff, singing with staff on the Mela stage, and doing lots of dancing! In addition to the milestone reunion crowd, many other alumni joined the Mela, joyfully celebrating WWD with us on campus. These included alumni writers in residence who were on hand to sign copies of their books, alumni business owners who set up stalls at the event, and more.

Rear: Ayaan John ’17, Jahnvi Garg ’16, Isaac Gergan ’06, Nazneen Nagarwalla (Former Staff), Katie Jo Walter (Director of Development & Alumni Relations), Bob Shoemaker (Archives Consultant), Darab Nagarwalla ’80; Middle: Tanya Garg ’12, Samira Kuhn ’05, Tara Kapur ’05, Amrita John (Current Staff); Kneeling: Vanalika Nagarwalla ’17, Meghna Das ’17, Joshua Hishey ’99

Members of the Hospitality Department were the true stars of the event, with all they did to decorate the campus from the main gate to the Quad and around, organize and set up nearly 50 vendor stalls, and help get vendors and their items in and out of campus. The Advancement and Alumni Office team just had to pose in a pic with these superstars. Throughout the event, the stage saw lively dance and music performances from around India and across the world, including a number of students from Sanatan Dhram Girls Inter College in Landour performing alongside Surveen, grade 10, who choreographed and taught the number to the girls.

The Advancement and Alumni Office team with the Hospitality Department

This truly community-wide event saw participation from not only alumni-owned businesses but also other local businesses and NGOs as well as students of all ages selling snacks, handicrafts, and plants to benefit community engagement. Alumni owned business participating included Got Tea, Atmosphere Kombucha, Purple Studio, Tavern Cafe & Fern Brentwood, Butter & Co, Azhal, Lotte’s Homebaked Goods & Landour Coffee, Project Arunima, Nilam, and Alemata. Twelfth Grade student Krish also organized an auction of art, jewelry, and clothing in support of special classes for didis and bhaiyas at dorms.

The Local Alumni Committee helped with Homecoming Mela planning and execution at every step of the way; they played a critical role by making sure we included wonderful tried and true elements of this event, which is the modern day iteration of the June Sale from years ago. While we are of course in a new day and age, the spirit of events like this remains. Following the Mela, Local Alumni Committee member Kiran Kapoor ’75 commented, “It was a great effort, and everyone seemed to enjoy the Mela! I met quite a few of the visiting alumni, and they all shared a similar feeling that it was great to be back and see Woodstock going back to its traditions. I was very touched by the local schoolgirls’ dance performance led by the Woodstock students and the Eighth Grade boys selling small bites to benefit the Employees’ Benevolent Fund. That’s Woodstock.”

The Local Alumni Committee includes Kiran Kapoor, Judy Crider ’69, Shanti Tsering (Friend), Joshua Hishey ’99, Tsering Malik (Staff), Subhashini Timothy (Former Staff), and Sanjaya and Ajay Mark (Former Staff).

Special thanks go out to everyone at Woodstock School who helped make Mela 2023 a success!

Worldwide Woodstock Day Gatherings

There has been a lot of action around the world in October as well. We were happily overwhelmed with messages and pictures from different parts of the world of our community catching up. Alumni from as far back as the 1940s to the most recent graduates from the Class of 2023 attended these WWD events taking place in 12 countries, a testimony to how WOSA embraces each and every one in our global community.

Click here to check out our full WWD 2023 recap emailer that was just sent to all alumni (please let us know at alumni@woodstock.ac.in if you have not been receiving any emails from us).