Seniors talk about enduring friendships that have spanned decades

Former colleagues at the Sultan Ibrahim Secondary School Pasir Mas, Kelantan, in the early 1960s, George and Thanda have successfully maintained a steady friendship for over 60 years now. Photo: Faihan Ghani/The Star

At 84 and 83, VV George and G. Thanda are as lively and sharp as ever, chatting and joking over breakfast at a local Indian restaurant in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Former colleagues at the Sultan Ibrahim Secondary School Pasir Mas, Kelantan, in the early 1960s, George and Thanda have successfully maintained a steady friendship for over 60 years now.

“I remember walking into school for the first time, and how it was George who first greeted me,” Thanda says, of his first posting as a teacher at age 23, after qualifying from the Malayan Teachers College in Penang. “I didn’t know then that he was the vice-principal whom I had to report to!”