Lessons learnt for lifetime from school

THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL TAUGHT US ENGLISH, MATHEMATICS, MARATHI, HINDI. THEY ALSO IMPARTED US VALUABLE LESSONS IN DISCIPLINE, HARD WORK AND INTEGRITY. OTHER TEACHERS KINDLED OUR INTERESTS IN CRAFT, DRAWING.

and integrity. Other teachers kindled our interests in craft, drawing, geography, history, etc.

We are united by the delectable memories of the days we spent in the school, like the library with over 20,000 books.

Then, of course, there was a large seven-acre playground where we practised football, cricket and hockey. Many lessons were learnt on the sports field. I remember Gabriel Fernandez counselling the classmates: “Never get frightened in football. You have to be aggressive and charge. Do not worry about falling or getting injured.” Truly, lessons for a lifetime.

At the annual sports day, the best athletes of the school would take part in a scintillating parade.

For the celebrations on Independence Day and Republic Day, we stood in neat rows, performing assorted drills, singing the national anthem with pride, then watching the awesome march pasts of the Road Safety Patrol, scouts and cubs, all dressed in their neat starched uniforms. Finally, we savoured the slices of plum cakes and hot coffee that were served in the canteen.

The 12 years of togetherness sped away punctuated with memories of rigorous studies and pranks. Another 50 years have rolled away with all of chasing careers, falling in and out of love till we got married and then looking after our children.

We have had our own shares of joys, sorrows, successes, failures, rejoicings and losses. Life, too, is a hard teacher. And we took our hard knocks outside the protective walls of our school and learnt to survive and sometimes succeed.

After all these 50 years, we stand united by our inspiring teachers and the values of the school, summarised as ‘Never give up, fight with integrity and live with dignity’. Always.