RUMINATIONS OF A COLUMBAN


RUMINATIONS OF A COLUMBAN

DR RAKESH BHARGAVA

CLASS OF 1966

                I joined St Columba’s in 1959 in class 4 on transfer from St Josephs, Allahabad

My class teacher was Mrs. Clark if I remember correctly. We used to have a ‘tables’ test after the lunch break. Mrs. Clark would rattle of twenty dash times dash for tables up to 19. You would get as many canes as the mistakes made. I imagined I would be able to get by with some mental math, but after receiving four to five canes for the first few days I got wiser and mugged up my tables.

                The construction of the swimming pool was started when I was in the 5th, and by the time we reached the 6th grade it was ready for inauguration. Admiral B S Soman, the Naval chief was invited for the same. He began his speech and, in the process, took of his shirt and trousers, and dived into the pool So was the pool inaugurated.

With the 7th grade began our art classes. The art teacher was called Aunt Polly, from Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer. I do not know her real name. None of us did. The pre-lunch break class was so insipid that we would jump out of the window and stroll down to Connaught Place, managing to come back in the lunch break.

                The very notable event in my 8th grade was the sudden passing away of my father. I was thirteen and it was a long time after that my loss finally sank in.

                                We were fortunate in having Mr. Edward Siqueira as a class teacher in the 9th. He had a penchant for the English Language and taught us the grammar of the language with the business end of the cane. The son of the Irish ambassador was our classmate, a rather burly guy. Once as Mr. Siqueira was punishing him with a wallop, he caught hold of the cane. Mr. Siqueira was livid and stormed out, while the whole class chuckled. We waited in anticipation to see what would happen as the Irish Ambassador was involved, and ours was an Irish Christian Brothers school. The boy was called to the Princip’s office. W came to learn that his father, the Ambassador was told that he either apologized and took the punishment or the son would have to leave. Sure enough Mr. Siqueira meted out the punishment as the class watched awestruck.

                Corporal punishment in our school was the norm, the rule rather than the exception. We the students resented it. Mr. Siqueira even invited the students to a debate. We argued without inhibition, throwing in James Hilton’s Goodbye Mr. Chips for good measure.

Mr. Siqueira also taught us English Literature and made sure we had almost the whole of Merchant of Venice by rote, especially the soliloquies.

                We were fortunate in having Br. FitzPatrick as our class teacher in the Pre-Sc and SC class, another great grammarian of the English language. By the end of SC we knew are Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet and Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea almost by heart. He so increased my proficiency that I ended up with a Grade 2 in Eng. Language and Literature and an overall 8 points in my SC. He was a chain smoker, who rolled his own cigarettes. I once asked him ‘Sir why do you make your own cigarettes’. His reply was candid. ‘Son this is the only way I can cut down on my smoking’. Incidentally he lived to the ripe old age of 92. RIP

                Biology used to be an additional subject for those wishing to go in for medicine. Of the 28 students who opted for biology, 25 flunked the subject. When I went to collect my result, Mr. Samuel, the Office Superintendent, told me the Princip wanted to see me, as I was one of the three lucky ones to pass. He asked me what went wrong, and if the Biology teacher was OK. I told him that there was a change in the pattern of examination, and the teacher was not to blame. As I came out of the office, I found the Biology teacher waiting outside. When I told him what had transpired, he gratefully acknowledged that I might have just saved his job.

                One of the high points of the school calendar was the Sports day. It used to be held at the National Stadium of the NSCI. I wasn’t much of an athlete but always participated in the School march Past to the tune of Colonel Bogie march, and the school drill to the tune of Waves of the Danube. Mr. Hukil took great pains to make sure no drill was repeated.

                I might have gone a little overboard in my reminiscences, but I penned all this for the present generation of Columbans, of what they might have missed, or are enjoying now.

               

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 10, 2022 at 4:01 AM

    you brought back very pleasant memories of St Columba's. Enjoyed your book.. did not know of these hidden skills of yours.. let us try to connect call me when you have time am at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

    ReplyDelete

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