My School Days -Part 3
I entered the the portals of St Josesphs Academy and felt the difference immediately .It was a big school and had a rather intimidating Gothic kind of administrative building .It had big playing fields –both in the front and in the rear .And there were two things which caught the eye immediately .One –the boys were bigger and stronger and looked more or less like college students ,and secondly a complete absence of girls .The reason was the fact that St Josesphs was a all boys school and it was a full fledged senior secondary school .On the main academic block was written in Latin, “LABORARE EST ORARE”,which translated into English meant –“To work is to worship”.
It had a very distinctive block which was called a “rail gaari”-a row of classrooms adjoining the field at the rear .Now a swank new auditorium has replaced these classrooms They were so called because they resembled the compartments of a train .I will have to strain my memories to count the number but at a rough estimate there were 6 of them -9 C being the last and 5 A being the first .I don’t mind stand to corrected on the number ,but I would certainly challenge anyone to dispute the fact that 9 C was the last ,and 5A was the first class as one moved from the Principals office towards the second gate (next to Dr Naths house) .I am sure because I started my schooling in St Josesphs in 5A and my good friends Alok Jain and Sudhir Arora were in 9 C and I would hang around with them when I came into 9A .Symbolically ,my train journey started from here .!!I would like to qualify it with the rider ,that I was travelling in the best train and in its first class compartment .!
It was fun –schooling .In 5 A ,I was uncomfortable ,because my class teacher was the very strict Hindi Teacher - Mr Thapa .But otherwise it was fun .During the milk break we either went to the grounds to play with marbles or we played “langdi taang”,a game in which one tried to catch the two legged boys within a small area but with one leg .Hence the term “Langdi taang”.There were superstars in these games as well .C.Harikumar (who was from Kerala),was a wonderful player of Langdi Taang ,whereas Vinod Gosain (who was a brilliant footballer as well ),was terrific with marbles .We always wanted to be in the team in which had these two in it .!!The teams would be selected by choosing two Captains ,who would then toss a coin .The one who called correct would be given the first choice to choose from a list of boys who were interested to play .Hari was always the first choice in Langdi Taang of every Captain .I used to wait with baited breath –and one of the two Captains always called me in as the 4th or 5th choice .It was alright –I was a bit fat ,and my mobility was not good enough to be called in as a first choice in a game which involved hopping on one foot .!!I also played with marbles ,and my eye hand coordination was good .I could strike a marble from a fair distance and it was not uncommon to get back home with marbles jingling in my pockets .I avoided Vinod Gosain –he would have not allowed me to win ,he was the ace .!
There was another game we played during the milk breaks ,and this was hand cricket .Ah ,it was a wonderful invention of some genius .!Instead of cricket bats ,we used our hands ,which we folded into fists ,and then struck a tennis ball which was bowled .It was a great way to detect who had a good eye hand coordination ,because if one could strike a tennis ball with a a fist ,then he would certainly strike it with a bat .And since it was a tennis ball ,the rule was “One bounce ,out”.!!If one hit the ball and if one did not clear the in field ,the chances of survival were few –because even a catch after a bounce was out .!!I was very good at it and got spotted by Bro. Dunney as I played outside his carpentry class on the main field .He told me to start practicing in the nets .I became a cricketer who was to represent St Josesphs School Cricket Team.!!
In St Josesphs those days ,we had teams according to height .So there was a cricket team of 4ft 10 inch and below ,who represented the school ,or a team having children who were 5ft 2 inch and below who would represent the school .And finally ,the main Cricket team comprising of children of all heights –the best Eleven.Every one wanted to play for the school in the open height category .But it was almost impossible for a child who was 4ft 10 inches or below to be playing for the school which had boys as tall as 6ft .(One of them was called “Daddy”,I remember ,because he was so tall!!).Normally a very good cricketer who was around 5’2 would be in the 9th grade .Hence there were few from that category who made it to the school eleven .But one who comes to mind and was a brilliant cricketer and about 5ft tall,and yet played for the school while still in the 9th was Naval Patel .For all of us ,he was a star .But more about Naval (caught up with him on the playing fields of Delhi many years later ,and who I am told resides in Mumbai these days ),and more about my teachers and the famous bun samosa snack from Choc outside the school gate ,as also Saluja and Universal Book Stores and lots more in my next blog .!!Dont miss it as I wind my way through the memories of the legends –G.C .Gupta ,Mr and Mrs D’Souza,Mr Chhetri,Mr Rathke,Bro Foley,Bro Dunne,Mr Kala Mr Bari ,Mr Chaturvedi ,Mr Gaur ,Miss Massey, Mr Rawat ,Bro Dunney ,Bro Donovan ,Shashiji the cricket coach ,and many more .Of course I would need to write a book for all that ,but will try recreate the greatness of exceptional human beings and situations .!
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