Walking down memory lane
……a journey of over four decades
Walking down memory lane, is probably a misappropriate term!
I really don’t have to go back and try to remember anything!!
Its all there, as fresh as today, as if it happened yesterday!!!
Even though I left St Francis’’ in 1975!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!( sounds pre historic!)
I joined SFC, then SFS, in 1968, in class three, after doing KG from Christian College and Prep and Class 1 and 2 from St Ann’s School (Many of you would not have heard of this school-it was the boys section of Loreto Convent in the present building of Avadh Degree college and we were the last batch of students ,before the school closed down)
After leaving St Ann’s, most of us had only two alternatives Lamarts or SFC. Lamarts was more popular amongst the upper class of Lucknow as it was more British and had almost a complete Anglo Indian staff and above all had the reputation of supposedly brining out smart cool dudes with a greater stress on extra curricular activities and sports
SFS was the second best, in those days but still had a great crowd at its gates for admission, for three reasons. It was a little more affordable than Lamarts, the academics were reputed to be better and it had an aura of an Indian English school which was a bit more friendly to the non Hindi speaking parents!
The reason why my dad choose SFS for me was different from these three. My brother had joined Lamarts a year back, and my parents were not happy with the academics. So I landed in SFC more by default than as a choice, and could never thank my dad for that more!!!!!!!!!
My stay of over seven years at the college, has been the best phase of my life, the memories of which are my most precious possessions. Besides developing a taste for specific subjects ,interest in studies, it helped me to build my personality and bring out the best in me. My passion for stage emerged there, for acting, elocution and debating. And above all it brought me close to a great lot of wonderful teachers and some friends, a bunch of soulmates who have been the most precious achievement of my life, and are buddies for keeps!!!
I left SFC in March 1975, when I was in class 10th We were the first batch of ICSE ,and since I had to pursue a medical career ,I wasn’t sure if ICSE would help me for CPMT. So I quitted SFS and joined Mahanagar Boys High School, even at the cost of loosing 6 months, amounting to an year subsequently
The stay at SFS was a little more than seven years and its been over three and a half decades since I left it, but the memories of those days occupy a very special and coveted place in my heart in terms of space, closeness, quantity and quality
The memories come alive when ever I interact with any buddy from SFC, and luckily have been in touch with many
Its unbelievably strange, but I remember everything of SFS, in my mind as crystal clear, specially the classes where I spent most of the day during those seven odd years
I not only remember the classes, or my seats, but even the seats of some of my other class mates!
Class III B was on the ground floor of the old primary building, to the right as you enter, after the Staff accommodation block (it was demolished and the new double storied primary section came up in 1970 at the same site)
Class IV was on the rear new block, ground floor, second from the toilets, facing the rear field
Class V and VI were in the rear block too, but on the first floor of the extension block to the rear wing
Class VII and VIII were on the first floor and IX and X on the ground floor of the main block .
The staff quarters as we entered from the main gate, and the administrative block and principle office behind the primary section. The Canteen and Staff room were in continuation and behind this building with the chapel on the first floor
The Gym and the PT Instructors office were to the right of the main block with the Head Masters Office (The Forbidden Danger Zone-Tigers Den) in it under the steps going to the first floor of the main block. The Hall (Auditorium) was to the right of the main block with the Science Labs behind it
The Dormitories for the hostelers were on the first floor of the rear block and the cook house and dining hall for them, on the ground floor ,of the same building, at the far end, towards Cathedral School
There was a so called swimming pool too and a basket ball court
Have I missed out anything and has anything changed/ any additions?? or demolitions ???
SFS at our times, had the best timings – 0725-1325 during summers and 0755-1355 during winters It was the only college that closed by 2 pm even during winters, giving us a welcome opportunity to play, study or even snooze during afternoons, round the year. At least I developed a bad habit of afternoon nap then, for which I curse the school now, as I do feel sleepy in the afternoons even today.
The complete college used to assemble in the front ground for the morning prayers, which was followed by the pledge and a short sermon by the principal or the head master.
And lastly the national anthem sung by the school choir, under the leadership of Mr. D’Souza, on his accordion. My classmates and family may smirk, but I am proud of the fact that I was a part of it( am convinced ,against what others think, that I must have been a good singer to have been chosen for it!!!!!!!!)
We had a funny punishment for the late comers – The Detention Class!
At the stroke of 0725 / 0755 h the main gates would be locked, and the name of every latecomer would then be entered in a register (separate one for each class), and all the latecomers were required to stay back for 30 minutes ,after the end of the day, in a class-The Detention Class!!!!!!!!!! and at times, specially if we happened to be detained with our bum chums, it was more fun than a punishment. Three detentions in a month, and a stinker was sent home.
Every Thursday we had a movie, nice Hindi/English film for kids, in the gym at the payment of 50 paisa and once again those who did not go for the movie had to waste time sitting in some class, for three hours. I often spent the money for the movie on eatables, and got the class teacher to pay for my tickets! I Owe maximum movies to Ms. A Lewis, my teacher of Class IV. Saw some very good movies there like hum panchhi ek daal ke and Dr Do Little! Mayfair , the famous hall for English movies was often booked for morning shows when the complete school would go for a movie. Remember seeing Myfair lady and Mary Poppins there with the complete class
The day would end with a short prayer said in the class rooms, the most fancy ones being of Late Mr. Henderson, our English teacher
The lunch time( though well before the actual lunch time. 1030/1100) was something we always looked forward too. It was more of a Mid Day Meal, and like the Pavlov’s Dog reflex, I feel hungry between 1030-1100h daily even today, and really welcome the samosa & jalebi in the Operation theater!
In fact we actually never waited for the break, the party started early often, even before the school started, courtesy Mahesh .Mahesh had his Redi( fruit stall ) outside the second gate, and he was there since morning. Besides fruits, he had churan, toffees and bubble gum!
Most of us completed our albums of Flags and Animals, from the bubble gum bought from him (Flamingo on number 69 of the animal picture album was the rarest) Exchanging these would be a great past-time and some rare ones would fetch upto five in exchange!
Banana – split is a favorite ice cream today, but in those good old days ,we had to do with only the banana, pealed and split with dressed with masala Chuski (modern day slush) was all time favorite, 5 and 10 paisa and 25 paisa for the same in kullhad, with all the colored syrup ,malai and faluda
There were two ice cream men too, Rita, and Kwality. Candy for paisa 5, milk bar for 10, orange bar for 25 and choc bar or small cup for 50 paisa. Kwality introduced a ball ice-cream in a plastic ball for one rupee. Was a luxury, reserved for birthday treats only. And the choco-balls ,three balls of vanilla coated with chocolate in a box were really yummy and considered class !!!!!!!!
But the king was Habib! No break would be complete ever without visiting him, Samosa and kebab for 10 and 15 paisa, and the all time favorite bun-kebab for 25 paisa. The goodies were ended with a pastry which too costed just 25 paisa. Soft Drinks( Coke and Fanta) at 50 paisa a bottle were for special occasions! But what our group would never forget is, Pankaj Garg insisting on breaking the pastry by his big fat fingers and invariably reducing it to pulp!
Most of us carried our tiffins too! Which were shared by all! Arvind Misra lived in the house just adjacent to the rear field, and he was delivered a tiffin from across the boundary wall, with hot chapattis and dal. My threptine biscuits were specially enjoyed by Jessi and Khan. Can never forget the yummy taste of pumpkin and lauki jam made at home by Jessi’s mom and the dahi-allo sabji and soft parathas from the kitchen of Pankajs mother( May God Rest their soul in peace-both the ladies have left for their heavenly abodes long back)
We would get just 25-50 paisa per day, but still had a real gala picnic each day, Wonder if the kids today have the same fun with all the burgers and pizzas at their disposal.
Besides studies we had several extra curricular activities. Besides the small plays and entertainment pogrammes for special occasions, the regular annual events were, sports day, Dramatic show, Boxing Competition, elocution and debate. I usually participated in all, every year except the boxing. All of time, efforts and money was spent on these .In sports was usually in the mass drill, and remember doing Baloon Drill, Stick Drill and pyramids during the sports day. In spite of the hours we spent that day on the field ,a samosa, was enough to make us forget all the tiredness. Being in St Francis House, we never came beyond the third position, with St PATRICK’S coming first usually. Progressed from nursery rhymes, to extracts from best sellers for elocution. Remember reciting ,I am a little tea pot ,the light brigade & the preface of Stone for Danny fisher .participated in various debates ,last being in 74, under the guidance of Mrs. Vancho, our English teacher on the topic, Is the present day behavior of college students acceptable! I had spoken against the motion and besides winning the debate, I won the best speaker award. Participated in the dramatics too, every year, and remember doing the songs of Mary Poppins and plays like, Chandrika ,Ek Coat, Man in the Bowlers hat & Dear Departed.
The annual Fete was a very important event too. We prepared for it for over a month. The stalls were set in the verandah of the gym, main building and the Hall. During various years has been part of various stalls, lucky dip, rat race, fudge –shop, tea shop, Chinese and fruit chat and the Pub. The teachers use to put in a lot of work, in making the fudge and toffee and we would sit and wrap them in paper of various colours and then make cute paper baskets of all sizes to sell them. The Pub was introduced in 74 by Pankaj, with a very handsome entry fee of one rupee. Disco lights and English music in a dimly light classroom with disco lights and boys dancing in the bell-bottoms and flowered shirts. Was in charge of the treasure hunt, raffle and weighing the cake, continuously for several years.
Another very memorable time, after every exam, was the day when the papers were shown. We were more interested in the marks of our contenders, than our own marks and would make a table (hand made, as no excel sheets were available then) and keep track of the positions of the top five contenders for the top five positions. Anil Pandey, Amit Chatterji, Anil Pant and Shridhar Iyer were my main competitors.
We were lucky to have wonderful teachers. Father Cyril was the principal when I joined and remained in chair for several years, to be replaced on his retirement by father Lobo, a very young, handsome and dynamic, modern principal. Mr Brasil Joshep was the Head master, during my complete stay at SFS, and was a terror and a hard core disciplinarian .The memory of his cane, can bring shivers up the spine of any student of those days even today. I too tasted the wrath of that ruthless cane, once.
The class teachers from class III to X, in order were, Ms D Philips, Ms J Lewis, Mrs D’Souza, Ms M Lobo, Mr Roots, Mr Johri, Mr M Lewis and Mr P Lewis. For hindi, we had Mrs Misra (mother of Sandeep & Bunty Misra) and for the higher classes Mr Agarwal & Mr Srivastava, whom we very fondly called Tabla. Mrs Clive taught hindi too the junior classes, but luckily she never taught us, as she was not only very strict, but use to give real painful physical punishments, like, hitting on the knuckles with the duster.
Ms Pepper joined when we were in class V, and she was the hot shot teacher of the school, akin to Sushmita Sen of Mein Hoon na! For the higher classes we had subject teachers Mr Robins & Mr P Lewis for Physics, Mr Johri for Botany, Mr M Lewis for Zoology, Mr Henderson for English and Mr Saxena for Chemistry. Mrs Vanchoo joined later as the English teacher for the higher classes along with another lady teacher for History. Mr Patrick was our PT instructor.
I owe a lot to all of them, for not only grooming us, but for giving us strong foundations, which have been useful to date. The basics of manners and English grammar taught by Ms Philips & Ms Lewis have been useful throughout my career. A very simple formula, taught by Ms Mary Lobo, in class V, to solve simple mathematical problems has always been useful, and I have not only passed it to the next generation but find it useful even today.
And lastly, would like to mention, the most important contribution of SFC, in my lives, the friends I made during my tenure there. Though I am in touch, even with my friends from pre nursery days, friends from SFC are those who are really close to my heart. Our trio was formed in class III, with Kamal Khan and Pankaj Garg and Anil Shipley and Pawas Gupta joined later in class IV & V respectively. Few of the other close friends were Arvind Misra, Jessy, Rajat Sagar, Anurag Dikshit, Anil Pant, Anil Pandey, Anil Wig, Sanjay Verma. Others in the class, whom I fondly remember are Rajesh and Ajay Bharadwaj, Amit Chatterji, Shridhar Iyer, Rajesh Ramchandani, Anil Misra, Sandeep and Jaideep Agarwal and Imran. Luckily have managed to stay in touch with most of them and many more
Days spent at SFS were the best days of my life, which brought out the best in me,gave me my best friends, best teachers and above all life long memories. St Francis and its memories shall ever be close to my heart and any and everything associated with it, will attract me with all the love and passion.
God bless SFC and all Franciscans !
Col (Dr) Sanjay Kapoor, VSM
(Class X – 1976)
Senior Adviser, Professor & Head
Surgery & Surgical Onology Department,
Command Hospital, Lucknow.
Email. : Skapoors@gmail.com