Trapdoor

Those of you who read Comments (many, unfortunately, do not) would have seen this one by 49er Yezad Kapadia.

Jacob,

Just to fill in on some of the queries raised.

In 1949 the Prefects' room was below the belfry which could be accessed through a vertical ladder from the Prefects' room. Once we had locked up Kali Cawasji in the belfry!!

I agree with you about what the Lesson Reading taught us.

The badge on the blazer of the Head Boy had a golden braiding whereas the one on the Prefects' badge had a silver one.

We never had a Head Boy's room in our time.

Yesh

It appears the Stationary Room of our time was the Prefects' Room and the belfry could be accessed from there. My word Yesh, you 49ers were naughty! :-)

This input was from 56er Ubi:

Subject: "School Quiz!!"

Hi,

I shall try and clear some of your cobwebs, hopefully!

1. The Prefects' ties were handed over to the recipients by the Head Boy on the stage at school assembly.

2. The Head Boy had a gold braid around the school badge on the blazer, the Prefects had silver braids.

3. The announcement of the appontment of the new Head Boy, at least in my case, was on the last day of school. The Vice-Head Boy appointment was also announced on that day. I am told that there is no Vice-Head Boy any more.

4. Both the Head Boy and Prefects had the same purple badge for their blazers, which was also given out as school colours for games.

5. House Captains, to the best of my memory, were elected at House meetings and the formal announcement was made at time the Prefects' names were announced at assembly.

I hope I got this right!

Regards,

Ubi

So we are clear on the gold and silver braids around the prefects' badge which I now assume must have been different from the school badge.

Ubi added in another email:

Subject: "How could we forget Biology"

Hi,

As a PS, you are right to the extent that boys did not have biology as a subject.

But the girls did and they did not have a lab. So, all their practicals/experiments were conducted in our Chemistry Lab!

It was also another opportunity for the girls and boys to meet!

Ubi

So was Rachod the hamal for both the Chemistry lab on the ground floor and the Physics lab on the 1st floor?

I am sure Willie and Gregory can clear this up when they read this!!

Zahid had this to add:

Ravi - you are absolutely correct.

We bought our ties and belts from near the Principal's Office. There was a steel cupboard in the corridor facing the quad, next to the old IIIB classroom, which stocked these items. The house shirts however, if I remember right, were sold in the stationary office on the 2nd floor.

I am absolutely certain there was a Mr D'Souza in charge. I faintly recollect him as a medium built, bespectacled, elderly man wearing a light coloured suit. There used to be a large register with various stationery item listed in which he would enter our names, and have us initial the last column after supplying the requested items.

I remember our note books as A book which had lined pages, C book which had alternate lined and blank pages, D book which had checked pages for maths and the F book which was for graphs. Then we had "Globe" compass boxes and wooden 12 inch rulers.

Mr J.P D'Souza was the Barham House Master and the name Ranchod definitely rings a bell !

Zahid

Zahid, I almost think you were a Stephanian with the last pun which would have been dignified with a loud (highly complimetary) shout of PJ (Poor/Pun Joke)!!

The story of Mr. D'Souza's House affiliations have taken a twist. Ubi firmly believes he was the Palmer House Master. Zahid says it was Bahram.

But this input really took the cake!

Dear Jacob,

Although Mr J.P. D'Souza was Barham House Master during my years in school, I have this niggling suspicion at the back of my mind that in 1961, when I was in std III, he was the Savage Junior House Master and he left Savage in 1962 to take over Barham from Mr Oliver who became Vice Principal after Mr Pharoah left.

Mr. C. Smith then became Junior House Master for Savage while Mr Timmins continued as the Senior House Master.

As you have a copy of the 1961 Borderer, could you please check the Savage House notes for the year which should have the name of the Junior House Master.

I would be extremely grateful if you could clarify this for me and set my mind at rest ... either way !

Kind regards,

Zahid Parkar
Savage69

I do wish I had a copy of the Borderer!

But I can confirm from my memory that what you wrote was correct. In 1959, when I was Savage House Captain, Mr. J. P. D'Souza, our History Teacher, the teacher in charge of the School Library, which was above the gym, and also the teacher who ran the debates, was Savage Junior House Master, with Mr. D. A. Timmins as the Savage Senior House Master.

I clearly recall being congratulated by both when I was elected (unanimously) at a joint meeting of the Senior and Junior Savage-ites at near the end of term in 1958!
'
However, I do not recall the procedure as whether my name was suggested by the House Master or one of the students. It was probably Peter Philip, who was the 58 House Captain that proposed my name, and I think it was late 59ers Ghatge and Arvind Thadhani that seconded it. I was intending to propose Peter Miovic who was a great gymnast, a outstanding swimmer and also, despite his English not being as good as us, he was also great in studies, especially Maths. But I had no seconders.

I was overwhelmed by that occasion as I did not think in my wildest dreams that I would be so honoured. I was a very very ordinary student, usually occupyng places between 15 and 20 during each years' class assessment of academic skills!

(Please click on the picture to see an enlarged version)

CBS 1961 Boys'School Staff, submiitted by John Billington
(Enhanced image - let me know if this is OK.)

And finally, thanks to Mr. John Billington, who was my Class Master in 1959 and also my 1959 English teacher (prior to this it was the late Rider Salmon), I have the above photographs of the 1961 Boys'School Staff. (If the text is not clear, please inform me and I wil try to put up an enhanced version as the one John sent me is perfect on my computer.) Thank you John.

Some people I respect

Ubi was quick to fill me in about some people I respected when I was young and in school. As soon as the names appeared on the screen, wonderful thoughts on my conversations with them came flooding back. Although I got zero in Marathi and struggled with Hindi, right until I had to pass a Hindi exam to get my Bachelor's degree from Delhi University, with them I could converse for hours in both these languages!

Hi,

The tall hamal was Bhagwan. He, in fact, was still in school when my son Samir was Head Boy. It was quite embarrassing to be called "baba" by Bhagwan in my son's presence! He retired and no one knows where he is.

The short one was Ranchod, who rang the school bell. He died, I am told, soon after he retired. His son also worked in school.


Path to the Old Prefects' Room
Photo by 59er Hasnain Chinwalla.

When I was a prefect, the Prefects' Room was the last room (north) on the verandah near the cricket nets. I am told that later it was shifted to where the tuck shop was.

I believe there is no Prefects' Room now. There is also no Head Boy's room anymore.

In fact, I was discussing the same issue with the present Principal, Mrs. Meera Isaacs, when I met her in connection with our 50th Anniversary Reunion last October/November.

It truly was a great privilege to have had a Head Boy's room, even though it had a connecting door with the Principal's Study! One never knew when he would walk through the door (it was always unlocked) and what state of undress one would be in! I recall having discussed serious school issues with the Principal, with just shorts on with bare feet and bare torso!!

Incidentally, I am told that up to the point there were borders in school (first term 48?) the prefects' room in the boys' school was in the belfry! I have been up there. It must have been fun. I am told that prefects those days were allowed to smoke in the prefects' room (that is unsubstantiated information though!)

Ubi.

Stairway to Heaven
Photograph by 59er Hasnain Chinwalla.

What a wealth of information.

Can you tell us where the stairs are to the belfry? Was it up the main Stairway to Heaven?

As Ubi says, in our time the Prefects' Room was behind the stage. Of the two rooms, the back room was always in a mess. I do not know whether anyone ever cleaned it as it always had a musty smell.

Life was so hectic that I hardly spent much time in the Prefects' Room. I remember using it as the Green Room when acting in the school plays. Also, before Assembly, if one had to read the Lesson, I always went to the Prefects' Room to calm my nerves! (Believe it or not, even I suffered from nerves!)

I also remember using the small mirror on the wall to make sure my tie was straight and my hair, usually disheveled, was tidied up! Otherwise, Pop Pharoah would surely make a comment and there would be a smart rejoinder from Glynn-Howell! Gunnery never said a word except after the reading where he would comment on whether it had been read well or not. Rider Salmon would correct some of my diction after the reading. I appreciated that greatly as it meant he had listened to the reading. I doubt whether any of the students ever listened to what we read!

It is the Lesson Reading in front of the whole school which gave me the poise in later life to stand up and speak in front of huge audiences. I remember when I was giving the Plenary Lecture in Lyon, France, in 1987, at the First European Symposium on Polymeric Materials, as I stood in front of the huge audience of over a thousand people, the thought that flashed through my mind as I looked down at the lectern and then up at this audience of my peers, the picture of the Cathedral school children flashed through my mind, just for a second. Then, I started my 45 minute speech with the confidence that no one out there would probably be listening to me. :-)

However, with old age, I have lost much of that poise as the emotion (not alcohol) of the event usually blurs and slurs my words.

When I was at a funeral of a dear friend the other day, even as I read the tribute from Annikki and me (which is customary in Finnish funeral services), for the first time the emotions overcame me and I just wobbled through the words.

Thanks Ubi for the wonderful information. Made my day as you just patched another large hole in my brain.

Bhagwan and Ranchod - may God be with them.