Snippets of boarding life ---------------------------- BISHOPS PUNE .
The Bishop's school , Pune being a day cum boarding school saw about two hundred and seventy-five boarder and about 20 residential staff staying on campus. Most of the staff were married with kids. In addition, there were many support staff staying on the same campus too so all of us were like one big family.
It is for this reason , the boarders were a trifle closer to the staff on campus – many of them joined in the kindergarten and left after their ICSE so all in all we spent about ten to twelve years together . It must be noted that most of the support staff were second and third generation – their parents and grandparents having also served under the previous Principal, Mr A E Lunn.
However, while everyone was close, one thing is for sure - familiarity did not breed contempt. Like the day scholars, the boarders were very respectful and very helpful too. They ran errands willingly and all residential staff had some favourite boarders who were often given snacks by them. On some nights, boarders would ask their dorm in change for milk to make coffee! They also made Maggie noodles with water from the geyser in the toilet – some ate the noodles raw!
During the summer and winter vacations all the boarders would leave the hostel and go home, and the campus would be deserted – at that time we would miss the boarders for sure.
When school would reopen after the summer vacation on the 1st June, there was always a palpable excitement in the air. Some of the seasoned boarders would arrive either a day earlier than the others or early in the morning on the day before school was to open. In this way they would get their choice of bed near a door so that there would be breeze at night – mind you there were no fans in the dormitories till somewhere in the nineties!
Arriving earlier than the others had certain other advantages – it meant that the early birds could change lockers, beds, and mattresses. During the summer break, about fifty percent of the mattresses would be redone and would be all fluffy and soft – beds and cupboards would also be repaired and painted, so one had a choice of the best available! Some would also reserve space for their friends and in this way, a few friends would have beds adjacent to each other and play high jinks at night.
When the boarders returned after summer, parents were expected to deposit the fees for the term – some did so while others left their wards at the gate and vanished! (An old boy mentioned this to me a few years ago when I visited him and we had a good laugh) Many parents would also go around meeting teachers to fix up private tuition and deposit pocket money with the Block in-charge – this was then kept a given to boarders to spend every week . When I was a block in-charge, boarders would line up for the princely sum of rupees five per week – it then went up to ten. If they wanted extra, they had to have a jolly good reason. On receiving the money, they had to sign for the same and the account was well maintained.
In the early eighties, I was crazy about music cassettes and Sri Lanka was the place where they were comparatively cheap and where great new music was available. Hence, I gave lists to a few boys who very kindly brought them for me – I then put the value of the same into their pocket money register! If I remember rightly the two boys were Kumar Kundanmal and Dhansinghani . There were a few others as well, but this is over thirty-five years ago so am really having to jog my memory.
The Bombay party – for the holiday trip to and from Bombay (now Mumbai) is something many would remember . Anything you want to share dear boys?
New boarders would enter the campus and later the dormitory hesitatingly. They would usually be accompanied by worried looking parents with many of the mothers crying! Mothers would then make their beds, put the items into the lockers and leave after ever so many kisses and goodbyes. They would also ask the older boys to help them if they had any difficult. It was sad but funny for us to watch. No sooner had the parents departed, than these weather-beaten older boarders would swoop down like vultures on these simple new boys. They would befriend them, then start using their games shoes, eating their snacks, borrowing their money and what have you! In return there would be some sort of protection and help I presume.
Mind you, when these newbies became seasoned, they would do the same – boys learn fast and if you were in the Bishop’s boarding – you learnt faster if you wanted to survive. Only a miniscule number did not fit in over the twenty years I was there and sometimes those who were most homesick during the first few days, went on to be the biggest rascals themselves.
Many of the boarders were sons of Maharashtrian farmers and large landowners. When they joined school in Kindergarten, they would enter the campus not knowing a word of English. The matrons and teachers would struggle to make them understand simple instructions. However, as everyone only spoke English on campus, they would pick up the language and would soon be fluent. They would also learn to eat with a spoon and fork & polish up their table manners.
The food back then was not something the boarders enjoyed – I guess boarding food tends to get boring and repetitive at times and hence the boys made the best of a bad bargain. Some would send for food at night from a cafĂ© nearby – the watchman, for a small tip, would do the needful. Please remember there was no delivery back then! The more adventurous of the boarders slipped out of their dormitory, rushed to main street, had a meal, and slipped into school again. Today that would be considered dangerous and a punishable offense. However, somehow boarders got away with it. There was also the school canteen and a man with a cart called Manji whose eatables the boarders loved ( I did too ) – so a lot of their pocket money was spent at these two outlets . Many boarders bought on credit, if their pocket money ran out – they would clear the bill at the end of the term. The same with the ice cream vendor on campus – am told quite a few boarders just never paid before leaving!
There are innumerable jokes about the school infirmary and everything being cured with the red liquid- mercurochrome, but I have to say that Mr Nair , Mrs Dmonte and Mrs Chester – the three school nurses who were there in my time, were good at their job, attending to any and every ailment and injury and keeping the boarders and boarding staff safe and well .
At the end of the academic year we had the dormitory feasts – boys wore their Sunday best & there were competitions , games , music , singing , dancing , decorations , skits ,speeches , awards and eats – boarders looked forward to and enjoyed the same . Some real talent was also spotted during those special evenings.
I must add that the boarders were sweet natured and I spent hours in the dormitories playing Table tennis with them – plenty of badminton and Volley ball in the evenings too – many would remember that all these games were fiercely contested . That kept me very fit. Staff vs boys matches in football, basketball and hockey were also something that everyone looked forward to and the staff often won. I did not excel in any of the three but did play now and then and give it my best.
However there were some real stars all of whom were extremely competitive – Winston Burton, William Daniels, Max Fletcher, Alan Seymour , Rodney Barrow, Michael Gomes , Denzil Innis , Carlos Dupratt, Kline Aitkins , Eugene Pope, Mr Jagtap , Mr Mogre , Prashant Dolas to name a few who come to mind . There was also Ram Das, a support staff and a hockey wizard . Rumour has it that he attended trails for Maharashtra.
I am not going to take names, but some of the boarders were outstanding all round sportsmen – bringing laurels to themselves and their school on innumerable occasions. Going to leave it for readers to add in names of outstanding sportsmen among the boarders, while mentioning the games they played.
Football followed by Hockey were the top games of Bishops - Inter- school matches took pride of place in the school calendar. There were matches against St Peters Mazagaon, St Peter’s Panchgani and Barnes school Deolali – one away match and one home every year . I guess travelling to an away location was the major part of the excitement.
The local Inter school tournament in Pune was also very keenly contested and busloads of boys and staff often attended the matches, especially if it was a semi or a final being played - all happy to miss school in the afternoon. Some staff and boys also slipped away and attended the round robin league matches. Most had some excuse or the other. On the day of big matches, hardly any studies went on and a sort of hysteria prevailed on campus. Mr Roberts, the Principal, was crazy about football so he would travel in his Ambassador car for most of the matches and when he was in a good mood I would go along. At other times I would follow on my scooter at 3 .40 pm!
The biggest rivals of Bishops were St Vincent’s and when both teams played each other it resembled an India Pakistan Cricket match! There was wild cheering – the schools sat apart in the Vincent’s stadium to prevent taunting and fighting, there were drums, bugles and everyone was hoarse after the match was over. I am sure boys will be adding in tit bits and pieces about the matches as many were unforgettable wars!
Mind you, these teams had many day scholars in them as well, so it was not only boarders. Some of these day scholars would put any top player among the boarders to shame. I am dying to mention names as I can picture them vividly, but then I will leave some one’s name out and all hell will break loose. No, I will not risk that!
The school Head boy was always a boarder – I know quite a few day scholars did not approve of this but in Boarding schools there are some traditions that just do not change. It had its advantages too as the Head boy was also in charge of all the boarders on campus. The dormitories also had Boarder prefects in charge, and they ran their little kingdoms well – this was quite a coveted post I have to say.
Boarding life was fun, and Bishops sure had a good boarding establishment. I was the Dorm In charge of Lunn dorm and then Simba dorm for many years before taking over as Headmaster and the entire boarding.
Although I am now quite close to a large number of day scholars, the boarders and I share a very different & special bond .
Cheers gentlemen – this one goes out to you today!
The Bishop's school , Pune being a day cum boarding school saw about two hundred and seventy-five boarder and about 20 residential staff staying on campus. Most of the staff were married with kids. In addition, there were many support staff staying on the same campus too so all of us were like one big family.
It is for this reason , the boarders were a trifle closer to the staff on campus – many of them joined in the kindergarten and left after their ICSE so all in all we spent about ten to twelve years together . It must be noted that most of the support staff were second and third generation – their parents and grandparents having also served under the previous Principal, Mr A E Lunn.
However, while everyone was close, one thing is for sure - familiarity did not breed contempt. Like the day scholars, the boarders were very respectful and very helpful too. They ran errands willingly and all residential staff had some favourite boarders who were often given snacks by them. On some nights, boarders would ask their dorm in change for milk to make coffee! They also made Maggie noodles with water from the geyser in the toilet – some ate the noodles raw!
During the summer and winter vacations all the boarders would leave the hostel and go home, and the campus would be deserted – at that time we would miss the boarders for sure.
When school would reopen after the summer vacation on the 1st June, there was always a palpable excitement in the air. Some of the seasoned boarders would arrive either a day earlier than the others or early in the morning on the day before school was to open. In this way they would get their choice of bed near a door so that there would be breeze at night – mind you there were no fans in the dormitories till somewhere in the nineties!
Arriving earlier than the others had certain other advantages – it meant that the early birds could change lockers, beds, and mattresses. During the summer break, about fifty percent of the mattresses would be redone and would be all fluffy and soft – beds and cupboards would also be repaired and painted, so one had a choice of the best available! Some would also reserve space for their friends and in this way, a few friends would have beds adjacent to each other and play high jinks at night.
When the boarders returned after summer, parents were expected to deposit the fees for the term – some did so while others left their wards at the gate and vanished! (An old boy mentioned this to me a few years ago when I visited him and we had a good laugh) Many parents would also go around meeting teachers to fix up private tuition and deposit pocket money with the Block in-charge – this was then kept a given to boarders to spend every week . When I was a block in-charge, boarders would line up for the princely sum of rupees five per week – it then went up to ten. If they wanted extra, they had to have a jolly good reason. On receiving the money, they had to sign for the same and the account was well maintained.
In the early eighties, I was crazy about music cassettes and Sri Lanka was the place where they were comparatively cheap and where great new music was available. Hence, I gave lists to a few boys who very kindly brought them for me – I then put the value of the same into their pocket money register! If I remember rightly the two boys were Kumar Kundanmal and Dhansinghani . There were a few others as well, but this is over thirty-five years ago so am really having to jog my memory.
The Bombay party – for the holiday trip to and from Bombay (now Mumbai) is something many would remember . Anything you want to share dear boys?
New boarders would enter the campus and later the dormitory hesitatingly. They would usually be accompanied by worried looking parents with many of the mothers crying! Mothers would then make their beds, put the items into the lockers and leave after ever so many kisses and goodbyes. They would also ask the older boys to help them if they had any difficult. It was sad but funny for us to watch. No sooner had the parents departed, than these weather-beaten older boarders would swoop down like vultures on these simple new boys. They would befriend them, then start using their games shoes, eating their snacks, borrowing their money and what have you! In return there would be some sort of protection and help I presume.
Mind you, when these newbies became seasoned, they would do the same – boys learn fast and if you were in the Bishop’s boarding – you learnt faster if you wanted to survive. Only a miniscule number did not fit in over the twenty years I was there and sometimes those who were most homesick during the first few days, went on to be the biggest rascals themselves.
Many of the boarders were sons of Maharashtrian farmers and large landowners. When they joined school in Kindergarten, they would enter the campus not knowing a word of English. The matrons and teachers would struggle to make them understand simple instructions. However, as everyone only spoke English on campus, they would pick up the language and would soon be fluent. They would also learn to eat with a spoon and fork & polish up their table manners.
The food back then was not something the boarders enjoyed – I guess boarding food tends to get boring and repetitive at times and hence the boys made the best of a bad bargain. Some would send for food at night from a cafĂ© nearby – the watchman, for a small tip, would do the needful. Please remember there was no delivery back then! The more adventurous of the boarders slipped out of their dormitory, rushed to main street, had a meal, and slipped into school again. Today that would be considered dangerous and a punishable offense. However, somehow boarders got away with it. There was also the school canteen and a man with a cart called Manji whose eatables the boarders loved ( I did too ) – so a lot of their pocket money was spent at these two outlets . Many boarders bought on credit, if their pocket money ran out – they would clear the bill at the end of the term. The same with the ice cream vendor on campus – am told quite a few boarders just never paid before leaving!
There are innumerable jokes about the school infirmary and everything being cured with the red liquid- mercurochrome, but I have to say that Mr Nair , Mrs Dmonte and Mrs Chester – the three school nurses who were there in my time, were good at their job, attending to any and every ailment and injury and keeping the boarders and boarding staff safe and well .
At the end of the academic year we had the dormitory feasts – boys wore their Sunday best & there were competitions , games , music , singing , dancing , decorations , skits ,speeches , awards and eats – boarders looked forward to and enjoyed the same . Some real talent was also spotted during those special evenings.
I must add that the boarders were sweet natured and I spent hours in the dormitories playing Table tennis with them – plenty of badminton and Volley ball in the evenings too – many would remember that all these games were fiercely contested . That kept me very fit. Staff vs boys matches in football, basketball and hockey were also something that everyone looked forward to and the staff often won. I did not excel in any of the three but did play now and then and give it my best.
However there were some real stars all of whom were extremely competitive – Winston Burton, William Daniels, Max Fletcher, Alan Seymour , Rodney Barrow, Michael Gomes , Denzil Innis , Carlos Dupratt, Kline Aitkins , Eugene Pope, Mr Jagtap , Mr Mogre , Prashant Dolas to name a few who come to mind . There was also Ram Das, a support staff and a hockey wizard . Rumour has it that he attended trails for Maharashtra.
I am not going to take names, but some of the boarders were outstanding all round sportsmen – bringing laurels to themselves and their school on innumerable occasions. Going to leave it for readers to add in names of outstanding sportsmen among the boarders, while mentioning the games they played.
Football followed by Hockey were the top games of Bishops - Inter- school matches took pride of place in the school calendar. There were matches against St Peters Mazagaon, St Peter’s Panchgani and Barnes school Deolali – one away match and one home every year . I guess travelling to an away location was the major part of the excitement.
The local Inter school tournament in Pune was also very keenly contested and busloads of boys and staff often attended the matches, especially if it was a semi or a final being played - all happy to miss school in the afternoon. Some staff and boys also slipped away and attended the round robin league matches. Most had some excuse or the other. On the day of big matches, hardly any studies went on and a sort of hysteria prevailed on campus. Mr Roberts, the Principal, was crazy about football so he would travel in his Ambassador car for most of the matches and when he was in a good mood I would go along. At other times I would follow on my scooter at 3 .40 pm!
The biggest rivals of Bishops were St Vincent’s and when both teams played each other it resembled an India Pakistan Cricket match! There was wild cheering – the schools sat apart in the Vincent’s stadium to prevent taunting and fighting, there were drums, bugles and everyone was hoarse after the match was over. I am sure boys will be adding in tit bits and pieces about the matches as many were unforgettable wars!
Mind you, these teams had many day scholars in them as well, so it was not only boarders. Some of these day scholars would put any top player among the boarders to shame. I am dying to mention names as I can picture them vividly, but then I will leave some one’s name out and all hell will break loose. No, I will not risk that!
The school Head boy was always a boarder – I know quite a few day scholars did not approve of this but in Boarding schools there are some traditions that just do not change. It had its advantages too as the Head boy was also in charge of all the boarders on campus. The dormitories also had Boarder prefects in charge, and they ran their little kingdoms well – this was quite a coveted post I have to say.
Boarding life was fun, and Bishops sure had a good boarding establishment. I was the Dorm In charge of Lunn dorm and then Simba dorm for many years before taking over as Headmaster and the entire boarding.
Although I am now quite close to a large number of day scholars, the boarders and I share a very different & special bond .
Cheers gentlemen – this one goes out to you today!
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