It was my crucible and my catharsis.
It was the cup from which I drank.
It was the springboard from whence my values sprang.
It framed the alter of my beliefs.
It taught me that injustice could be fought.
It taught me that Edison was right: "Success for the most part was 99% perspiration."
It taught me to keep trying.
It taught me that a battle may be lost but the war could always be won.
It helped me recognize that suffering was a cup that was etched deeper only to behold equal joy later.
That in one's deepest darkest hour (and I had many) there was still a light shining on me.
I will always be immensely grateful to my parents for not asking me why I failed the St. Xavier's High School entrance test deliberately - I wanted to go to the Academy.
I did not have to lie or plead.
THAT WAS THE TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE - the most important leg of my life - my childhood.
Losing the guiding light , bread winning parent was traumatic and irreplaceable.
My father lest us while I was in Std. V.
Economic pressures, monster relatives, younger siblings to protect and fend for, creditors knocking and serious social apathy were beginning of a man in the making.
Albeit early as I was, rudely and permanently awakened from the slumber of childhood but there I was, coping believing, hoping and trying.
Failing in Maths a month after I lost my father (sorry no grace marks were forthcoming) and I knew Life was just not fair. But the comparision of some of my teachers, particularly Miss Monterio and Miss Fernandes in the early years, helped.
Std. V-1 - my mother met with an accident. At the hospital when she heard of my impending elocution competition she asked me to win her a prize.
"The Ballad of Soporific Attraction" by Ogden Nash under the guidance of Ms. Farida Bharuha and my speaking career took its roots. So did my love for poetry, the language and history only to be honed further as I went along.
I was enveloped and encouraged to do my best by most of my teachers. Mrs. Blanche Soans was simply wonderful and a fine counselor.
Cricket, football, hockey, table tennis, carroms all happened simultaneously with tests on Thursdays.
Kings at 7:15 am untill 8:00 am was a ritual and boy sometimes did the ball hurt? Handwriting was important as were margins and God help you if Ms. Monterio saw a scruffy look or hair undone or shoes unpolished.
Fr. Netto of course made it a reason for 'near capital punishment' - the kneeling down near the statue or his legendary cane (ouch it still hurts). It is commonest conversation point among boys whether they are 30 or 65, big or small, rich or poor, ordinary or otherwise.
Some of us were ready to come to detention every Sunday for the rest of our lives, if you please.
Violence was eschewed forever. Fr. Netto was a universal CTV camera. No one quite knew how he turned up at the scene of the crime at precisely the wrong moment - just as the evidence was being covered up.
I paid Fr. Netto a tribute at his very-emotional funeral and it went thus, "Father Netto, you may not be with us in person but as you watch from teh sky, your legacy, like balls of mercury will live on in generations of your crying students for eons to come! Thank you for everything!"
The nicest thing about the pruning we received at the SXBA was and still is 'we boys of the Academy speak the same language'.
It is still a pleasure to speak with an ex-student and I even recollect asking one youngster I met for the first time if he came from a jesuit school and to my utter delight he saif, "Yes - SXBA' - SO PROUDLY.
I am deeply grateful to Ms. Christine Misquitta - the heartthrob of the Academy (May God rest her soul in peace) who inspired me to prepare three chapters in Geography a month in advance. My hand was always up for every question she posed and I almost never scored less than 38/40 in every test she put up.
I must now confess and my good friends Ankur Pandya and Cyrus Talati will solemnly agree that I even started the Nature Club with her as club advisor merely to see her more often.
Nitin Paranjpe was even then the blue-eyed boy of the Academy whose epic DAVID vs GOLIATH table tennis battle remains etched forever in my mind. I even emulate his playing style till date.
Ankur Pandya and I forged a permanent brotherhood that has over the years deepened so much - we both know this is perhaps our sweetest and most indulgent karmic tryst. A friendship forged at the SXBA.
I can and never will forgive Milind Bengali for having dropped Ravi Shastri's catch, blooming dolly, in a Giles Shield match.
we got pulverised, tongue-lashed by Fr. Netto and I lost my chance to make it to the big league.
My oldest mate Hormuz Bulsara still remains a lose friend. Our lunch meetings are perpetually interspersed with rivalry of yore especially in English where defeat is taken very seriously and revenge mandatory - all obviously couched in immense affection and respect.
Sports was a big thing at school. Giles Shieds, Harris Shields was a religion. Losing meant facing Fr. Netto and that was never pleasant. We learnt to fight hard and to grin and bear it if we lost. Men were being made of monkeys - I may add.
Slor to praise and quick to penalize, I still recollect how Fr. Netto walked into our class and said, "If you want water, DAMN IT". We were shocked - was that a blasphemy untill realisation struck.
On another occasion he looked at all of us in a Geography class pointedly but mind you with a tinkle in his eye and spoke thus, "India has the maximum number of goats in the world."
It took us a good minute to realise - HE meant US!
I am eternally grateful to Ms. Flavia Dsouza for her supreme enunciation and emphasis on Grammar and Reading in French. I scored 76/100 in a surprise test 20 years later.
She was outstanding with English too where didactics, enunciation, punctuation were paramount. Thank you Miss D'souza.
Mr. Kelkar was much loved and taught Math with fervour. The gentle teddy bear with a loud bark and no bite. But his snoring sometimes in class was a matter of great debate for us kids.
Mr. Tiwari's one statement in so many superb Physics classes is relegated to history, "Padhai kyon nahin ki? Bade baap ke bete ho is liye kyon? huh!"
Mr. Trivedi was perhaps the most dedicated master at school. He was truly a fine individual who took his job seriously and spent hours collating records and doing justice to Scouts and Cubs. 'PAANKHAU' as some called him, we aren't to say even whisper it around him as he was a very nice soul.
Now Amy Billimoria - now Amy Bhal (run away and die if you can't spell her surname right). What a teacher and a fantastic fearless tiny, be-spectacled, scary person she was. We were sure she woke up in the morning and sharpened her tongue.
She truly was Mount Everest of the Academy, the quintessential soul of our staff - ask any ex-student who was always, but always her "LITTLE ONE" if you please, so what if he is a strapping 6 foot giant.
To the day, I have yet to meet an ex-student who would dare cross her path. Her scathing tongue, I am sure if one did was enough to maul a lion.
The jest apart, she was and still is an extremely fair, demanding but compassionate human being whose love for English and joy and pride in imparting good education and values was evident even for the blind to see - unparalleled.
Margins of error, figures of speech, punctuation, well written essays, idioms were truly her forte. I remember being given 'pass' marks in English in Std. X. IMy mother could not believe that her son whose language skills were to rave about could fare thus. So she met Mrs. Bhal who told her without batting an eyelid that, "your son should have written as taught and not as per the format of the SSC papers - this is after all the St. Xavier's Boys' Academy!"
I never forgot that.
She still remains as do so many others, a cherished idol of integrity of my childhood.
I recollect bunking my boring V/ Ed class by hiding in the mezzanine floor toilet and eating Chikki and peanuts until the bell rang. Sanman was a hot favourite for meduvadas and dosas - all for 25-40 paise each, my children can't fathom it for the love of money.
SXBA was a level playing field, fighting was don in fair spirit, integrity honoured, achievement lauded and offence penalised. That's just how it worked.
I ended up being School-Captain, President of the Interact Club, President of Nature Club - later relinquished for Seretaryship as holding three posts was not fair, and left my school with the finest values, waiting to face the world, believing, hopeful, ready.
I keep returning and it mystifies many. My proffered explanation as I say nothing else except, "SXBA IS MY CRUCIBLE!", "MY TEACHERS WERE SCULPTORS AT WORK!" in gratitude,
Dr. Kamlesh Desai M.D.S.
1978 Batch
Kabir House
Currently: Vice-President BAPSA
Dental Surgeon
This article has been extracted from the Academy Boys' Chronicle of 2013-14.
