Originally published in the Motif of September 11, 2006.

(Fr. Hess is an eminent educationist who has spent more than half a century setting up schools, colleges and centres for vocational training in Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa.)

The teaching staff of Loyola School was small when I entered its portals as Principal in 1953. 285 students were enrolled. Classes ranged from Std. I to Std. Xl. Among the teachers facing me at the assembly was the smiling face of a young man, Reynold D’Souza. His smile was noteworthy because of its omnipresence and because it carried a genuine interest in those whom he taught.