Cherian Thomas

I always had a desire to write about the school, and 38 years after leaving it, I got my chance. All my boyhood memories of school life, of friends, of teachers, of Jamshedpur gushed up from the sub-cortial area of my brain. How do you describe 10 years of your life in a thousand odd words? Would anyone be interested in what the Senior Cambridge class of ‘58 did that was different from the class of ‘57 or ‘56 or ‘59? But there was one question that nagged me the most, and that was, “What will Fr. Eugene Power think of my article?”

Henry V by Fr. Power

Towering over everyone was our dignified and awe- inspiring Principal, Fr. Hess. “Fr. Hess is coming”! Just that was enough for unruly classes to be still, desks to be tidied and noses to be buried in books. He stood ramrod straight, all of 6’3” and had one of the most dignified and measured walks that I have ever seen. Our eyes nevet’left his size 13 black shoes as he walked past. Did he buy them in the Bistupur Bata or was it flown in from Maryland, USA? We never did learn the answer.

Anil Ratna

What did we learn in Loyola? We learnt many things about life but, above all, we learnt discipline, not the military variety with absolute regimentation of body and mind, but the Boy Scout variety where the Troop Leader’s word was law, and infringement of rules had its own sequel that was sometimes painful but always unforgettable. Whether it was facing Mrs. Kirwan’s ruler, Fr. McGinley’s strap or sitting in ‘jug’, writing five hundred times an eternal promise never to be late again, the net result was a healthy respect for rules and authority. The School Office was run by Mr. Rao, the kindhearted repository of all official wisdom who never turned away a student and answered all our questions, however trivial or repetitive. The teachers demanded and got a standard of excellence that other schools envied. No one was permitted to remain a “book worm”. Games played a major role in our lives and some of our most enjoyable moments were the luncheon Scouts vs Cubs free-for-all, using a tennis ball in a way that was not quite tennis nor for that matter quite cricket!

Mr. Rao at the helm of official affairs

We also learnt to appreciate good Hollywood movies. Movies were censored by the Fathers on Friday evenings and shown to us on Saturday mornings in the old auditorium. Mr. Burrows was in charge of maintaining order as we fidgeted outside, and who can forget his characteristic order asking big boys to be at the back! We trooped in, class by class, and watched the news, the cartoon and finally the main feature. By — the time we graduated we had watched the best that Hollywood could offer, and we became true aficionados of English movies. We lapped them up all but Westerns enjoyed a special place in our hearts. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, Jesse James and Shane held us spellbound for an hour and forty minutes. It was good clean entertainment. There was gold ‘in them thar hills’ and was pure delight in three hundred young hearts.

TISCO was the great common factor in our lives. Almost all our fathers were employed by TISCO. We lived in Tisco townships, went to Tisco hospitals, frolicked in Tisco parks and paraded with Tisco schools on Founder’s Day. However there was one difference. Loyola was not a Tisco school. Tisco schools had Hindi as the medium of instruction and only Loyola and Sacred Heart Convent had English. Naturally, we felt we were the elite and only later did we realise that there was more to life than an ability to speak English with an American accent.

There was no snobbery in Loyola. Whether we came to school by bus, bicycle or were chauffeur driven, whether we lived in Northern Town or Dhatkidih, we had a level playing field. There was no flaunting of wealth. What mattered most was whether you could wield a straight bat. The most admired was the one who became an Eagle Scout, led the school cricket team and won the 440. However, good grades in the Senior Cambridge examinations were sought after, as these could open doors to prestigious institutions in India and abroad.

The bonds built in Loyola last a lifetime. Last year when I tried to organise our class reunion, I was overwhelmed by the response. Though we never managed the reunion, the process of organising it rekindled our ties. We have promised to meet, and many of us will make the effort to come to Jamshedpur for the Golden Jubilee. Even if we fail, we know that our hearts will be there.

We had a good rapport with all our teachers but the Fathers enjoyed a special place in our lives. We stood in awe of these American men all of whom we believed came from Maryland, the first state in USA that we had heard of. They had left their families and friends to come to the Steel City to mould, refine and polish assorted boys, in the hope that the final product would be well worth the effort. Did they succeed? Our class produced bankers, gentleman farmers, engineers, doctors, wing commanders, CEOs, advertising executives and even.Jesuits! It was not quantity that Loyola was ensuring but quality. In the fifties Loyola had a small student body and a class did not exceed twenty to twenty-five. We received individual attention which is not possible today with overflowing class rooms and over-worked teachers. Our education was holistic. The. solid foundation we received in Loyola has stood us in good stead over the years.

Dr. Cherian Thomas (Class of ‘58)