Just Plain Nostalgia of Monte

  

JUST PLAIN NOSTALGIA - Remembering the good old school days at Monte.

Late in the fifties, an orphanage was added to the school, with separate accommodation for about 15 to 20 pupils down on the west side of the hill, consisting of a small building that was located adjacent to the old well and pump-house near the football grounds. I believe it was later moved up to another place near the monastery on the top of the hill and the old structure abandoned.

During our final days at Monte, my classmates and I stood by and watched the new huge 3-floored building gradually rise on the northern side of the chapel, supervised by the Principal, Fr. Pacificus. Other general improvements were made too during this time. In the late 1950's there was a sudden rise in the number of boarders due to the school's popularity and good standard. There was an increase in the numbers of boarders, especially whose parents worked in East Africa and the Arabian Gulf. The class-rooms were almost bursting at the seams, each class with nearly 4 divisions, and each division having nearly 30 to 35 students. So a remarkable and ambitious temporary project was launched in order to accommodate this sudden rise while the new concrete building was getting ready. It was the construction of a giant thatched hall with wooden uprights and large bamboo poles - with over 8 classrooms on the eastern side of the main building. It had wooden partitions and a long common passage to enter the class rooms. I remember the roof leaked a little bit in several places during heavy rains, but that was taken in stride! I studied my Std.III and Std.IV there before moving to the original main building. Today a beautiful and modern structure stands in its place as seen in the photograph here. Also is a picture of the orphanage in ruins, the ground level water storage tank, the pump engine moorings and the well taken in the year 2012.