SHEER DETERMINATION
The school building on the right was constructed in the early 1960's under the tenure of Fr. Pacificus who poured his heart, mind, time, diligence, care and determination into this massive project of that great era along with the efforts of all those involved in achieving its completion. I have seen this structure come up during my schooling years at Monte de Guirim.
During my time at the school during the late 1950's and early 1960's the trucks with firewood arrived and unloaded their stuff on the concrete paved area in the foreground. Seen in the center of the picture are the stairs leading to the play area below the refectory and the Junior dormitory above it. The rear of this building led to the teachers quarters and the chapel. This area was our stomping ground throughout our scholastic years - a favourite spot for everything that defines recreation.
I remember the famous Sacrula de Saligao, dressed in a brown tunic, standing on the parapet on right side of the stairs leading to the refectory and delivering his speech with an umbrella. The building on the right side of the refectory consisted of an art classroom run by the well-known and legendary Capuchin Brother Vitalis who was my art teacher. Next to it was the Infirmary, and the Music Room that had a LP Record Changer, a microphone and a PA Amplifier.
This sound system was used for playing instrumental music during the afternoon recess and music from Radio Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the evening before the recitation of the Holy Rosary in Konkani by two boarders at 8 pm. One horn loud speaker was placed on the top of the school building steeple facing the Guirim side and another on the side of the refectory directed towards the Sangolda side. Families living down the hill and beyond could hear and join in the Rosary in the stillness of those nights of long ago, perhaps even more than a mile away.
Incidentally and interestingly, a bell that consisted of a 2 feet length of a railway track and an iron bar was used to call students to dinner and studies. It was suspended on the horizontal beam of the roof near the stairs leading to the right of the refectory building. The covered garage and service station for the school Land-Rover was located to the left of this picture taken from the spot where stood the mango tree.
This stairway in the foreground leads as a short-cut towards the famous Franco's shop and to St. Diogo's Church at the T-junction down at the foot of this hillock on the east side. As a day-scholar I often used this steep slope to buy pepper-mints or a loaf of bread during the afternoon lunch break.
Related Article:
Four Annas and a Loaf of Bread
http://tonferns.blogspot.ca/2008_06_01_archive.html
The white painted rooms on the left were classes Prep. Junior and Prep. Senior in 1954. The classrooms below were Stds. 1, 2 and the Laboratory with the well-known human skeleton in one of its the cupboard, under the care Fr. Chrysostom.
The blue structure on the left was added in the early 1970s. The laterite stone stairway leading to the green room was the sound room that housed the PA sound system with microphones, amplifier and 6 LP stackable Garrard Record player. The bridge until 1956 was flat. It was arched and the roadway sunken to facilitate the trucks with firewood to clear underneath and reach to unload at the top.
For quiet study or meditation, sports activities or games, and just plain conversation or watching a sunset over the Arabian Sea, one could rejoice in silent bliss.
THE FAMOUS FACADE
The famous and timeless vertical striped façade and stepped steeple of the main building. Classes below and senior dormitory above. This frontal magnificent structure served also as a backdrop for the annual school students picture. Two stairways on both sides lead and join at the landing below the front portal. The wing on the left was added much later. The original vertical stripes and borders around the arched balcony and main portal were bluish-grey and later changed to red sometime in the early 1960s.
The huge hall on the first floor was actually a dormitory for senior students. It was temporarily converted into a drama hall for the two special days in the school calendar as described above. On one occasion, I had also witnessed an Ordination to priesthood of one of the students of Monte in the late 1950’s, by the Archbishop of Goa.
The large dormitory comprised of a purpose-built stage with permanent fittings. It was well-known for its unique curtain that resembled a beautiful scarlet drape, far ahead of its time in its operation and the way it opened during the 1950's. It consisted of a timber frame-work that was fitted to the lower half of the curtain at the rear. The ropes were attached to the top of the timber frame, and the curtain was completely lifted up into the ceiling, aided by a pulley system, forming a neat horizontal crease midway, making it look majestic as it went up. It had also had other rolling scenic curtains which were painted by Brother Vitalis. The stage had an array of boxed floor lights in the front end. The entire facade from ground to the sloping roof, and side to side, was painted in light bluish-grey hues resembling marble Roman architectural columns.
On the second day of the school concert, students attended Holy Mass at the school chapel, followed by breakfast in the hall mentioned above.
