Christmas is round the corner and I am especially reminded of my good old schools days at St. Joseph’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Perambur. Decorated classrooms, lip-smacking goodies, exchange of gifts, musical notes of carols in the air... that’s how we celebrated Christmas at St. Joseph’s. I wish they never ended.
St. Joseph’s holds a pride of place among the schools run by the Presentation Congregation of Sisters. Tucked away in a modest corner of Perambur, near the flyover, the school is the ‘grand old lady’ of the locality — it is 111 years old. The school is a home in every aspect — its peaceful surrounding and modest playground were its charms.
Add to these the caring and loving teachers who knew their every student by name. The Sisters, though strict, were dedicated, loving and kind. Along with academics, moral and spiritual education was given equal importance.
The fine values of empathising and reaching out to the less-privileged were always impressed on us.
Those days, the annual school-leaving party was a big thing.
For the first time, the saree became party wear and girls with long hairdos and pretty painted faces strutted around like proud peacocks.
The school bulletin board had its own story to tell, general knowledge, anecdotes and short poems. On festival days, the bulletin boards were all ‘dressed up’.
