A Tribute to a Friend and Classmate - LAXMI S. NARAYAN (Class of 1989)

 

Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye;

Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky

In the morning sunrise when all the world is new,

Just look for me and remember me,

as you know I remember you.

Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye;

Look for me in rainbows, high up in the sky

In the evening sunset,

when all the world is through,

Just look for me and remember me,

and I'll be near to you.

LAXMI S. NARAYAN  (Class of 1989)

Dr. Laxmi Shankaranarayan (Bicholim, Goa), born on 10th of May 1974, expired on the 30th of September 2021 and was cremated on the same day. We pray for her departed soul and join with her family in grief. Our thoughts and prayers go out especially to her beloved parents Mr. Shankaranarayan and Mrs Indira.

GOD looked around his garden

And he found an empty place

He then looked down upon this Earth,

and saw your tired face.

He put His arms around you and

Lifted you to rest.

God's garden must be beautiful,

He always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering,

He knew you were in pain.

He knew that you would never

Get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough,

And the hills were hard to climb,

So he closed your weary eyelids,

And whispered "Rest well my child, peace be thine."

It broke our hearts to know that you left

But you did not go alone,

For part of us went with you,

The day called you were called home.

Farewell dear Laxmi, you are finally with your Maker! 

In the words of...

Jacqueline - It is with deep sorrow and shock that I write this today. We heard about Laxmi's passing a few days ago when her obituary was posted on our group by our schoolmate. Most of us lost touch with Laxmi after school. However, I bumped into her once after school years ago. A few years ago, a friend and I decided to look up Laxmi and went to meet her. That was when the above pic was taken. I doubt she was one for social events, but she did find time to attend my mum's 75th birthday, which I truly appreciated. 

From school, I remember Laxmi as one of the smartest girls I knew. She always had neatly groomed, long, dark, braided hair.  She was a topper in everything. School was a breeze for her. She was always at our teacher's side or at their desks asking a million questions and clarifying doubts. She always had perfect scores and would want to know why she lost a mark or even half a mark here and there. She was the head girl during our final year at school. 

Another memory I have is when a group of us hungry boarders were let out of the boarding, we once went to Laxmi's place. She and her family were so welcoming even after the initial shock of having so many of us in her home at a time. Her mum graciously offered us snacks and tea. Well, of course, she was not the only one to have us over. We did visit some of our day scholar mates on several occasions.

Laxmi went on to become a successful doctor in the field of obstetrics & gynaecology with her own practice right here in Goa. 

Below are some pics of when Laxmi and her mum attended my mum's birthday. She is the tallest in the pic. She and I were opposite sides of the spectrum - I was the shortest and she was the tallest in class :-) 

Rocklyn - My memory of Laxmi was that she was a highly intelligent and a gifted girl.  Never hurt anyone and always striving to be better. My young mind didn’t understand it at that time but we had a genius in our midst. Rest In Peace Laxmi.

Typewriter - A trip down memory lane...

Today I got a WhatsApp message from my classmate telling me to watch a series called 'Typewriter' on Netflix for a very special reason. I remember we had a conversation on movies a while back and I mentioned that, like her, we too have an excellent plethora of choices right from Netflix, Amazon Prime, You Tube as well as DTH channels. And then we started comparing notes on Netflix movies since that was common to both of us. We spoke about what we had watched and highlighted to each other what should be on our lists of 'what to watch next'. So, after her message yesterday, I started to watch the series last evening and ended it last night before I went off to sleep.

The movie... It is available on Netflix. Not sure about Amazon Prime or anywhere else.

To give you an insight and opinion, if you like, the series surrounds the book written by a dead author. The book, 'The Ghost of Sultanpore' set mostly in Goa (I guess) spanning in parts from the early 50's and again the early 80's to the present day is created by Sujoy Ghosh who also is the director, executive producer and co-writer. It is a 5-part series and it has a bit of something for everyone. A lot of suspense and unfolding of events, a bit of family, kids and school (that's where you SFX girls might get a little interested). About the horror part, I would not rate it a 5 on 5; I would safely go with a 2 on 5, but that is just me. I have not found one movie 'horror noteworthy' till date at least in the Indian movie scene. But what you will see is bits of Goa with a lot of familiar names we often hear. The other good thing for people like me is the part-English dialogues and subtitles.

The story line is about 3 kids who are trying to get to the bottom of the book 'The Ghost of Sultanpore' each for his/her own reasons. So kids-style ghost-hunting is what you will get, with a bit of the Bollywood touch of course. The kids are keen to take their search to where a lot of scenes are centred around - an old house called the 'Bardez Villa'. I must admit that it does have its moments. So Bardez is a place like Porvorim or Panjim not a taluka like we know it. Common and familiar names like Maria, Fernandes, Peter an many more are thrown about as commonly as they appear in reality.

Seems like the move is shot fairly recently because of some of the recent structures I have seen around Panjim. But yes, I have taken a few screenshots from the series for the sole purpose of posting here. So please enjoy and remember your school days. I sure did.

This used to be the part outside our study room and our assembly area when it did not rain. Here is where we used to stand looking up for the flag hoisting. And the part of the verandah where Sir Jude used to park his bike :-)

Seems to be a new part of the school. During our time, we used the entrance to the left.

We did not have this new entrance to the school. I remember some trees and the basement below... a backdrop for some of our old photos.



I tried to capture this because of the school name that is up on the building. Has the name changed? Or is it the movie where they changed it?

I am sure we all (especially boarders) remember sitting on this prohibited corner parapet. Some used to watch the road from this vantage point for visitors, boyfriends zooming past a few times a day..    

Who remembers the Ashoka trees? I have a few pictures clicked around this area (below). 

 The same corner near the study room.

Pointing to the old parlour overlooking the ground where we used to create so many memories on a daily basis.


Outside the parlour... boarders will remember this location. The uniforms are part of the movie I guess. I was wondering if SFX changed their uniforms.

View from the gate...

Outside the gate...

Took this screenshot in remembrance of our dormitories (both of them)... At times we used to get awesome views from here. Up there is also the place we used to dry our delicate's.

This was inside the gate. There were these 2 small revolving gates on the side, I remember. Is it still there? Anyway, we never got to sit here for obvious reasons.

Pointing to the place where our hockey sticks were stored below and the way up to the dormitories and the entrance to the parlour.

This was the end of that hallway where there were restrooms. The refectories and the nuns dining room to the right. 

Aahhh!! The famous ground! There used to be a bench separated from the black screen. That house down below and the famous mango tree which for years we enjoyed its fruit. Hope it is still there. I remember sitting on the bench during play times and there were those special days where our 'in-house entertainers would share their experiences and who can forget Mandy telling us the stories from the movies she just watched. She was the queen of Bollywood movie stories, I tell you!

The junior dormitory! And the old chapel where we used to go before examinations especially.

The next 2 pics below is the study room. I remember I used to sit right there next to the door. Sr Maximillia was in charge of study time. And boy was she scary! My side partner was Bibiana at that time.

I think the study room was split because in the movie it seemed smaller and not as big as it used to be when Sr Maximillia was in charge.

I was curious if they restored our old piano. Kind of looks like 'the one', only polished.

Looks like Reis Magos fort. Not sure.

This seems to be the new Gera building in Patto, the building near to which I work. Opposite the ongoing construction is still in progress as it is today.

Finally Newtons

Please share your comments, memories or write ups about our school if you like.

Faces to the Names - Then and now

We, as a group have successfully managed to bring a good number of our school friends together whether it is through our Facebook page, WhatsApp or through other social networking channels. We saw a huge spike in our networking graphs over the last few years and we still continue to encounter friends who have moved out of Goa and did not know we had a site with our name on it :-). Although, we have found friends and mates who we never thought we would ever meet again after school, we are still taking baby steps in fulfilling a much awaited dream of getting everyone together at the same place and at the same time. Mammoth task, don't you think? 

The downside of getting re-acquainted in my opinion is that there are many who either do not use Facebook because of restrictions in their country of domicile, lack of time and of course because networking at that level sometimes turns out to be impersonal. Our WhatsApp group was set up a while back and the response was excellent and very encouraging to say the least. We got calls and messages to add people, some of whom I did not remember for a long time. Call it age, bad memory or just plain crazy but there are so many faces we still find difficult to place. I know of times when I ended up chatting for hours only to confide in common friends later that I just could not place the person from our school days. I would at times politely ask them to jog my memory. I must admit that I am not the only one doing this. Hence my latest idea for this particular post.

So here is my attempt to put faces to the names. Hope this helps.

 

Note: I will be adding more pictures in time. Please bear with me while I do so. I welcome your comments, suggestions and old pictures. If you would like to add a comment for anyone in particular, please feel free to do so.

Happy Boarder's Birthday!

When did you last hear someone wishing you a very 'Happy Birthday' when it is not your birthday? Well, I did and so did the boarders of St. Francis Xavier's High School, Mapusa on 8th September every year. So here we continue the tradition. For me, the whole thing was so strange in my 1st year after I joined the boarding, which was in the 3rd standard. Every year after that I looked forward to the wishes, the special moments, most of which seem to be a blur now. But I am glad to re-live memories with the help of my special friends.

 

This post should have been out on the 8th of September to commemorate our 'Boarders Birthday', however, due to other commitments this post comes a bit late. A friend and schoolmate, Eslinda Fernandes took a whole lot of trouble creating collages of most of us she knew and for some she didn't know as well. This was posted on FB on the 8th of September in honour of our day. Everyone was so happy and touched with the memory that it brought back. So I thought I would ask her if I could put these up on the blog. She was happy to share this. She gladly agreed saying 'I created it for us'. So you will see this below.

 

In SFX, as we fondly called our school (hope St Francis Xavier doesn't mind), the boarders had a special day called 'Boarders Birthday' on September 8th. Unlike any other birthday, every year on this day we were woken up in the morning with loud music (I remember some really old songs) playing on loud speakers installed below the building. Luckily, we did not have to wake on our special morning to the 'clap' of Santan who was the caretaker of the top dormitory. We knew the day was going to be special, so from the time we woke up we were excited and all smiles. The happiness everywhere was contagious. The best part of the entire day was even if we screwed up for anything, everything was ignored and we were still treated like it was our birthday. We usually kept aside 2 sets of clothing for the day, one for the mass and the other for the evening. It was usually an outfit we never wore in the boarding before or no one had seen us in. There was always a special mass followed by a special breakfast. The rest of the day was anything but studies and school. We had the best lunch served. Our nuns always found a way to make the day special for us. We wished one another 'Happy Birthday'. The big part of the day was the evening party which was normally held on the ground (just as you get past the main gate) with chairs set in a circle. The nuns conducted games for each class and there were prizes too. Another highlight of the party was the yummy food we were served, which we never got on regular days. Mostly it was always Pulao and Chicken Xacuti or Sorpotel. The only sad part of this was the killing of the well fed pigs for the big feast. We could hear the screams before they were killed and this in fact made me not eat pork for years after. But the party was special, we danced, listened to good music and loved every moment of our special day. This is a day all of us boarders will always treasure and will cherish for as long as we are on this earth.

 

I wish I had pictures of some of our special 'Boarder's Birthday' moments but I do have pictures of most of us. I would love to see your comments and memories

Across and Down: Fiona, Genevieve, Doris, Elizabeth, Grace, Glenda, Elodia, Fazila, Audrey, Barbara, Alzira, Amita, Bella, Bibiana, Soucourine, Arkangela.
 

Across and Down: Blaise, Cida, Conci, Cynthia.

Across and Down: Cecilia, Merlin, Lisa, Hazel, Aramita, Eslinda, Joanita, Margaret, Aruna, Indira, Avril, Valentina, Marina, Virginia, Veena, Orina.

Across and Down: Nyta, Nyvi, Maria, Mildred, Olga, Rima, Mitchelle, Nevis, Josephine, Lina, Grace, Jacqueline, Marceline, Maria Happy, Jasmine, Jessy.

Across and Down: Rocklyn, Acel, Vivian, Yolanda, Sharmila, Christabel, Yoma, Peppy, Suzan, Sybil, San, Sandra, Tessy, Thelma, Sebastiana, Sharon.

Please share your memories and I hope you enjoy the recent photos of all of us. :-)

 

 

A TRIBUTE TO A SCHOOLMATE, CLASSMATE AND FRIEND - ROCHELLE LAURENSA BRITTO MENEZES

 

 

ROCHELLE, they say there is a reason
They say that time will heal
But neither time nor reason
Will change the way we feel
For no-one knows the sadness
That lies behind our smiles
No-one knows how many times
We have broken down and cried
We want to tell you something
So there won't be any doubt
You're so wonderful to think of
and so hard to be without...

 

 

 

Rochelle Menezes -  class of 1994 passed away yesterday after a brief illness. Funeral will be held on the 21st of October 2014. Funeral cortège will leave from her residence at Tivim at 16:45 hrs and the Mass and burial will be at St. Christopher's church, Tivim at 17:00 hrs.

 

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free.
I’m following the path God has laid you see.
I took his hand when I heard Him call,
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day.
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
I found that peace at the close of the day.
If my parting has left a void,
then fill it with remembered joys.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow.
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I savored much.
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief.
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and peace to thee.
God wanted me now;
He set me free!

We wish Rochelle's husband and family our deepest condolences. I just realised that she just passed her birthday on the 13th of October when she was in the hospital. Memories and pictures of Rochelle from school sent in by her friends and schoolmates. Thank you all for responding immediately.

 

Pictures sent in by Leticia Rodrigues Coutinho: Bottom pic from left to right - Leticia, Bernadin, Marina, Rochelle, Elisha, Sarama. Sitting - Krystabelle and Patricia.

 

In the words of...

 

Leticia:

Rochelle was studying with me since 8 to 10th grade.. unlike me she was not mischievous at all. I can hardly ever recall anything that she ever did was wrong.

 

Alcy:

She was very polite

Annie Do Rosario:

She was very polite and soft spoken... very calm

 

 

 

Please continue to send in your messages and memories.