A TRYST WITH NATURE

-Ms. Sunita D’Souza

On 28^th August, 2012, 31 of our students from the Nature Club and a few representatives from Stds. VII and VIII moved outside the school campus to acquaint themselves with their neighbouring friends – the trees in Five Gardens.  Accompanied by the ever-enthusiastic teachers, Mrs. Pavita and Ms. Sunita, the vivacious photographer for minute details, Mr. Bosco, and the green campaigners from the GreenLine team, Ms. Parveen Sheikh and Ms. Devyani Singh, the students breezed along with a sprightly spring in their walk.  Though it was a post-lunch session, the rains and the cloud cover provided the cool ambience to the greening exercise titled ‘Green Mapping’.

Our school students were joined by another group of green enthusiasts from a neighbouring school, DPYA.  While Ms. Parveen led this group into the engaging activity, Ms. Devyani guided our young brigade in the park.  The students listened in rapt attention to the instructions by our guide. Specific symbols encased in a circle were assigned to different types of trees, e.g.    P   for peepal tree,   B   for     bamboo tree,  X  for  copper pod tree… The students showed their enthusiasm to learn the names of the trees and the use of specific symbols.  Armed with this knowledge, and with the intent to identify the trees found in the garden, the students enjoyed this novel task of ‘Green Mapping’.  

Their desire sated and the boundless energy sublimated for a worthy cause, our students, along with their teachers and guides, returned refreshed and energized to continue contributing their bit for the environment.  We are sure our nature friends – the trees – were happy to welcome us, just as we were in transports of delight to embrace them, feel them and pamper them.  Our next stop is our school campus and our neighbourhood.  Our students seem to be in a tearing hurry – and mind you, it’s a good sign – to rush to their homes and gardens to identify the trees around them with the newly acquired ‘greening’ skills. 

In case you visit Five Gardens these days, you may recognize some of these symbols etched on the trees – provided the torrential downpour has not played truant with this spirited activity of our youngsters. However, it’s never too late to begin some ‘green mapping’ ourselves.  Jump on the GreenLine wagon.  It’s fun!

With a little luck…the story may well have been different!

-          Bernard Fernandes

This is the story of our ‘also-rans’ yet noteworthy performers in sports.  They may not have climbed the podium, but were almost there. Competition can be fierce, yet cruel; sport can take you to the summit of joy and elation, yet disappoint you with a nerve wrecking loss. In chess, half a point can separate a second or third place with the sixteenth. An unforced error in a long badminton rally can cost you the point, the game and the match. Our young guns are smarting after such close losses – contests that could have gone either way - in the ongoing inter-school DSO and MSSA tournaments. 

Jaidev Menon from Std. VIII, a rising badminton star suffered the painful exit at the pre-quarter final stage in the under-14 Badminton MSSA tournament, when he lost to another challenger for the title from Campion School by a solitary point.  The loss has not deterred him; rather his intrepid nature has egged him on to set his eyes on the national championship in the coming days.

Another close loss – this time by half a point – in chess, cost our chess master, Atharva Chaturvedi, a 3^rd-4^th play-off match in the DSO under-14 chess tournament.  On the international scene, however, Atharva has improved his ELO rating points.  In the standard category, he has now a chess rating of 1455 ELO points, while in the rapid section, 1400 ELO points. Close on his heels are our other chess wizards who performed exceptionally well at the DSO tournament in the under-17 category (here they had to compete with the Junior College students too, keeping in mind the age group).  Palash Chathurvedi (Std. X), Dheer Dhutia (Std. IX), Jainam Gangar (Std. X) and Rajiv Aiyer (Std. IX) all did well to earn respectable positions – placed 26^th to 32^nd – in a very strong field of contestants.

Our younger students have a great fascination for sport – guess this is the only time that they can pursue sport at leisure!  A few of them have enrolled in Martial arts at the various training academies. They return with a bag full of medals and certificates for their outstanding performance after every competition – local and state.  The latest sensation is Rishi Raturi of Std. V, who just returned with an Orange Belt 7^th KYU in a competition organized by the Indian Martial Arts Training Centre.

There’s a Chinese aphorism: to gain, you must yield, to grasp let go, to win lose… Of late, the Chinese have perfected the art of winning!  Boys, are you listening? 

A ‘GREEN’ CELEBRATION FOR OUR PRINCIPAL

- Ms. Sunita D’Souza

The day, as always, began with a bhajan played over the intercom invoking God’s blessings.  Our headmistress, Ms. Nicole, then led the staff and students in prayer for Fr. Bernard Fernandes, our Principal, who celebrated his birthday on 20^th of August.  An address specially written for our Principal was read by the school leader, Master Neel Mehta.  The unique qualities of Fr. Bernard were enunciated and his unstinted efforts that contributed to the smooth and effective running of the school were generously appreciated.  The birthday song sung by the school students and staff then reverberated along the school corridors and classrooms.  The birthday boy was thereafter surprised by the gift of saplings – in place of the customary bouquets – and handmade birthday cards by the representatives of each class.  The school has indeed gone a long way to join the green bandwagon – greening has become a culture, an attitude that will be extant for a while.

Another felicitation program awaited our Principal in the assembly hall – this time by the Primary students.  Fr. Bernard was escorted to the stage along with the headmistress, Ms. Nicole Britto, and the head teacher of the Primary section, Mrs. Matilda Fernandes.  The dapperly emcee, young Master Daniel Sequeira, extended an invitation to Master Ian D’Souza to take the stage to deliver the formal speech specially prepared for the birthday boy on behalf of the staff and students of the Primary section.  Following that, the hall resonated to the sweet tune of the birthday song sung melodiously by the assembled gathering as Fr. Bernard cut the birthday cake.  An outpouring of love and affection, again in the form of handmade birthday greeting cards and saplings by each class representative of the Primary section, warmed the cockles of the heart not only of Fr. Bernard, but the entire assembly. 

The gathering was then treated to a beautiful program on ‘Unity’ – the theme of the week.  The colorful backdrop with the words, “Join hands and you can overcome problems”, the skit on the rainbow calling everyone to stand together for a cause, and the poem ‘Link arms, stand close’ and the many banners, synced with the theme. 

Up next for the birthday boy was the short yet sweet program by the staff and students of the Sr. Kg. section.  Waving their hands and hollering out their greetings, they welcomed Fr. Bernard in their midst. Their excitement reached a crescendo with the singing of the birthday song, and an action packed ditty. And then followed a procession of students, holding saplings and potted plants in their hands – some heavier than the tiny students themselves! – to present them to our Principal.  At the end of it all, Fr. Bernard was surrounded by an array of magnificent variety of green plants and colorful flowers.  A similar spontaneous program was held for the Principal in the afternoon by the Benjamins of the campus – the Jr. Kg. students.

A sea of pink greeted Fr. Bernard during the tea break at the staff gathering. You guessed it right. The lady teachers surprised the birthday boy with their pink attire symbolizing good health, life and harmony.  After the birthday song, another green plant came his way, this time in the form of a bamboo plant – a ‘Go Green gesture’ by the amazing staff. 

The birthday was indeed special for our dear Principal, Fr. Bernard, who was fed a steady diet of love, affection, warmth and ‘green’. Way to celebrate! 

A SILVER AND A BRONZE

-Bernard Fernandes sdb

India realized the worth of a silver and a bronze medal at the recently concluded London Olympics 2012 - the gold eluded us.  As a nation, we may be despondent; however, we are also searing in our post-mortems and evaluations.  There is no disgrace in coming second or third, or for that matter last – provided one tried. We cannot judge India on its billion plus population, rather, on the exposure and the ‘effective participation’ of our athletes at the world level. A critical study, “Why we are not a sporting nation” summarizes thus: “Despite India’s giant population, its effective participation level is abysmally low. And sports is cruelly pyramidic, with a very small percentage of participants winning through to the top. If our base is small, the peak will naturally be short.”

In the same vein, there is no reason for armchair critics to refrain from applauding a good and spirited performance.  Negative reporting is disparaging and mocking to the sportspersons, and also a morale dampener for us sports lovers.  As one level-headed Indian Olympic journalist says, “the Games become an exhibition of a tribal media mindset that India’s athletes continue to endure.” Sample some of the oft heard reports by our media: ‘crashed out’, ‘finished last’, ‘lowly eighth’. These can be disrepectlful and discouraging to a trying and committed sportsperson. Suma Shirur, an Indian rifle shooter at the 2004 Athen Olympics, is a case in point.  A reporter recounts:

‘One evening at the Athens Olympics, I was firmly put in my place by Suma Shirur, rifle shooter. Under a balmy summer night sky, Shirur could be found at the hockey competition, on a stand situated behind one of the goal-mouths. I went over to introduce myself and ask if I could talk to her about breathing the rarefied air of an Olympic final. For about 15 seconds, Shirur heard out the introduction and request. Then, her normally soft voice went sharp and she replied that she didn’t want to have anything do with the media. She wasn’t going to be wasting her time talking to them i.e. me. In any case why did we want to? In any case, she said, the headlines being flashed back home had declared she had “finished last.”’

 Shirur was only the second Indian into an Olympic shooting final after Anjali Bhagwat in Sydney 2000. She was one of the eight women out of a total of the world’s 44 best 10m air rifle shooters. Her life’s work and achievement though had been summarized as “finished last.” Unfair?

Closer home, our young Josephites returned with a silver and a bronze in the Mumbai city tournaments in basketball and football respectively.  After bull-dozing their way to the finals through a spirited and outstanding display, our under-14 basketball team players proved their mettle by finishing runners-up to Don Bosco, Matunga in the Savio Hoop, Level A,  tournament held at Dominic Savio High School, Andheri. In football, in the same age group, our boys bagged the third place in the DSO Subroto Mukherjee football tournament for Mumbai city, defeating Christchurch, Byculla 2-1 in a hard fought play-off match for the 3^rd and 4^th position.  Earlier they lost to Don Bosco, Matunga – they don’t seem to have grown bored of laying waste to rivals! – in the semifinals.

Keep going boys.  The journey is tough.  As Gagan Narang, our bronze medallist at the London Olympic games says: “Unfortunately, a journey is deemed complete only when you win something.” Or is it?!

A SALUTE TO OUR MOTHERLAND

-Ms. Casiola Fernandes

15^th August and the school bell chimed 40 minutes earlier than the normal routine of class signaling an auspicious and a significant day.  It was no ordinary day since it was the 66^th Independence Day of our mother land.  The excitement was palpable – participants with attractive and colorful costumes queuing the stage, the sprightly gait of students with the Indian tricolor pinned proudly to their shirts, and the welcoming dainty backdrop with a patriotic theme WE ALL ARE ONE. The atmosphere was redolent of the patriotic fervor and celebrations surrounding the first night of Indian independence. 

The chief guests, Mr. and Mrs. Shah, the proud parents of our SSC topper Master Dharmin Shah, together with Dharmin, trooped in to the school hall to the drums and the guard honor of our NCC troup.  The chief guests were accompanied by the other dignitaries, our Rector Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’sa, our Principal Rev Fr. Bernard Fernandes, Rev. Fr. Vivian D’Souza, our headmistress Ms. Nicole Britto, Mrs.  Sangita and Mrs. Matilda.  Master Dharmin Shah and his parents were given the honor of hoisting the Indian flag and after a respectful salute by the audience, the national anthem was sung.

Our guests were then felicitated with a bouquet of flowers. In the lively and well executed program that followed, a group of students from Std. VI to X began the proceedings with the rendition of the patriotic songs reminding us of our love and gratitude for our mother land.  Students from Std. VII came in next to recite a poem reminiscent of love and devotion for the nation.  Fr. Godfrey in his passionate speech kept the audience spellbound, yet gave us reason to introspect.  Our country can only progress, he said, if individuals are serious about non-corruption, accountability and a desire for hard work.

On a day of patriotic intensity, Dharmin Shah our topper, while addressing the audience was all praise for his alma mater.  His speech was a paean to his school, the management, staff and his fellow students.  Thereafter our enthusiastic dancers took the stage and rocked to the tunes of some melodious tunes from all over India.  There was a flavor from the North, South, East and West – a heady mix of the diverse cultures indeed!  Our principal Fr. Bernard proposed the vote of thanks and lauded the diligent efforts of the coordinating teachers, Mrs. Manjiri , Mrs. Anjula and the school leaders, and the amazing artwork team of Mrs. Ursella and the Fine Arts students. The catholic staff and students later joined the Eucharistic celebration honouring our Blessed Mother assumed into heaven.

Our primary students celebrated the Independence Day with gusto a day prior to it.  There was no doubt that their chests swelled with pride recounting the lives of the brave Indian heroes in their laconic way. Wearing a beaming smile and with deep respect, students of Std. II recited a poem titled ‘My country and Me’.  The audience was exhilarated when the students of Std. III danced ‘Nunna Munna Rahi Hu’ and urged us to contribute our bit in serving the nation.  Together let us salute our motherland!

Our eloquent speakers

- Master Nimit Kamdar

Who said that elocution is a dying art in our schools today? Thank God that there are still occasions and opportunities presented to the students to excel in such forms. Making the best of such an opportunity was an enthusiastic bunch of students – many were speaking for the first time on stage - who rose to the challenge to compete with the rest in the field. Assembling their vocal chords for the final run – the preliminaries were held in the respective classrooms – and with a little bit of fine tuning with the assistance of the teachers and guides, the speakers were ready for the main show, the English Elocution, on 20^th July 2012.  

The students representing their houses – two from each house in every category – were grouped according to their classes.  Speakers from Class V and VI recited poetry, participants from Class VII and VIII spoke on great personalities of the world, while the students of the higher classes, IX and X, were provided an option to speak on any of topics that would interest them: Challenges of facing a career, Importance of Wildlife and My Role Model in Sports. Prominent and respected speakers of the stage, Mr. Samson, Ms. Suzanne and Ms. Shilpa, were the judges for the competition. 

At the end of the program, the declaration of results was swaddled in suspense, and it was all over when the names of the winners were announced:  Manav Uppal, Avinash Rane and Leon Barretto – in that order – in the Stds. V and VI category, Varun Tirthani, Atharva Chaturvedi and Parth Mehta in Stds. VII and VIII section, and Shahzad Farood, Jainam Soni and Amit Bhosale in the senior section.  Kudos to all of them!  The winners of Stds. IX and X category were rewarded a cash prize of Rs. 1250, Rs. 1000 and Rs. 750 – first, second and third place respectively –thanks to the sponsors, M R Pai Foundation for English Elocution. Working behind the scenes and getting the competition and the competitors stage prepared, were our teachers, Ms. Joanna, Ms. Marilyn and Ms. Cressieda.  A job well done!

Hot on the heels of the English elocution competition in the school, was another prestigious event organized by the Lions club of Sion on 28^th July 2012.  Our own student, Shahzad Faroodi was one among the twelve competitors from the different schools of the neighbourhood. Managing his oratorical skills to perfection, Shahzad reigned supreme in the event.  He was awarded the best speaker award and returned with the impressive Lion Upendra Desai Rotating trophy for his magnificent effort.  We doff our hats to Master Shahzad Faroodi for this unique feat that has done the school proud. 

A walk for the trees

                                                               

                                                                - Casiola Fernandes            

They trooped in slowly...the first batch of students as early as 6 am with their parents in tow. The excitement kept building up with many more arrivals, and reached a crescendo with the last entrants filing in at the set time, 6.30 a.m. As many as 165 students (minus our Std. IX and Std. X students- an enthusiastic bunch - who were busy answering their Unit test) and 10 staff members of St. Joseph’s, Wadala, registered themselves for a Tree Walk on 4^th Aug, 2012 at Mumbai Port Trust Gardens, Colaba.  Kudos to our ‘everGreen’Line team that conceptualized this event to allow our youngsters get a taste of the bio-diverse environment in and around Mumbai! 

After a prayer by the Principal, and a set of instructions by the Headmistress, the group set out for the eagerly awaited Tree Walk. In the heart of the busy city of Mumbai lies a very beautiful garden at Colaba which was earlier just a barren land (dump yard). The Mumbai Port Trust has been maintaining the garden ever since it took over the responsibility of beautifying the place. The water used to water the trees in the garden is the waste water which is treated by a water treatment plant. The garden saves 90% of its cost on water - earlier they spent as much as Rs. 1000 per day on water!  The garden is known for the various types of tress and the wide range of plants found there. The greenery around blessed with the rain drops is a sight to behold.

We arrived at the garden at 8 am. Three members from the GreenLine team Ms. Parveen Shaikh, Ms. Devyani Singh and Mr.Vishal Rasal were present at the site to welcome us. In order to provide a richer and fuller experience, the students were separated to form three groups ably assisted by the accompanying staff and the guides. Each group then began the tour of the garden. The dainty flowers, the blooming plants and the majestic towering trees arrested our attention. We were introduced to a gamut of trees: the Umbrella tree, Armus tree, Banyan tree, Chinese Palm tree, Rubber tree, etc. The medicinal plants, herbs and the Indian Native trees amazed us.
         

We moved ahead to the Rock Graden. The path of the rock garden provided a roller coaster ride - round and round, up and down. It was here that we got a breathtaking view and a closer glimpse of the variety of cacti in nature. Up ahead ...and there we were facing the Arabian Sea!  We sat there watching the waves, the rain-washed sky, birds taking flight and allowing the gentle breeze to engulf our total being.

The Tree Walk ended, we returned back, happy for the exciting trip and a pleasant experience. It behoves us now to be in sync – more than ever – with the stimulating environment around us, winning it over as our ally, and not sparring with it as does a foe!