Comments on: Loyola’s Original Music Sir

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:49:01 +0000

Happy to hear that, Kaustuv, and thanks for the encouragement!

By: Kaustuv

Kaustuv — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:55:07 +0000

May I mention, that listening to the piano tune of the school song-inspiration gave me goosebumps! Your blogs send me into a helpless nostalgia trip, everytime. Great work!

By: Ashok

Ashok — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:51:03 +0000

John, in my time, each class was divided into two groups — Sparrows, and Magpies. Typically, the division was decided by seating arrangement. There used to be 2 columns of students, and those who sat in one column (or on one side of the class) would be Sparrows. If the guys on the left side were Sparrows, the guys on the right-hand side benches would be Magpies. The teacher would give points to each group — including for discipline/silence in class! The points of Sparrows in each junior school class (I-IV in my time) were added to build the total score of Sparrows for the junior school. Medals were hung on the junior-school notice-board to indicate the total score of each group.

By: John

John — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:53:20 +0000

I’d love to hear more about Junior School groups. Never knew we had those, and what happened by the time we were studying in junior school?

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:43:51 +0000

Radhakrishnan, I’ve presented evidence that the music was composed by Sherwin, not Mr Antony or anybody in India. The logos and flags of the Space Houses were not designed by teachers, if what I’ve heard is true.

Didn’t know that the houses were initially the names of colours. Might have been exciting to get the Space names! In my time in junior school (1981-1984), we had only two groups — Sparrows and Magpies. Your comment evoked a few memories. Thanks!

By: S. Radhakrishnan

S. Radhakrishnan — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:01:03 +0000

Ashok,

Good find. That School Anthem was put together my a teacher in the Junior school (not sure if it was Mrs. Murray or not). The music was composed by Antony sir I think. Not 100% sure on those.

The same goes for our flag. It was designed by a teacher of our school (again some thing reminds me it was a Junior school teacher).

I still vividly remember the assembly during which they were presented. We basically had to un-learn the earlier song and learn this new anthem. Any other oldies remember the creators of these?

So were the house-names Apollo Pioneers, Gemini Giants, Jupiter Jetsettter and Sputnik Spacemen. The names and flags were designed by the teachers. I forget who. Prior to that, they were just called the Green house, Yellow house, Blue House and Red house. Does the Junior school still have the bird names (Magpies, Sparrows, etc)?? I forget the other two.

Love,
-Radhakrishnan

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:13:33 +0000

Ajay, I was searching the roots of the school song’s lyrics. The lines led me to the tune.

By: Ajay George

Ajay George — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:05:00 +0000

Great find…
How did you stumble on it?

By: The ARChive: Blog on Loyola School, Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) » » 5 Lessons from Blogging about My School

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:07:49 +0000

[...] the school, teachers and old boys. Even though the biggest discovery of my blog was probably the composer of the school song, it got overshadowed by two news reports: Deepa Madam Moves On, and IAS Exam: 3 Loyolites in Top [...]

By: Deepak Madhusoodanan

Deepak Madhusoodanan — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:26:35 +0000

Also, the school logo is incredibly similar to that of Loyola University, Chicago http://www.luc.edu

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sun, 06 May 2007 03:31:59 +0000

Senthil, the next time you hear any such comment on Loyola, please buzz me. I’m always looking for crime stories on Loyola.

By: Senthil

Senthil — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:59:02 +0000

A non-Indian, Christian friend of mine mentioned to me the couple of times she heard me hum our song that the tune is very reminiscent of a church song. I strongly maintained that she must have it mixed up. Well, now I know better

Great work, Ashok!

By: Gautam

Gautam — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:03:53 +0000

Always wondered where they came from. Super work, Ashok!

By: Ashok

Ashok — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 02:00:15 +0000

Ajith, I was researching the school song from another angle. A bit like searching for a needle in a haystack, and ending up with the farmer’s daughter.

By: ajith george

ajith george — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:02:20 +0000

that was a wonderful of info u got there..

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:37:22 +0000

Abishek, maybe we should spin this…you know…as reflecting the school’s international character, openness, etc. If this blogpost triggers a change in the school song tune, that would be really sad. I can live with the St Thomas guys taunting us. Wouldn’t mind if our lyrics were made original, though. After all, we rarely sang ‘O Thou God of all’.

By: Abishek

Abishek — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:09:20 +0000

Holy cow!….The works of Bappi Lahiri, Annu Malik and some latest numbers of ARR have all found their traces: shallow, buried and deep (in the same order) in some folk songs of the West…Little did I imagine our very own anthem was inspired from elsewhere…Good find I say! …
Congrats Ashok…Nice one!

By: Ashok

Ashok — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:00:57 +0000

Thanks, Deepak. Third stanza it is. Corrected. The incorrect version is the only one on the web. I don't see the song at the school's official website. A few years ago, your personal site had the correct version in full. Bring it on again!

By: Deepak Madhusoodanan

Deepak Madhusoodanan — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:57:55 +0000

This is an amazing find. All this while I used to wonder who compsed the anthem, and assumed it was the late Mr. Antony.

A slight correction: the stanza quoted is the third, not the second in the school anthem. The second begins thus: “Loyola’s sons acclaim brave Loyola’s fame…”