You say, “Our major problem is we all think negatively.” In my view, our major problem is that we Loyolites have an uncritical approach to our beloved school.

Think positively….I never saw a single positive word you have told about Loyola,

Did you forget how we were asked to do speches in assembly???Did you think of the second trip arranged for games???Did you think of a humanitarian person…Fr.mathew pulickal??? Which school has a teacher like him who openly speaks the truth???Which school children has the routine of cleaning the school’s WC???These are all a part of EDUCATION.

Our major problem is we all think negatively.

You dont know the peace of mind we have enjoyed while sitting on the granite sofa opp to the Union Bank after 5 PM chatting to Fr.philip Thayyil the then principal.

Quote Fr.Mathew Pulickal ” Your parents are paying the maximum,make use of it,you have to make use of it and no one will spoon you”.If we cant make ourselves different after passing out from Loyola it is our fault.

But in terms of average capacity of each student, I guess we were well ahead of similarly placed schools. Loyolites generally did everything. They played pretty much every sport in school, were coaxed into using their vocal skills for JJ House in the Youth Festival, and had to face the whole school at the assembly at least once every term and make a speech. All the Loyolites who went to college with me generally played all sports and were active in culturals as well. I dont know if this applies correctly everywhere, but my classmates were generally jacks of more trades than my friends from other schools.

The teachers who taught me were generally the best I could have found in the state. I played basketball and quizzed and debated and did pretty much everything, except of course, singing and art. However, I dont think its fair to say that Loyola didnt appreciate or encourage music. I remember these bunch of guys in my batch (ISC 2003) who were pretty crazy about music and dance and were good at it too. One of them also happens to be the very talented Saran Soman who’s vocalist for the TVM Med College band, appropriately called Spasm (Mathew George described a Youtube video of the band as the funniest thing he saw in a long time, but I havent seen it to judge yet.) Anyways, I remember there were quite a few people in school who took music seriously.

Art i agree is a big black hole.

Were we different? At the end of the day, I’d say we were. Not a huge lot, but a substantial bit. It may not have been all we sometimes claim it to be in bouts of extreme jingoism, but I think being a Loyolite has been an advantage in my life.

Loyola takes ‘above average’ kids, in the first place. So, if your average Trivandrum kid walks in, but doesn’t improve and become ‘above average’, chances are that he’ll be sent out of Loyola before the 10th standard. About Loyolites helming (and hawing), I think it’s similar to what happens in youth festivals — we perform well in a few items, others perform well on other fronts.

BTW, there’s no competing alumni association yet, and there are fan clubs for teachers of other Trivandrum schools too (like Sarvodaya). The fact that there is only one Loyola blog suggests that it is freak and weird, and not the Loyola norm.

“Bringing out what’s special in each student” — that’s a good tagline for the Great School Campaign. Thanks!

I’ll echo Arun Sudarshan’s comments here. I’m not sure what happened during the early years of the school but in the 90s when I studied what I loved most about the school (and why I think it’s different and special) was how much freedom we had and how we were treated mostly as adults. I ended up finding college life with its monotonous assignment submissions, attendance requirement and unending exams very stifling, whereas my friends from other schools found college liberating.

The usual counterargument of course is that this makes students “spoiled” (sic), and the lack of measurable achievements in sports, arts and academics mean that we are all sharing one big collective delusion.

My riposte to that is twofold:

1) This is not true – we’ve had our share of over and under-achievers just like any other school but the average Loyolite in our times was a cut above our peers. The problem is with how we measure success in a school – a student with learning disability will hardly match his peers (and one with exceptional brilliance will exceed), but the average bloke is much better off at Loyola than in any school in Trivandrum. In my 4 years in college every time an event happened at another local or state college I used to find Loyolites at the helm – these are people who never stood out in our batch but who nevertheless were better when they went outside.

2) Even if it is a delusion, it seems to be an extremely happy one and more like a self-fulfilling prophecy than a dying out candle. As an example, how many students start a competing Alumni association and a blog on a school that they passed out from 10+ years ago? Which other local teacher has a fans association in Orkut?

As an aside, I’ve argued this very same topic with my friends from other schools. Especially the girls, “What makes you Loyola guys so special, huh?” So I ask them to point out the Loyolites that they know who are NOT special. Usually that’s zilch. (A major point for our side here is how awed they are at the edifice that is Lafest)

So maybe what’s special about Loyola is that (like a very cozy romantic movie) it brings out what’s special in all of us

Peter, thank you for elaborating. The boarding seems to have been a den of activity.

Anish, very grateful (and flattered) for taking this up in the 1981 e-group, and submitting the responses. The replies not only add to the discussion here but also reveal the liveliness of your e-group.

Anand, your analysis is interesting and I think spot on. My guess is that there would be enough demand for a great school; social exposure, economic well-being, etc are rising (not falling) in Trivandrum society. And one question I’ve been bleating on this blog is: Why are Jesuit priests and teachers unable to convince parents? (Why are they being led, instead of being leaders themselves?) The more the school bends before a few unimaginative parents, the more it will attract the wrong kind of parents.

Interesting post. I believe that Loyola was not that much different, precisely for the reasons you mention – the nature of activities were different, but the attitude towards them was pretty much same across schools that I was aware of at that time.

I think the interesting pedagogical question here is whether our attitudes towards education and the world would have changed if the liberal arts and sports were treated better – not just at Loyola, but all schools. The examples you point out – music and painting – are good ones to illustrate this point.

I think its the problem of choosing schooling as an eliimnation mechanism rather than a space for education that lies at the heart of this. Parents (and teachers to a great extent) are more comfortable with a “typical” school which helps kids win those elimination hurdles that we jump all through our teens and a “good” school has to focus on making us “jump” well. As students also at that time (and maturity level), we judge ourselves by how well we’re taught to “jump” rather than our all round development. So the fault is not with the school but with the expectations that are set around it that it has to meet as a “good” educational institution in TVM.

The corollary to ask is, if we did have a school that did not focus on rote learning or teaching us to jump through hoops, but did in fact focus on all these things that we wish Loyola did, how many of us would send our kids to that school instead of Loyola or a similar “good” “traditional” school.

Anish Mathew – I certainly think that our school was at the top of the pack atleast in TVM during our time primarily because of the importance given to extra curricular activites whether it be sports, the youth festival, stint of public speaking (assembly) or the little bit of SUPW and tree planting that we used to do. And in academics too we were no slouches either – if I am not mistaken more than half the class became doctors and engineers after going through the entrance exam grind.

Renny Lewis – As i recall athletics & art activities happened only once a year…for sports day & youth festival respectively.

On sports: training for football & tennis was pretty much non-existent! ok, football was given (courtesy thankappan) to all for knocking around during lunch break & for games period…but that was it

No exposure to gymnastics at all…in contrast Holy Angels convent had a pretty good gym (with the horse thinggy, parallel bars et al)…no telling how i know that heh heh

Opportunities for training in Music was pretty basic too (only guitar & violin?)

However, all said & done, dunno if any other school did these any better…in those days atleast

Pretty sure Loyola management gave much better attention to stuff like debating, quiz & public speaking tho’…we even had sex education classes – now how many schools in TVM would have offered that?

Prasenjit Saha – agree with Reny completely. Though we got to have the ‘those days’ perspective.

In sports, we had adequate grounds but that’s about it. I remember that in 1980 when we went ot the district sports meet, I was so surprised to see that a few schools had starting blocks in the sprints. Me? I saw starting blocks with my own eyes for the first time. Further we could definitely have done with some coaching in sports. CT Varkey was the sort of all-in guy who really didn’t know a lot.

Same thing about soc and cult stuff. We did what we did mostly on our own. The only ‘training’ in public speaking were the elocution classes in sixth and seventh where everyone without exception stuttered about ‘my first smoke’.

But it was good life. There was so much freedom. Even wearing chappals and untucked shirts.

Srinivas Chidambaram – We probably experienced the Golden Age or were swept by the perfect storm into an afterlife which left us with only rose tinted memories. Only half kidding.

Think about it, guys – no punishments after class V, no ties, any footwear was ok, homework- yeah sure – who got pulled up, I don’t recall anyone seriously taken to task in class in Class IX and X, career counselling, sex education (which some if not all did’nt need, but hey it’s the thought that counts), I don’t recall a single compulsory activity…. our teachers treated us like adults and most of all, no pressure for exams or studies…I don’t recall getting stressed ever for a friday test (always start or even for icse. I recall an incident – nut that I was, I put in some risque jokes in LENS for a laugh, and apart from a tart commment from Rosachi, god rest her soul, I was instantly forgiven. I apologised to Karadi the bear (Fr Kuruvilla) who brushed it off like water off a duck’s back – forgiven, nay, not even taken to task. Where the f.. do kids get treated like that any more?

To be sure, the counterpoint is there was no great competition, did’nt make a mark in any state or interschool events, did’nt even know there were some, in fact – we were in a world of our own – but I guess we turned out all right, did’nt we, guys! Would’nt trade that freedom for anything.

Antony Joseph - I don’t think I learned much football or cricket or music at Loyola either. But here are some character forming aspects of edu@loyola over and above those that have found mention so far….

1) Remarkable characters like Karadi, Kurup, VC Annen and Rosachi who gave fodder for monoacts and other creative pursuits – and perhaps contributed to the making of a world renowned moviemaker who shared benches with us? (Seeing the ability of a 16mm projector to mesmerize an auditorium full of fidgety kids, did stimulate as well ? )

2) Skill developed from maneuvering around several teams /games/sports/ /pastimes on the soccer field may have contributed to the daredevil driving skills of of a Himalayan Rally finisher.

3) Running around the bunds in the rubber/tapioca fields around junior school may have contributed to the skills of a mobike stuntman who had the Almighty perform so many miracles to keep him alive that he can now reach out to thousands of believers without having to make sensational statements about using or not using condoms….

4) If not for the musicality, I am sure that the dedication, passion and sincerity shown by mj antony did contribute to the making of well respected guitarist within our group – during his heydays.

5) The challenge of having to compete with so many high performers prompted a few amongst us to try out alternative careers (other than docs and engineers!) leading to spectacular careers in entrepreneurship , wealth management etc

6) I am not sure how strong ethics was inculcated in us but I know it is there and I am certain it did not come from the other two institutions I went to in Tvm – arts college and tvm engg.

7) A few teachers taught that life can be unfair….. and also to speak out against that.

All that shit cleaning during SUPW did bring a strong respect for labour – and was recently newsworthy when a high flying executive switched places for a day with a company delivery boy…

9) Not many sportsmen I agree, except for a few district / state players (from a class of merely 40!)…. But we did learn to play fair and cheer a winning or losing team with dignity…

I guess there was learning everywhere around us – planned or unplanned.

Issac Philip – Agree with most statements. I also think that maybe we were a good bunch of guys Even now, there is this great bond among us, wonder if this happens with all.

Following the leader is not unique to Loyola; I think the same happens in other schools, firms and government. We are rats and we follow the Piper.

When I was in the 12th, the school had hired some teachers with a great deal of experience from other schools. Great teachers in their own right, I’m sure, but not able to fit in well at Loyola. While we were heading towards the Sutter Hall for the assembly one fine Wednesday, I heard one of them remark, “What indisciplined boys! They’re not even walking in a straight line to the assembly!”

Need I say more?

Peter, didn’t know that Loyolites saw themselves as superior, even in the 1960s. How was your knowledge and interest in sport nourished at Loyola — by playing in the field, or through other ways?

Sreejesh, I too have felt the bonding. Humans try to ‘connect’ in various ways — school, region, language — probably because we have memories to share, especially when we are far from home. And if every school is unique (as Nitin too seems to agree), then maybe we should merely accept that instead of claiming that we are “different”, and curb the sense of superiority that underlies such claims. I view Sandeep’s comment as a pithy reminder — a question that we should constantly ask ourselves. By making us proud of our school and ourselves, our teachers (including Jesuits) may have meant only to instil confidence, not breed arrogance.

I actually sucked big time on a stage, till I hosted B&T for Lafest.

Without all those drawing n music lessons, Where would I have been?? Seriously!!

“And I bet every school in India claims that it is student-oriented”

Now i agree that every school in India “claims” that it is student oriented. But how many of them are really student oriented? I can’t speak about schools in the entire country, but at least my city. In Trivandrum, no other student would dare to claim that their school is student oriented, other than Loyolites. Now the reason is I myself have studied in three different schools and have friends who has been in Loyola till 10th and later moved on to other big city schools. My sister studies in another big city school and i know how ‘well’ she thinks about her school.

Academics is also important. Some schools which gives too much importance into the extra curricular activities don’t get the same results academically. Pallikkoodam in Kottayam is an example. What we have to do is to find a right balance b/w academic and non-academic activities. I think that balance is almost perfect in Loyola. We have achievers in both academics as well as sports and arts. And i am sure that you wont deny the fact that unless a person is exceptionally talented, he wont make it big in the arts or sports sector. (its a combination of many factors like hardwork, talent, support from parents and luck). So sometimes its the number game that lands us somewhere respectable.

Dear Gurudas,

You were correct when you said that we have open discussions and debates with teachers. But i think the school remains ‘uniquely student oriented’ due to several factors one of which is the presence of Fr. Edassery. I don’t think any magazine work or LaFest work is possible w/o principal’s permission (you have been part of these works, so you should know). Principal was very much cooperative when our batch did magazine 08 and LaFest 08.

The LaFest is a different topic that requires a separate blogpost.

hmm. Good post , sets me thinking; turns me inside with a critic’s eye!