Anil Sharma

Old School

It was in one of the break’s I take during work that I Googled up my old school.

I studied in the St. Joseph’s School (also called North Point) at Darjeeling between 1983 and 1989. The school was started in 1888, that’s 112 years ago.  The school building, made of large blocks of stone, is so beautiful; it should actually be declared a heritage structure. While doing this search I found this picture, just click on it to see it in its true grandeur:

North Point School Darjeeling
St. Joseph's School, North Point, Darjeeling

Notice the Mt. Kanchenjunga in the backdrop, the world’s third highest peak at 28,169 ft. The facade of the building neatly hides the rest of it; the building is actually a square structure. Here’s a Google Earth image that show’s the entire school.

North Point School - Ariel View
North Point School - Ariel View

The quadrangle of the school is where we had our assemblies (surprisingly, I don’t remember a single speech given by the Principal!).  In front of the school building is the cricket ground, at the back is the football ground and towards the left, the main playground.  The structure behind the football ground houses the Swimming pool and the gymnasium. The structures to the left are the Frazer Hall (auditorium) and the junior school block.

Looking at these pictures made me search for the school song which I must have sung, forced by our great teachers, a hundred times then.

Northpoint chorus

Hurrah for our home in the mountains !
Hurrah for the monarchs of snow !
For the land of the forests and fountains,
And the torrents that ever flow !

Toil up from the valley below;
“Lift your heart” to the breeze and the glow;
And our school on the hill
Here’s a cheer for it still,
As onward through life we go !

From the sweltering South and the Islands,
From the plains where the hot winds blow,
We have met in the heart of the highlands
At fair India’s gates of snow.

Here’s a hand to a faltering brother.
Here’s a lift for the lame and the slow,
And we’ll stand, boys, like men to each other
As onwards through life we go.

It all makes sense now, the years of fun and toil at such schools and the efforts of all the teachers made me what I am today. Maybe I’m old school too.

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