Madras Week | As Chennai’s Good Shepherd Convent turns 100 its alumni take a walk down memory lane
Good Shepherd Convent celebrates its centenary with a legacy gala on August 10. ‘Girlies’ remember their school days and their unique red tie and badge
Students in front of the high school
| Photo Credit: S Shiva Raj
As I turn into the gate on College Road, with a signboard that reads Good Shepherd Higher Secondary School, my adult life vanishes. Small, lucid details come to mind — the silver grille enclosure where girls used to lounge after school while a man sold purple hyacinths from a basket; the junior school helmed in by a barbed wire fence and oleander bushes; opposite, the ruins of an old tiled building flanking the auditorium. At the end of the drive stood a statue of the Good Shepherd painted silver – Christ as a shepherd with a staff, carrying a lamb on his shoulder. At its base, magenta table roses bloomed and set with the sun. Further, were the sports fields where many a student was taught that ‘she who sweats, wins’. Now, the school band keeps the beat as students (fondly called girlies) practise for the upcoming sports day. Some girls lie star-fished and exhausted under the copper-pod trees.
Nuns from the early years gather around the statue of the Good Shepherd on the College Road campus
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The high-pillared portico of the convent has changed. Superior and correspondent, Sister Aruna George, pulls out an old photo album. “The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd that runs the school was founded by Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in France around 1829 to provide shelter to marginalised women. By the late 19th Century, its nuns travelled across continents establishing schools and houses for girls. In India, they landed in Pondicherry and travelled by bullock cart to Bangalore to establish the Sacred Heart School in 1854. Later, a hospital was added. On November 21, 1924, six nuns came to Madras to start the school we know today, with a first-day enrollment of three students. The community here now has 20 nuns and 2,300 students. As part of the centennial, we have also started an ICSE school,” says Sr Aruna.
Other events include The Legacy Gala on August 10 with Member of Parliament MK Kanimozhi as the chief guest. It will also feature notable past students such as Carnatic vocalist Sudha Ragunathan, singer Shwetha Mohan, stand-up comic Anu Menon (ex-Lola Kutty), a video by filmmaker Latha Menon and entertainment, including a mystery trail across the 16-acre campus.
A class photograph outside Eccleston
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According to records, the school first began in Luz in a nondescript building before it shifted to The Cloisters in Teynampet in 1925. Later, it moved to Somerford in Adyar — a large property overlooking the river with ample accommodation for students and boarders. The school supported itself by opening a small laundry. Every Monday, a cart would bring 150 labelled bundles of boys’ clothes from St Bede’s and clean, mended clothes were sent back on Saturday. Private lessons in languages and music were given. In October 1929, the sisters occupied the present campus, part of Moorat’s Gardens, with no compound wall and only a large house dating from East India Company days. This became the convent. When the Second World War broke out, the convent shifted to Bears Cave in Yercaud. They returned to a new convent and chapel and by 1952 set up Marian Home for skill training, and the purchase of Eccleston house that is now among the oldest buildings on campus. Till 1973, boys were part of the junior classes. After a gap of 50 years they are back in the ICSE school.
Over the years, the school saw a cosmopolitan mix of students who excelled in academia, sport, medicine, law and civil service.
Action on sports day. In the distance, beyond the shamiana, is Fatima Hall
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Says Sheeba Ninan, correspondent, Union Christian School, and president of the alumni association spearheading the centennial celebrations, “I was in Goodshe from 1970 to 1982. My favourite place was the music room with 12 pianos and the image of Sr Ligouri in her white habit and black shoes hurrying across the grounds to it, under an umbrella. Sr Teresa Grimes, an Irish nun, introduced us to the small touches that make things perfect.”
The Fatima Hall with its huge stained glass window, flagstone floor and ballet barre, where girls sang ‘A is for the alligator’ with Sr Ligouri striking a chord, now echoes to Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby baby’ as kids practise on its tiled floor.
“Mother John de Britto helped many achieve distinction in the Trinity College of Music exams. Mrs Rajam, the Maths teacher, was a young bride then,” says Nalini Sunder, a retired corporate executive, who joined in 1963 and is part of an alumni group that meets often. “Fatima Hall was also where we watched films for 25 paise, Gulebakavali starring MGR was memorable. So also was the sight of Shirley Scott, my classmate, stealing a ride on the ice-cream man’s tricycle. And there was always time to visit the chapel.”
The auditorium before its facelift
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Joan Rajadas of the class of 1984 says, “Even greeting friends with a ‘hi’ was something I learnt here. The auditorium was the place where many talents were discovered and nurtured. Whether it was debates, dramatics, Mock UN, Mock Parliament… there was a place on stage for everyone. The blue and maroon curtains were manually operated. Miss Vipula and Mrs Erevelles helped us get over stage fear in plays like The Dear Departed andThe Ghost of Jerry Bundler. Later, vernacular oratory was also introduced. The house system helped raise the bar, and though the competition was stiff, there was no animosity. At the end of the day, we would shake hands and share a chocobar priced at a princely ₹2.50.”
Several additions have been made to the school. The infirmary where the girls came howling with grazed knees has become part of the office, the old canteen with its plastic strips of pepsicola is now a garage, and the window where the twin-tailed drongo used to sit, minutes before recess, is now tree-less. The one constant that has remained is the readings from the Koran, the Gita and the Bible at every important event.
Ramona Viswanathan, secretary, alumni association, says, “I studied here only for four years, but still feel a very strong connect. My class teacher Miss Geraldine Misquith recognising that I was reserved got me involved in many activities. It was that personal touch that got me keen to have my daughter study here too. My sister, cousins and nieces are also alumni.”
A photograph of a cultural show
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Jancy Malathy has been associated with the school since 1970 – as a student, parent, a high school teacher and now a colleague of her daughter who has also joined the teaching staff. “I’m grateful to Mrs Nalini Karunakaran for making my classes fascinating. It has led to a lifetime in the social sciences,” she says.
June Beale joined the school in 1974 as one of many Anglo-Indian teachers who taught the junior classes reading, diction and recitation. “Our free hours always involved a fun game of tombola. There was time to foster long-lasting bonds,” she says.
Students crowned with laurel wraths on the victory stand
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Where once there used to be shamianas for sports day there is now gallery seating. Groundsmen lay out the tracks with chalk dust. As I leave, I can still hear the drummer’s beat despite the loud traffic outside. And high on the wall, emblazoned in the school colours of red and white is the school motto, Age Quod Agis – Do Well All That You Do, a solid survival from the best years of our lives.
The Legacy Gala is on August 10, 4pm onwards. For details, call 8438197919 or email [email protected]
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