විදුමව් හරසර
Celebrations of the founding of a school
The original story credit goes to Rohan Weerakkody, my lifelong pal and classmate in junior school, who compiled this storyline in Sinhala.
The boys rallied in rows behind each other. It was bright dawn to the day, evident from the delightful faces of the youngsters. The light sunny rays shadowed the classroom filled with seven-year-olds. The fragrance of fresh flowers was flowing through the class. The smell of new paint from the study desks and the walls filled the air. The boys were well-behaved, and ingrained in their beloved Catholic faith. They and their teachers dressed in simple but neat clothes. Everyone waited calmly in the classrooms for their turn for things to come on this glorious day, a very special day in the school, St. Anthony’s College, Wattala.
The school bell rang; a distinct rhythm sounded out the unique and significant nature of the day, heralding the beginning of the exciting event. The teacher gently signalled to the class monitor to lead and direct the rest of the students. The little boys, two in a row in one direction, started moving slowly and steadily. Each class monitor carried either a bunch or a garland of fresh flowers, leading his classmates.
The boys from the primary section advanced to the left. From a distance, the senior boys from the twin building could be seen heading to the right, also in rows. (More on the senior boys’ journey later) The juniors left their two-story building opposite the large sporting ground. They walked slowly, passing the tin-roofed building on their left, pacing and keeping the order of the rows, front and behind. They then passed the cadjan thatched classrooms on their left. The boys gently climbed the gravel-laid passageway next. On their right was the tamarind tree. And the garage where the school’s official vehicle, the shining creamy colour VW Combi van was parked. Next, they headed past the huge mansion to the right passing the sapodilla tree on their left. As these little boys turned towards the main entrance of the magnificent mansion that heralded the school, were the two Montessori classes by the side of the huge courtyard. The circular courtyard, directly in front of the mansion, also acted as the playground for the preschool kids in the Montessori. A towering May tree, covered in red flower beats, shadowed most of that front yard, providing shade to the courtyard. A large manmade rock cave was on their left, a replica of the Lourdes grotto from France that was dedicated to Mary, Jesus’s mother. The kids passed the grotto, its white and saintly statue of Mother Mary and its glittering marbled altar and took their place in front of the majestic building, the mansion and its arched entrance. The whole spectacle was a beautiful, gentle and calming sight to watch.
While the boys of primary school were on the move, the bigger boys from the senior facility were exiting their building. They moved on a parallel route to avoid disturbing their junior counterparts. They passed the parasol leaf tree, two cars, an Austin A40 and a Mayflower parked under the trees next to their building. The big boys moved calmly in organised rows, class by class. They passed the school principal’s office and the school canteen that served plain tea at five cents a pop. The big boys then passed the three-storey, Juvenate building that was recently built. Moving forward, they passed the tamarind tree and the garage that housed the school’s Combi van, where they joined the junior boys, merging with them to make a harmonious joint procession. Leading the senior boys was the school’s director, Brother Austin. The teachers of the senior facility followed him.
As the boys from the school assembled in the large courtyard in front of the mansion, the local parish priest of St. Anne’s church, Father Nicholas Perera, was preparing to celebrate mass. Next to the altar under the grotto was Dagma Pieris, the college’s music teacher and her choir, comprised of selected, musically talented schoolboys. The altar boys, also from the school, dressed in red and white attire with their hands bowed, assembled near Father Nicholas. Paul, the school’s office assistant, wearing white and a thick black belt, remained close to Father Nicholas in readiness to provide any assistance.
This was St. Joseph’s Day in school, an annual event and the main feast in St. Anthony’s College. The year was 1962. The date was the 1st of May.
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This celebration had a historical background, how my old school, named after St Anthony, was founded. But it had a special devotion to St. Joseph, another saint in the Catholic faith.
During WW2, Colombo became the naval headquarters of the British naval command for Asian theatre. The Japanese considered Colombo a wartime target, bombing it in 1942. With safety fears for civilians, many government and private institutions relocated to outer suburbs. With uncertainty mounting, the Christian Brothers relocated their three schools in the capital, St Benedict’s, St Joseph’s and De La Salle. The Brothers bought the mansion, built in 1918 and the surrounding land and relocated the three schools, naming it St. Anthony’s College. This is where, twenty years later, in 1962, the students assembled for this event.
The initial student numbers were just 88. Most classes were housed in a shed beside the mansion where the Brothers lived with harsh facilities. The senior classes were held in the main building, i.e. the mansion. The living conditions in the mansion were not ideal without electricity and running water. At the end of WW2, many students returned to Colombo to be replaced by local boys from Wattala and the suburbs.
But this new school in post-war Sri Lanka had no sports grounds. The land, extending to seven hectares that belonged to the school, was heavily vegetated and hilly. On one side of the property was marshland. Developing the site into a proper school was impossible and remained a pipe dream. The Christian Brothers were not the ones to give up. Supported by the locals, they explored all options to develop the new school site, laying their faith in God for a solution.
The dedicated Christian Brothers, led by Brother Vincent Joseph, a European, the school's first director, had tremendous faith. They brought a statue of St. Joseph and tied soil from the undeveloped property on its feet. They prayed daily to St. Joseph, in front of its statue, with the soil at its feet, asking for a miracle, pleading fervently.
Blind faith found an answer. A stranger visited Brother Director Vincent Joseph. Within days heavy machinery was on site, surprising the villagers in Wattala. Trees and rocks were moved, to huge roars never seen and heard in the suburb., A levelled backyard and a large sports ground were created within three months. Since clearing, one could see the vehicles plying on the main Negombo road from the school, delighting many. It was a miracle, unthinkable, just three months earlier. It was the making of the school’s playground where many sports, cricket, football, volleyball and football, were subsequently played.
The job finished, and the big-hearted, generous stranger, crew, and machinery disappeared. They vanished with no traces. The Brothers and the villagers did not get a chance to honour and thank the kind donor.
St. Joseph’s statue became the harbinger of this fabulous miracle. It was now directly opposite the new sports ground, offering his benevolence to the students and people of Wattala. A symbol of blind faith and perseverance at a difficult time as Sri Lanka was about to get its post-colonial independence.
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In this annual event, everyone celebrated the school's founding in front of its first building. The community was celebrating a miracle. They were celebrating their faith with gratitude.
After the religious service, the two student groups assembled on the two routes re-assembled for a final procession. Led by flag carriers with the College and Catholic flags, it followed a different route on the way back to school. The kindergarten students and the rest followed the flag-carrying students. This time, the procession took on a different route. It circled the circular courtyard and exited the school premises. Turning right onto the main Averiwatta road, it took another turn to the gravel road at the edge of the school property. The students sang religious hymns along the gravel road, renovated for the event. The long procession then passed the rear of the Juvenate building, the canteen, the basketball rings of the school and on the opposite side, the huge marshland. Finally, they entered the school premises at the edge of the sports ground.
The sun shone brightly, igniting the ground and giving its grass a bright green. The whole area livened up. The procession proceeded to head towards St. Joseph’s statue along the beautifully laid out pathway adorned by Cyprus trees. Invitees and parents were waiting, witnessing this magnificent entry of the students. The flowers from each class were beautifully and orderly laid near the feet of the statue. After the class monitors finished their ritual, the school head prefect and representatives from the teachers laid their flowers. That was the climax of this beautiful annual event.
When the ceremony part of the event was over, refreshments arrived. Students, parents, teachers and school assistants were served snacks and soft drinks.
It was a grand celebration of the school's founding some twenty years ago in 1942 by the students, teachers, brothers, parents and residents of Wattala. St. Joseph underpinned it and was at the centre of this adulation.
Now you may wonder why my old school was not named after St. Joseph but St. Anthony.
The founding Christian brothers thought picking Joseph, one name against the other two, Benedict and De La Salle, on a new school founded on the chaos faced by the three schools was unfair to the two schools that would have been left out. Instead, they went for a neutral, St Anthony.
As I write this story today in 2022, I admire the innovation in branding by the Christian brothers some eighty years ago.
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Images and artwork belong to Denzil Jayasinghe.
