In my first post on this website, I wrote about a Harry Potter experience on our journey to Goethals.
We departed from a railway station in Howrah, across the Hooghly River from Calcutta. Howrah Station could easily have been from Harry Potter. It was constructed by the British using similar styles used in London. The train was pulled by a steam engine.
Goethals chartered several compartments exclusively for its students, either returning to start a new year at school or returning home. Our parents dropped us off and waited to wave us off as the train left the station.
There was a great deal of excitement, hustle, and bustle on the platform. We climbed aboard the train into our assigned compartments. Every window was covered with heads straining to catch the last view of our parents as the train chugged out of the station.
And so began our long journey to Goethals Memorial School, situated in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains.
Goethals Memorial School was founded in 1907 and named after the Jesuit Archbishop of Calcutta (Kolkata), Paul Goethals. It is run by the Irish Christian Brothers.
Memories Of My First Day In Goethals
I promised that I would return and write an article about life at Goethals Memorial School. How close was it to Harry Potters’s Hogwarts?
Although it had echoes of Hogwarts, our school had a uniqueness that was quintessentially Goethals. When my brother, Colin, and I were dispatched to boarding school, Harry Potter’s Hogwarts didn’t exist. This was the late 1950’s and the author of Harry Potter wasn’t even born!
Unlike Hogwarts where small groups of students were housed in semi-private rooms, we were assigned to large dorms that had rows and rows of beds. Goethals had three large dorms, for students from elementary, middle, and high school groups. Colin was an elementary student and I fell into middle school.
Harry Potter and his friends were in luxurious accommodations compared to ours. We were assigned closets in the box room to store our personal belongings. Here is where we washed and had our showers.
Once we all freshened up after our long trip, it was dinner time. Our dining hall had two sections. A smaller section for vegetarians and a larger one for meat eaters like me. Three of the main religions in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, foster a plant-based diet.
My Very First Evening
I do not recall our first dinner being a Great Feast as in Hogwarts. We did have great feasts but these were served on special Feast Days which were also holidays. I vividly remember that the food served then was special and worthy of those occasions.
After dinner, we all marched up to the study hall where we socialized informally. The large room was filled with a cacophony of voices as returning students were eager to share how they spent their three-month break.
New boarders like myself had an opportunity to make new friends. I was very shy and was happy to listen to all the banter around me in silence. The first pangs of homesickness took root and I wondered if I would ever overcome that feeling.
A few teachers were assigned to monitor the students to make sure there was no unruliness.
Soon it was time to go to the dorms. But first, we were taken through the nightly ritual that was repeated without fail every day. Toilet time!
The Nightly Ritual
Countries that are situated close to or within the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn do not experience lengthy sunrises and sunsets. Twilight is virtually nonexistent. At about 6 pm it gets dark suddenly. And at 6 am the reverse occurs.
Before we all marched to the dorms It was toilet time. This always happened after dark. The teachers instructed all the students to fall in line. We marched to the playing field in front of the box room. Adjacent to the box rooms was what we called the bogs. AKA, toilets! Once everyone had the opportunity to go to the bogs, we marched to our respective dorms.
Lining up and marching to places became a way of life at certain times of the day.
Weekly And Daily Schedule
Like Hogwarts, there were strict weekly and daily schedules which were very similar with a few exceptions. Sundays and Wednesday afternoons were free time for the students. Saturday was a regular class day.
Catholics attended Mass in the Chapel every morning from 6:30 to 7 am while non-Catholic students assembled in the study hall for quiet time.
Study hour in the study hall was after dinner from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Guess what happened then? The nightly toilet ritual.
Music hour ran from 8 pm to 9 pm when the lights were turned off for the night. During music hour we were allowed to wander and chat with our friends. There were toilets in each of the dorms so there was no need to wander to those outside next to the box room.
Wake up call was at 5:45 am daily. We made our beds and then lined up to march to the box rooms. We washed, with running cold water only, and change into our school uniforms. Cold water was fine during the hot months. In winter, it felt like torture.
Meal Times
Goethals served four meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner. Breakfast was usually porridge with tea. Lunch and dinner were curry and rice. Tea time was at 3 pm at the end of the school day.
What did we get for tea? Don’t think of tiny sandwiches and pastries typical of British tea time. Tea consisted of a slice of bread, a pat of butter, and hot black tea with milk and sugar already added. Much like CHAI. It was enough to keep us going until dinner at 5:45 pm.
The Competitive Spirit Akin To Hogwarts
Goethals students were assigned to four houses just like in Hogwarts. Instead of the mysterious names of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, our houses were named after the colors Gold, Green, Blue, and Red. Gold was just a more impressive name for Yellow!
The team sports of Football (soccer) and Cricket, were played and fought between the Houses during the school year. One of these Houses would be deemed the winner in Football and Cricket based on which team had the best results throughout the year.
Sports Day in September marked the climax of the battle of the Houses. There were four teams in Track & Field. Like in any sports meet, there was competition in distance running, hurdles, long jump, shot put, tug-of-war, and the obstacle race. The relays and the tug-of-war were the most intense.
At the end of the competition when the winners were known, the trophies were presented. The House with the most points was proclaimed the winning House.
How Good Was I At Sports?
Terrible! My football skills were non-existent. When team captains had to pick their teams I was always the last pick. My lack of skills resulted in nobody passing the football to me. I was more of an obstacle than an asset to the team. Embarrassing!
Cricket is akin to baseball. It is placed with bowlers, batters, fielders, and the wicketkeeper. The bowler performs the function of the pitcher. Batters bat the ball just like in baseball. Fielders help to prevent runs from being scored as well as catching fly balls to get the batter out. The wicketkeeper squats behind the wickets to catch the ball missed by the batsman, much like the catcher in baseball. If the batsman is out of his crease, the area that limits the movement of the batter, similar to the batter’s box in baseball, the wicketkeeper can throw the ball to dislodge the wickets to get the batsman out.
I was not good at any of this, was placed on the sidelines, and rarely had an opportunity to play the game.
My Redeeming Opportunity
The area I excelled was in playing the piano. It was fun being good at one thing where I was not challenged. But playing the piano was not a sport. It didn’t have the prestige compared to winning a sporting event. What could I do?
Over the years, I had observed students compete in the obstacle race. There was something I felt I had a shot at. The obstacles were erected several days before Sports Day. These were located in the oval surrounded by the running tracks. Why not give the obstacle course a trial run?
Days before Sports Day I tried out each of the obstacles. They consisted of a ramp, a wall with a rope mesh, a series of suspended rings, tubes on the ground, and a balancing bar before the finishing line. As always, there would be a mystery obstacle at the end that would be revealed just before the obstacle race.
We had to run and navigate over or across each of these obstacles. The first person to complete them all after satisfying the judge’s guidelines would win.
Sports Day
Sports Day had arrived. There were banners and streamers everywhere. Dignitaries strolled to and seated in the VIP Pavilion. All the schoolboys were dressed in white shorts, and T-shirts with their respective House colors, gold, green, blue, and red. I was on the green team.
Sneakers, as we know them today, didn’t exist back then. We wore athletic shoes called Keds. This consisted of rubber soles with a white canvas top. When the Keds got dirty, we washed them clean and coated the canvas with a white pasty compound that dried white.
The following picture is typical of the Keds we wore.
The Obstacle Race
The time for the obstacle race had arrived. All the competitors strolled to the starting line. Their names were announced over the loudspeakers. When my name was announced, there was a surprised gasp among the students. Nobody expected me to compete. I managed to keep that a secret from my fellow students.
The whole school by then knew that I was not good at sports. Since I was the underdog and was considered to have no chance of winning, it made sense to cheer me on to make me feel good.
We were all directed to go to the finish line first. What was happening? Instructions were given by the chief judge to take off our Keds and remove the laces. Then we were directed to place them a few feet before the finish line. The final obstacle would be to put on our Keds and lace them up correctly.
Notice all the laces on the above Keds example? Surely I would be able to complete this task. It would be a piece of cake. Right?
The Race Begins
Bang went the starting gunshot. The first obstacle was the ramp. My frequent practice paid off as I was first off the mark and over the ramp. Next, I traversed the overhead rings. This was followed by crawling through the tubes. When I scaled the rope wall, I was surprised to see I was way ahead of the pack.
I managed to hear the crowd roar, “Go Edwin Go!” I believe they were all surprised to see me leading the pack. The lead I gave myself helped me to stay in front all the way to the final obstacle. Putting on the Keds time.
Heavens above, I hit a snag. Being exhausted I found it hard to focus when it came to threading the laces to my Keds. By then others had caught up. I could hear the VIP head of the Jesuit College instructing me to use the wishbone threading method shown in the picture above, instead of the conventional threading of the laces across.
It didn’t matter. My mind was a mess and I saw myself grasping at defeat from the jaws of victory. I lost and walked off feeling so embarrassed. How could I have failed miserably in putting on the laces to my Keds?
My friends still gave me credit later for at least leading the pack till the end. That was some consolation.
Why Should I Write About Goethals?
Let me pause and ask the question, why should I write about Goethals? There is so much that you can find online about this fabled boarding school. Goethals had a profound impact on my life. Not only while a student there, but also throughout my life to this present day.
Although I have seen many friends and alumni create excellent websites about Goethals, their purposes have been to mainly present factual information. My goal is to add my personal experiences and how Goethals has impacted my life in amazing ways.
My outlook on the world was shaped by my experiences at Goethals, which has enabled me to help others too. While at school, the staff as well as other students saw value in me. Hence, I was trained subliminally to see the value in others. Why not use this to impact the lives of others in a positive way?
Change
In recent years GMS has physically expanded to accommodate many more students. It is not an all-boys school because it has gone co-ed. I feel that over the years what I affectionately referred to as the Hogwarts Experience has gradually come to an end.
Many students, some being friends, have told their stories about Goethals that I have enjoyed.
In this post, I will not only share my first day at Goethals but how this iconic boarding school had a profound impact on my life. Of course, this aspect was not in my mind at all at that time.
When Goethalites read my story, please know that each of you has your own beautiful story to tell. Although we have some common experiences the chances are most of our stories will be different since we are all unique individuals.
If you would like to share a specific story you have, I invite you to do so in the comments section below. That would be awesome. Or you can create your own website to tell your story.
As always, enjoy life to its very end.
Cheers!
Edwin