Msgs from Old Boys 41

Msg from Ravi Sinha

5.10.2008

Hi Sir,

Yes, I really look forward to your weekly mails and yes I find all the topics quite interesting and informative.

Thanks,
Ravi

Msg from Ralph Reeves

5.10.2008

Hi Radhesh,

Our blogg is doing just fine and keep it coming as I always say. I do not know how familiar you are with North Point - St. Joseph's College, but after Goethals in 1968, I joined there to do my BSc. I was there for almost a year before I joined Manipal Institute of Technology to get my BE degree. During the time I was there, I made a lot of friends. Having played cricket for the school/college combined team I made even more friends. We won the Edinburgh Shield that year and recently, my close friend Ratna Das Pradhan(father owned Das Studio in Darjeeling) sent me photos of a reunion they had in Melbourne of all the NP boys of '68/'69. That was great to see though unfortunately I was not able to attend. Brought back a lot of memories of the days gone by. I just wonder if there is any way that you would know the contact email / phone number of Rev. Fr. Van Wallengham - rector of North Point College in '69. A wonderful man and certainly a man I look up to for all the good work he carried out and I'm sure still is carrying out in that area. I just can't get in touch with him. Also Noreen Dunn who taught English at the college during that time as well. If there is anyway you or someone you know, could give me a contact name, number or an email address, I would love to get in touch with them.
Take care and keep the info coming.
My best regards
Ralph

06.10.2008

Msg from Amrit Garodia

Dear Mr. Sharma,

We are highly satisfied with the blog and the matters. People do take issues on matters and carry on the Great job you are doing.
"DO ALL THINGS WELL'
Amit Garodia
Batch 97
Guwahati

Msg from Karan Mehta

Hi Radheshyam,

On the blog my vote goes for a YES.
I don’t really like much discussion on religious issues as I think it should be a personal issue, but the reason the blog should go ahead in its present form is that it is open to different thoughts and ideas, and at least we should be able to think and discuss things in a rational manner without making them personal. If we can’t manage that then just imagine about the other people who have not had similar education like us. And everyone is free not to comment on any issue they don’t like.
I have been a bit lazy but will get back with issues for the blog.
Karan

Msg from Viraj Thacker

Thank you Viraj for your kind wishes.
Yes, it is a very good gift of God during the Pujas.
I hope you and your family are all well.
I don't suppose you would be celebrating Durga Puja in the states or Australia, do you?
When are you coming next to Kolkata?

Warm regards

Radheshyam

Dear Mr. Sharma,

Congratulations are very much in order……..wonderful news at an auspicious time…….Congratulations Grandpa!!
Best Wishes to Ajay and Shalini and Mrs. Sharma. I’m certain that little Kaatyayni will keep the household quite busy!
Warm Regards & good wishes over the ‘Pujas’.
Viraj.

Msg from Safiul Huda

Really disappointed to hear that the band is gone, that the operas are
gone that even singing the school song is gone!

Msg from Willy Wu

Thank you Willy for your kind message.
Yes, it is a great feeling, being a grandfather.
You are now sure that the baton has passed to thenew generation.
This Durga Puja was special for us because of our grandchild.

Radheshyam

Hi Radhesh,

Congratulations to the proud Grandparents and the
happy parents for the new member to your family.
Judging from the snapshot, she is going to grow up
to be a beautiful lady.

Happy Durga Puja to you and the family. I really
loved this time of the year when I was growing up
in Calcutta. I remember how excited I was when
I went to the riverside to see the sinking of the
statues. This is a very special time and if I ever
go back to Calcutta (Kolkata), I will definitely show
up at this time for the festive Durga Puja.

By the way, I like you to know that I enjoy reading
your postings on the blog-site. I don't see why some
readers should find materials offending. Those
individuals who are displeased should not force themselves
into reading materials that are deemed offensive to them.
There are many of us living outside India, are thirsting for
news. So Radhesh, please keep on writing and don't mind
those few individuals who may also be offended by all the
news media that they read.
Thanks,

Willy Wu (1971).

Msg from Keith Hayward

Thanks Keith for your kind message,
Yes, this is our first grandchild.
We are really happy.
I haven't been receiving your mails for quite some time.
J K Ghosh was also complaining that he had sent you a mail but did not receive a reply.
Do let us know how life is going on.
JK is here in Kolkata. e will be returning to Delhi on the 13th.
D K Roy and S P Chatterjee are on Pilgrimage / sight seeing to the holy places in Himachal and Kashmir.

Warm regards

Radheshyam

Hello Radheshyam,

Congratulations GRANDFATHER (Radheshyam) & GRANDMOTHER (Manju) you must be very proud. All so to Ajay & his wife & new baby, well done.
Is this your 1st.Grandchild?
We have our14th due on the 6th.Nov.
Once again, Congratulations
Affectionately,
Keith & Sylvia.

Msg from Bishan Dewan

Thank you Bishan for your good wishes,
I am sure you must be enjoying a well deserved holidays.
Do take some good pictures for the blog and give us a good wrtie-up for everybody.
I don't think Kevin is in my mailing list do ask him to send his details and keep in contact.
It has not been easy for everybody to come to the centenary because of the high expenses.
If anybody had asked me to go to Australia, I wouldn't be able to afford it.
One should live within his means and be satisfied with it. Satisfaction is the greatest wealth.

Radheshyam

RS,
Congratulations in becoming a 'baje' (grandfather).
Presently, my wife and I are on holidays in the land down under.
After a few days here in Melbourne with our younger daughter Bibasna
We are moving on to Adelaide this evening to stay with our elder daughter Baneera.
We will be returning to Melbourne in two weeks and then spend a few days in
Sydney with an old goat class friend of mine Kevin Dessa.
He couldn't make it to the centenary last year.
I'll be meeting him after 38 years, it should be some reunion.
Regards,

Bishan
Msg from Thondup

Hello Thondup,

Thanks for your encouraging mail.
I know you did not send it that is why I mentioned it on the blog to warn everybody.
This week I have received another from Amit Garodia for joining WAYN.com.
I'll mention it again this week so that our boys do not click.
If we are not careful all our computers will be filled with virus.

Radheshyam


YES...CHIEF...THE BLOG IS OK AS IT IS...AND SORRY ABOUT THE VIRUS THAT CREPT IN AND NO I DID not SEND THAT MAIL.

MEMORIES ARE ROSES IN DECEMBER, THE HEARTH THAT WARMS OUR OLD AGE SO I AM DAMNED IF I AM GOING TO KEEP QUIET .

Thondup

Msg recd from the GMS Alumni, New Delhi Re: Br. J B Pinto

11.10.2008

Dear all,

Good Morning!

We finally begin the "KNOW YOUR FELLOW GOETHALITE" SERIES.

Did you know that Br. J.B.Pinto, 1962 batch:
1. Heads the worldwide organization of the Christian Brothers and is currently based in Rome.
2. There are thousands of educational institutions across the globe and quite a few have a reputation in there counties. Quite a few are over 100 years old.
3. The revenues (fees) generated from the Schools would put the organization in the billion-dollar club or more.
4. Assets are worth billion of dollars. Recession or no recession, the organization runs without much of a nightmare that most of CEOs are going through.

*********************

Thank you for your email and for asking me for my profile. I really do not think I have achieved all that much -- I have just been in the right place at the right time. I know of so many others who have done so much with their lives and who have lived it fully. However, I will put something down to start the project you are involved in.

I finished my Senior Cambridge in 1962 when Br. Ponise was Principal and Br. H. B. Dineen was my class teacher. At that time I was living in Mount Carmel just above Goethals. This was the training Institute of the Christian Brothers. I completed my initial training in mid 1965 and taught for a year in our Orphanage in Dum Dum. Then I was sent to Shillong to do my graduate studies in St. Edmund's College, which is also run by the Christian Brothers.

I subsequently taught for some years in a couple of our schools (Dum Dum and Mount Abu) and then did my Masters through Gauhati University and taught in the college in Shillong. At this time I was appointed to the Provincial Council for India (1978), became Principal in St. Patrick's Asansol and St. Columba's Delhi.

In 1987 I was appointed Provincial in India, a ministry I carried out for nine years. During this time I was also elected the President for the Religious of India (Priests, Brothers and Sisters). It was a real awakening for me, because I became aware of a much larger India than that of the Christian Brothers Schools. I got involved in all sorts of issues at the national level and was invited to many organizations and institutions.

In 1997 I was elected to the Congregation Leadership Team in Rome, one of a group of five that manage the affairs of the Brothers worldwide. In 2002 I was elected the world leader of the Brothers and I was re-elected to this post in 2008.

In a nutshell that has been my life.

But what really matters to me is the universal search for God and the way in which such a search leads one to be more human and more involved in the lives of people. The Brothers are getting more involved in justice issues and the rights of the child. Education is much more than just schools. There is so much to be done for people made poor.

I can see how people tend to create comfortable images of God, images that allow them to live lives according to their dictates rather than a Divine Mandate. Very often we shelter behind the dictates of organized religion. So my life is now dedicated to sharing a larger God with my Brothers and Sisters. I know that my Indian background helps me very much in this and I am grateful for so much.

A lighter one from Lalit Narayan

Five cannibals get appointed as programmers in an IT company. During the welcoming ceremony the boss says: "You're all part of our team now. You can earn good money here, and you can go to the company canteen for something to eat. So don't trouble the other employees".
The cannibals promise not to trouble the other employees.
Four weeks later the boss returns and says: "You're all working very hard, and I'm very satisfied with all of you. One of our developers has disappeared however. Do any of you know what happened to her?"
The cannibals disown all knowledge of the missing developer. After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals says to the others: "Which of you idiots ate the developer?"
One of the cannibals raises his hand hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals says: "You FOOL! For four weeks we've been eating team leaders, managers, and project managers and no one has noticed anything, and now YOU ate one developer and it got noticed. So hereafter please don't eat a person who is working ."