St Joseph's old boys take a walk down memory lane 

The Old Boys Association began its centenary celebration on August 31. It will continue on September 1 and 2 with many various events and get together parties for the school alumni  
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To reunite with school friends and recall the memories spent with them after decades makes one feel amazing. Something like this happened at St Joseph’s Boys’ High School on Friday.


The Old Boys’ Association (OBA), consisting of over 7,000 members, turned 100 this year. To mark the occasion, the OBA in the presence of noted alumni like cricketer Rahul Dravid, launched a coffee table book “A Hundred Years- A Million Memories” and a twin stamp consisting of a picture of the Mysuru palace and an old St Joseph’s school building which was demolished to build a new one.

Jimmy Anklesaria, an alumni who is now settled in California, US, shared his experience on how he and his friends’ efforts helped in the school getting a new building.  

SNEAK PEAK: Former Indian Criketer Rahul Dravid looks at the twin stamp released on August 31 by the Old Boys Association at St Joseph's Boys High School

He said, “When I visited this school in 1998, the school building was giving way and it was about to collapse. However, we were stubborn and wanted this reputed institution to survive. I, along with Mike Mascarenhas, Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail, Irfan Razack, founder of Prestige and another person who wanted to be anonymous built five different buildings. The person, who wanted to be anonymous, named the block after our Chemistry teacher Alwaris. At that time, there were only 700 children and now it has 3,500 children studying in it.”

Fond memories of the alumni like this have been captured in the coffee table book.
OBA was initiated in 1901 by a group of students, but it formally came into shape in 1918 and the first annual general meeting was conducted on September 7, 1919.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Dravid said, “It is a privilege to launch the coffee table book of an association that has turned 100. Every time when I walk into the school building, memories come rushing to my mind and I get a sense of peace.”

Fathers of the French Foreign Mission established the school in St John's hill in the year 1858. However, due to various reasons, the school was shifted to Musuem Road in 1898. In 1937, the school administration was handed over to the Society of Jesus.

Rahul, a humble and sincere boy, recalls teacher

The New Indian Express also traced a teacher of the school who had taught cricketers Rahul Dravid and Robin Uthappa. Gowri Achanta, a history teacher, has given 26 years of service to the school. She said, “Rahul has been a very humble and sincere boy from his school days. I have taught him in Class 7,8,9 and 10. In his last year at school, he made a card for me in which he expressed his gratitude and respect. I feel proud for having taught him who went on to become a great cricketer.”

St Joseph's is  the only school to have given nine olympians to India. Swimmer Hakimuddin Habibullah, Rehan Poncha, Badminton player Anup Sridhar, Hockey player Vece Paes, Anil Aldrin are some among the nine olympians

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