Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Welcome home friends, to your very own Mount Carmel Convent Anglo Indian Girl's High School Blog! This blog is an attempt to help you reconnect with your past and revive your good old school memories. How often do we get the opportunity to talk about the past....before it's too late! So lets make the most while we can still remember a thing or two of our memorable school days. A pat on our backs dear classmates, for the successful Silver Jubilee Reunion that was held on the 25th of July 2010 at The Nani Hotel, Kollam. A big round of applause to all those who travelled from far and near to attend this glorious occasion. The rain didn't dampen our spirits and the memories of the day will linger on. We are thankful to all those who contributed their valuable time to make this event a grand success and also to those who documented important parts of our school's nostalgic reminiscences. Please keep checking in for latest updates. If you are an ex-student of Mount Carmel, you are also welcome to add in your comments directly or share with us your story by sending it to us at cynthiapinto@hotmail.com and we'll post it on the blog. Thankyou.

Left: Mount Carmel Convent AIGHS, Kollam (Primary Section) Right: Mount Carmel Convent AIGHS (Secondary Section)

Our Dear Departed Principal, Rev. Sr. Mary Patricia

Our Dear Departed Principal, Rev. Sr. Mary Patricia
Monday, September 13, 2010
A Loving Tribute to Our Principal
By Cynthia Pinto

Sr. Mary Patricia was an enigmatic personality with an abundant aura of grace. Her very presence would inevitably call our attention to drop everything we did to hear her speak. I am often reminded of a few instances of my interaction with her and wish I could turn back the clock just to relive them. Throughout my student life, I realized that she was distinctively different but never fully understood her worth. I thought she rarely smiled and when she did, I knew it made a world of difference to me. So preoccupied with my own life, I never stopped a moment to think how lucky I was to be endowed with such a unique principal.

Looking back, today I have many regrets. I wish I could stop by at Mount Carmel Convent and thank her profusely even if no words were enough to do so. Though she’s no longer with us anymore, I would still like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for all the dauntless efforts she has so selflessly undertaken to uphold the spirit and motto of our school. May God grant her Soul Eternal Rest!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Time to Reflect
By Sreelatha Kumar ('85 Batch)

25 years is a long time – could well be one third of one’s life. 2010 was a really blessed year. It was a great boon from above when our Facebook school contacts grew and grew this year- finally to culminate in tracing nearly the whole of our school batch, except for six more… and having our silver jubilee meeting in a most memorable way on July 24, 2010. This was when we had hardly seen any of our classmates for decades!!! Little did we know that ours was the 100th batch to pass out of Mount Carmel’s hallowed halls - our twenty fifth year of passing out coincided with the school’s 125th  year of existence,  and it was so very strangely celebrated in the same month at school- on July 15.

After passing out of Mount Carmel in 1985, I had barely any contact with anyone, except for a few close friends. One moved on with college, work, marriage- time spent in Kollam was never more than two months at a stretch. No mobiles, no internet, no contacts- how one earth does one really keep in touch with snail mail?  Schooldays had become a distant memory- really fuzzy around the edges, you can say like a tapestry with huge holes in between! But yet a few sharp images seem to be recorded in my brain. Memories are like moths trapped within an old chest- once the lid is pried open, they fly out in a veritable flurry. You may not remember everything in sequence, or the so called momentous happenings… but you are left with a few snapshots that have stuck in your mind somewhere. You can watch me on the 'MCC Reunion - What are we up to these days' Video Link.
Mount Carmel – in the 70s and 80s.…
By Sreelatha Kumar ('85 Batch)

I remember the one and only time, in 8th std I suppose, when we practiced the traditional Kerala Thiruvathira Kali. Our school (MCC) had this ‘refined atmosphere’ where I think we thought we were freshly imported from England- we spoke entirely in English, read only English novels, sang English songs, wore western clothes - I think we effectively forgot that we were part of a predominantly Malayalam speaking society. So doing Thiruvathira Kali was definitely out of the ordinary.  Sreevidya was one of those who taught us the steps. My frustration at being unable to get even one step right still lingers in my mind.  My mother helped with the make up, which is the only time I remember her having stepped into the portals of our new school block. (Just think of the number of PTA’s we attend for our kids today!).  

I remember sitting with my friends near the grotto eating our packed lunch, from where we could hear the roar of the waves hitting the shores in the background.  I can still visualize, the grainy beach-sand coating our legs, as we watched the kindergarteners climb up the scratchy surfaced sand-coloured playground slide. I remember the novelty of our batch being the first one to incorporate the ‘extra’ subject in ICSE and the choice of P.E, and Home Science, the coming to school on Saturdays for basketball, learning the rudiments of Volleyball. For some reason Mary John’s face comes to mind, maybe she was a good volleyball player? I remember enjoying our 10th std, feeling seniormost in the school, taking on the extra workload of studies and the sheer fear gripping me as the public exams approached.