St. Joseph`s College
School Department
October 21^st, 2001

Dear Alumni,

I am happy to write to you again. This week we celebrated Rectors Day  on  Tuesday with its traditional fanfare and on Friday we held the Annual Sports Day. Fortunately we began the proceedings at 8:30 a.m. for by lunch time it began to drizzle and then to pour even though it was the second half of  October, our month of sunshine. Five records were broken so it was concluded that the present generation does not lag behind.

Last weekend the District Schools Badminton Tournament was held at the Gymkhana Club with seventeen schools participating. It was a triumphant weekend, for the finals on Sunday in each division and both in singles and doubles saw NP vs. NP. They made a clean sweep of everything. After the puja holidays , the boys will be playing hockey  but since no other schools seem to play hockey any more the competitions will only be between the Houses.

One sad bit of news was received on Oct.8^th. Mr. Jack Vaz who taught here from 1946 until 1987 passed away in Bangalore . He suffered his first heart attack at home in Goa but when he revived, his son Mario who is a medical doctor at St.John`s in Bangalore flew him to Bangalore for better treatment. For a couple of days he seemed to be fine. On the 8^th in the evening they decided that the next day they would take an angiogram. After a light supper during which he was in a very joyful mood, his family members went home. But soon they were recalled as he was suffering his second and fatal attack.

Many of you would have benefited from his meticulous teaching and correction of homework. He loved North Point and so we were overjoyed when he accepted our invitation last year to return for our millennium alumni reunion in May. During his long and dedicated service in North Point, he taught in nearly all the classes, was for a time Headmaster of the Primary and handled admissions into the lower classes, a most arduous task. He even taught in our Night College which catered for a time to those who had to work every day yet wanted to further their own academic qualifications. He was always guided by what would be best for the school and its true spirit. Once someone tried to bribe him for an admission and he was most upset mainly because the fellow did not understand that North Point was not that kind of school. Its spirit and reputation could not be allowed to be tarnished in this way. He was a man of complete integrity and raised his own family to live with the same high principles. I always looked upon him as one of the great pillars of North Point and his spirit will live on here for generations to come. R.I.P.

I have spoken to many of you of the need we have of creating new facilities for our staff and student body. We now have plans ready for the first phase which we would like to begin this winter if the alumni can help us out financially. It will be a building below our workshops with accommodation for our single staff members with a couple of guest rooms for alumni when they visit, plus dormitory accommodation for visiting teams when they have to stay overnight. The total outlay will be approximately 37 lakhs. Some of you have already given generously and we are sincerely grateful for this but we need much more before we can begin construction. Please consider our request seriously for without alumni help the North Point Vision-2000 + will be an empty dream. This will also release some space in the Science building for a couple of urgently required classrooms. Included as an appendix to this letter you will find an artist’s conception of the building and other details. The second phase is now in the planning stage, a new dining room and kitchen with more classrooms above, a long three storey building.

Another great need is to build up scholarship funds. One alumnus has just donated a large sum to begin a scholarship fund in memory of SUDIP BOSE who lost his life in a motor accident in the USA some years ago. Maybe something similar can be done in memory of Jack Vaz and Jupiter Yambem or maybe of others whom you may wish to honour in perpetuity. This past year a very large amount has gone directly into granting scholarships because the earning parents have passed away within the past couple of years and the excellent students would have been withdrawn if assistance had not been provided. I want to thank those who have made this assistance possible.

I don’t think I have to explain the need further since many of you have visited the place in recent years and understand the absolute urgency of modernizing and expanding our facilities if North Point is to continue to offer good quality education and formation to those who will be entrusted to us. Every bit will help and I want to thank you in anticipation for whatever help may be forthcoming.

With warm regards
Fr. Van SJ 

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Mario Vaz (mvaz@divnut.net)

Phone No. of Mrs. Vaz 0834 - 760291

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Estimate of the Construction of the proposed Guest House and Dormitory at St. Joseph’s College – School Department, North Point, Darjeeling.
Estimated cost of construction:

1. Sub- Basement Floor (533 sq. ft.) – Rs. 3,21,750/-
2. Basement Floor (1517 sq. ft.) – Rs. 6,14,760/-
3. Ground Floor (2943 sq. ft.) – Rs. 11,51,014/-
4. First Floor (4150 sq.ft) – Rs. 7,58,205/-
5. Top Floor (983 sq. ft.) – Rs. 3,73,417/-

Total – Rs. 32,19,146/-
(Rupees Thirty Two Lakhs Nineteen thousand) Only
Note : The estimated cost of construction has been based on prevailing market rate of Darjeeling .
Estimated for the Construction of revetment wall (RCC works involved) – Rs. 4,58,000/-

Sept.11th, 2001

Dear Alumni,

As Ashok Sadhwani says, our network is expanding at a wonderful rate. Also the joy that it is bringing to many in renewed relationships is almost reward enough for the effort that many have made to bring this about.The American chapter along with the Australian chapter-to-be are mainly responsible for this and I want to thank them sincerely for their sincere interest and enthusiasm. It won`t be long before the address list will be embarrassingly lengthy.

The Under Four Ten team more than redeemed our early football losses.When they entered the school quadrangle singing the North Point Chorus, I was sure this was heralding good news. In the four games they played on the Victoria School Grounds they won the first  10-0, the second also by a big margin, the third was won by a penalty kick just as the game was ending, and the final  was 4-1. They had much to smile and sing about.

In a completely different field, in the Annual Marwari Yuva Manch sponsored quiz in the class 11& 12 division, our team of four with 115 points (the next school had 55 points)won the day. Then three days later on last Wednesday the same team met the finalists of the plains school groups and outclassed them tremendously. Now the State finals will be held in Calcutta on 29th Sept. Quizzes are becoming quite common in schools and between schools here in the Hills, perhaps spurred on by  the very  famous Amitabh Bachan TV series, Crorepatti.

This year 19 NP students during the Puja Holidays will have an excursion to the Lakswadeep Islands . The arrangements and the tour itself  is being engineered by Patrick Hallis, one of our Senior English teachers. During the winter we are hoping to have a couple of Class 11 students go for a few weeks on an exchange program to a Jesuit school,St.Paul`s in Winnipeg, Canada. This is the same school where our Asst Headmaster, A.C.Rai, is on a teacher exchange program at present. They are experiencing endless hurdles in procuring passports , just as A.C. had and once they procure these they will have the same problems to cope with in getting a Canadian visa. But if it works out it will be a great experience for them.The inspiration for these ventures came from many of the alumni I met last winter. I hope some of you may have occasion to meet them during their time abroad. Another venture on a different level is Fr.Kinley Tshering`s postgraduate studies in the University of Manitoba, also in Winnipeg. If some of you are wondering why there is this concentration in Winnipeg , it is because it is my own hometown and arranging things becomes a little more easy

Fr.Edgar Burns and Fr.Leo Forestell have almost completely recovered from their serious operations. Fr.Burns visited North Point today and Fr. Forestell should be back in our community within a week or so.There is much to be grateful for in the expertise of their doctors.When the students return from visiting Marcus Lepcha, our school secretary, they say he seems to be improving a lot. His determination not to give in to the cancer is winning everyone`s admiration.Another person you can pray for is the wife of `Boss`who is afflicted with a brain tumour. Boss himself though slower in movement still climbs up from his village almost daily to see how his canteen is doing. He is well over 80 and quite energetic.

Please keep in touch. Your e-mails are always appreciated.

With warm regards,
Fr.Van sj

Sept.24th
P.S.Because of Internet difficulties I was not able to send my Sept.11th letter. Many things have happened since. The main thing is what happened to one of our alumni, Jupiter Yambem,NP`75, who lost his life in the  World Trade Towers on Sept.11th, the very day of my letter. He was the Senior Manager of a restaurant chain. He happened to be on the 107th floor in the office of the famous Windows on the World Restaurant when the hijacked plane hit. His first thought apparently was for the safety of all the staff and workers and he was the last to leave but didn`t make it. The body was found on 15th, amazingly intact. Our hearts go out to his wife, Nancy, and his young five year old son, in their tragic loss. The commemorative service will be held on the 29^th September, 4pm. at Beacon river front park. If anyone wants to attend please call Nancy his wife at (917) 270-3296. Please note it is the 29th and not the 30th.

If any of you are close enough to attend this as representatives of the world wide North Point Alumni Association it will be much appreciated. Monishi Sanyal epitomized the life and spirit of Jupiter for me in the anecdote about the Sports Day Long Jump in 1975. Apparently to the chagrin of the groundsman, he overleapt the pit, so more digging was required. In the next jump he even overleapt that. Jupiter never did things half heartedly but put himself totally into each enterprise he undertook. That North Point spirit that filled him was still evident in his tragic end. R.I.P.

Fr.Van sj