The Perfect Hailstorm- 7 May 1998

Some days in St. Joseph's College can never be erased from our memories. This article is about a day in Sem which still remains vivid in my mind.

With only a week left for the most awaited 'Annual Sports Day' everything was in perfect shape. The preparation were almost in the final stages. Quite a few events had already been decided. The relay teams were in order. The drill practices were going full-fledgedly. Students had been selected for rope work and gymnastics team was finalized. And then came the storm that caught Nainital unawares.

We had late sleeps on the occasion of a national holiday, Muharram. Even at 7 am it looked like dusk. The sky looked grey, dark and threatening. No sooner had we all entered the study hall for second studies than it began to rain and hail. It was a day many of us would remember in many years to come. It was the day of the perfect hailstorm.

                                                Nainital in the Background

While in the study hall, one of the students reminded in the middle of the storm that some of the windows in the dormitories were open. The teacher in-charge(Mr. M.C. Pandey) then sent for the captains to check for the same only to hear the shocking news of the havoc the storm had caused. Almost all the window panes towards the college front were broken and shattered. The hail and water had entered the dormitories soaking all the beds near the windows. It was like the fury of hell. The storm was deafening and the wind blew like crazy. Bro. Murray's room(adjoining the school church) had its roof blown away to the second field which was just a glimpse of the catastrophic hailstorm. Class 5 B(the class at the end of the old senior building) was torn to pieces. The whole scene was unbelievable.

                                                The First Field after the Storm

The seniors were then summoned to help around. The drain in the quadrangle had clogged causing the water to overflow. The students cleared the drains using hockey sticks. It was a shocking episode of nature's destruction. It did not occur to me then but when I look back now, I am thankful to God that no life was lost.

                                                Outside the Bogs in the Evening

One of the billiards table was completely wet with pieces of hail on it. Every inch of the ground was covered with hail as if it had snowed. At the college front the plants looked denuded without their leaves. The college front with the broken panes and leafless plants looked haunted like a scene from a horror movie. The water tank used for the toilets across the first field was also blown away. At the teachers quarters near beside the basketball court, the hailstorm had played havoc too.

                                     The College Front with Broken Window Panes

We were allowed to go for town walks in the evening. As there was no electricity we were made to dine at 6 pm and go to bed at 7 pm. The ensuing day the Principal, Bro. M.R. Beddoe announced to the surprised students about the 'Sports' being cancelled and that we were to go home on a vacation for 19 days till the school was brought back to shape.

Photos by: Peter Wu(Sem '99)

World Cup Finals 1998

Life is full of surprises and so is football. The recent semi-finals of the Champions League is proof enough. While helpless and out of luck, Lionel Messi tried to do all he could to lead Barcelona to the Champions League finals, it surely was not enough. In another semi-final, Christiano Ronaldo met with the same fate with Real Madrid, leaving most of the Asian fans in disbelief, shock and despair.  Only 19 May 2012 will tell who will be crowned the champions among Chelsea and Bayern Munich. However, this defeat and overhauling of the favourites reminded me of another time in Sem which was similar, the World Cup Finals of 1998.

Instead of 9 pm we were made to go to bed at 8 pm to get some sleep before waking up again to watch the FIFA World Cup Finals at midnight. It is heart-warming sometimes to look back and reminisce those days in St. Joseph's College, Nainital which seemed extra-ordinary during those days but have been forgotten in due time.

We were woken up by Br. O. Ballantyne just before midnight of 12 July 1998. Many of us, but not all- some were happy to miss the finals and sleep- woke up with sleepy eyes and found the drowsiness gone as soon as the match started. It was the favourites, Brazilians against the unexpected and the dark horses, the French. All of us loved Ronaldo(Brazil) and were expecting to see him in all his glory but it was not to be. We did not know the names of many footballers but instead of Ronaldo we were mesmerized by the hitherto unknown to us Zinedine Zidane of France. His two goals sealed the victory for France and left the Brazilians in a state of unbelievable shock amounting to coma. The final score was 3-0. A lot of us were not prepared to witness Brazil beaten by France. We finally had to go to bed again by 3 am.

I wonder if any of us can recall that we were allowed to sleep like kings the ensuing morning till 7:30 am. It was a Monday but fortunately a holiday after the first term examinations.

The Four Houses

Apart from being divided into various classes, Sem was also divided into four houses. We just loved being identified with our respective houses and enjoyed competing with each other. Sometimes it was more than just competition- it was a brutal fight till the end for the winner's shield. Man! How we swelled with pride on being awarded the 'Cock House' shield at the end of an academic session. Winning a race on Sports Day(Annual Athletic Meet) was an honour.

The four houses and their motto:-

Pant(Green) House - Ever to Excel
Nehru(Yellow) House - Faithful and Brave
Tagore(Red) House - Onwards and Upwards
Gandhi(Blue) House - Act Manfully

The houses were formerly named as St. Patricks(Pant), St. Francis(Nehru), St. Pauls(Tagore) and St. Peters(Gandhi.)

How many of us still remembered the motto of our respective houses? I am sure not many. And this is what this blog is all about- Remembering the days and ways of our Alma Mater, the Good Old Sem.

I was in Nehru House. During my days in Sem(1991-1998), it was Pant House that generally stood first in various competitions.

Interaction with Ex-Students

During my time in St. Joseph's College, Nainital we had not many but some interactions with the ex-students in the form of football matches. I still remember the day when the students from the ICSE' 94 batch visited Sem in 1998 during the football season- 19 June 1998 to be precise- to play football against the College 'A' team. According to the excerpts of my personal diary, the Semites won by 4 goals to 3. Kuldeep Negi, Piyush Bisht and Manish Upadhaya were amongst the '94 batch that had come to SJC.  What was surprising was that not all of them were star footballers during their stint in Sem. This evidently showed how they loved Sem and loved to play on the field where it had all started.

Interactions such as these are always important and welcome in our Alma Mater. Perhaps, ex-students can go beyond the football matches to interact with the students in Sem and also guide them in choosing their career and in pursuing their dreams. One can easily infer from the Sem Yahoo group that Ex-Semites are not too happy with the recent tidings in Sem.

However, what are the old boys doing? A Trust for Sem is underway to ensure proper and effective participation from ex-students to help regain the glory of Sem. This is going to be an epoch-making event in the annals of Sem's history. Let's wish the Trust all the luck and hope it achieves what it plans to in the coming years.
Certa Bonum Certamen.

The investiture programme for the Board of Trustees is being held on 23 January 2012 at Taj Palace, New Delhi. Ex-students who wish to know more or meet the Trustees may contact Mick Hogg via email at mick@projectlighting.com.au