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)
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.
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 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.
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.
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)
