Once An Aloysian, Always An Aloysian! St Aloysius HS 1975 Batch ‘Make A Difference’ serving Food for Needy

Once An Aloysian, Always An Aloysian! St Aloysius HS 1975 Batch ‘Make A Difference’ serving Food for Needy

Once An Aloysian, Always An Aloysian! St Aloysius High School, Mangaluru 1975 Batch ‘Make Difference’ serving Food for the 150 Needy during lockdown in City- and this Humanitarian Service which started on Tuesday 7 April will carry on for the next seven days, providing lunch for nearly 150 plus migrant workers, low wage labourers, destitute, and among others, in various parts of the City. 

Mangaluru : “Once an Aloysian, Always an Aloysian!”- that’s right. Beginning of this year, on 2 January 2020, a bevy of Classmates of St Aloysius High School -Mangaluru during the year of 1975 got together at “Blue Lagoon” at Eden Club, Mangaluru  to cherish the moments and  fun that we had when we were students of this prestigious institution. It was a nostalgic journey down the memory lane for us classmates who came together for the Reunion Bash. The memoirs of yester years were once again rejuvenated as we all shared our memories of those olden, youthful, cheerful days full of happiness and joy. To enliven the atmosphere there was not only food and drinks, but a few of us shared some jokes and fun things we did in and out of classroom. And apart from lots of friendship cum fellowship, there was a sumptuous spread of food that added spice to the occasion.

            Seen in photo L-R : Madhukar Rao, Arun Bhat, Jude Rego and Alfie D’souza

It was a memorable Reunion where we had a chance to brag about what was accomplished and was not, among a bunch of us, comprising of entrepreneurs, Stock Exchange Brokers, Chartered Accountants, Professors,  Heath Care Personnel, and in other fields. It was also a chance where we looked back at the humorous side of things. Spending time looking at the fashion and the hair in old photos, and was also a chance where we looked back at some of the stupid things that were done while being classmates. During the get-together we shared our naughty things we did during class hours-throwing paper planes at the teacher, bunking classes and spending time at Mangli’s (Ananth Shenoy) Sugar cane juice shack; whistling and making noises etc etc- but we were still good grown up kids.

We never had iPhones/iPads/or laptops during our time-like the present generation- we were in our own world- no selfies, no sending SMS’s or chatting/Whatsapp-ing etc. We too had girl friends, had intimate affairs, but we never took extreme steps (suicide) over broken relationships like some of the present youth do-for we respected our precious lives – and therefore we are still alive and kicking!  We all loved our school days at St Aloysius and we still cherish and have fond memories of those yester years. We still remember our strict and disciplined Headmaster in Higher Primary school-Fr Denis Coelho SJ, fondly known as “Shivaji” (because of his appearance) and in High school, Fr Denis Rasquinha SJ and Fr Lawrence Pinto SJ , whom we all loved very dearly.

And indeed it was a Great and memorable night 2 January 2020- and before we left home for that night, we also decided that we should involve in community projects, especially help those in time of need or financial burden- and we all agreed for that great humanitarian plan of idea. And keeping that assurance, when the deadly disease Coronavirus aka Covid-19 struck India, and our whole country went into 21-days of lockdown-it also left hundreds and thousands of migrant workers, low wage workers, destitute, and also poor families out of food-since they lost jobs due to lockdown, and for many there was no income to support their families or buy commodities or food.

And it was two of our comrades among the 78 batch-mates of SAHS, namely Jude Rego and Peter Pais, the duo admin honchos came up with an idea to help the needy during this lockdown- and an appeal to raise funds for this good cause was circulated through our whatsapp group- and the response and support was so great, that within a week, a whopping collection of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh was raised- a generous contribution made by around 20 group members-since many are out of town, abroad- and the decision was made at the last minute. But rest of group members had assured of their help in future such projects, when they arise. We the bunch of this Class 1975 express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our Alma mater-because what we are now is only because of the education, training, moral and discipline given to us by the Jesuit priests, our teachers and not forgetting the non-teaching staff.

After final decision was made, a date was set, and the FIRST Day of distributing food to the migrant workers, low wage workers, destitute started on Tuesday, 7 April- and four Aloysians namely- Jude Rego, Madhukar S Rao, Arun Bhat and Alfie D’souza, met at Mango Grove Restaurant, Balmatta in the City, owned by Aloysian Arun Bhat- and where the food will be prepared for eight days, to be served to the needy. After the arrival of Shivaling-the Senior Health Inspector at Mangaluru City Corporation, along with his team at the Restaurant, thereby clicking a few group photos, we all set forth in two cars, looking for the people who were in need of food- and there were way too many hungry folks we found, including a sole beggar desperately awaiting for his lunch- and he was served, putting a broad smile on his face. We Aloysians were joined by Karthik, the son of Arun Bhat who drove the car- and the food packets comprising of veg puluv and Raith (and served along with bottled water) were packed under the supervision of Vasudev Hebbar, the Manager at Mango grove restaurant.

Throughout the two hours journey driving across the City, we served 155 food packets to the needy people, and also 5 packets to the police personnel who were toiling hard in that hot weather, cracking down on motorists violating the No Vehicle Ban rule during the lockdown. This is what Madhukar posted on the whatsapp page -“Guys, it was Wonderful Experience Today, where Jude, Alfie, Karthik (Arun Bhat’s son) and I, started at around 12.45 in two Cars, the Pilot Car carried the MCC Health Inspector, a Police Man and two others..Jude and I followed in our Car driven by Karthik, and our ace journo Alfie made up the tail on his scooter after a brief photo session at Mango Grove .

“The Lockdown relaxation had ended and roads were empty, never seen our City go to sleep at noon time. It was a new experience handing over food packets,had only seen ministers do it for the cameras before- and believe me guys, it felt real good. What caught my eyes was that there were many others donating food packets and we crossed paths on two occasions. Very heartening really. Apart from serving the poor, we also distributed few packs to cops on duty-theirs is one heck of a job. We returned to base at past 2 pm, and it was really happy, a day well spent” added Madhu. We also met a group headed by corporator Naveen D’souza (Bendore Ward) joined by nuns of St Agnes Convent, and  Bethany Convent, also distributing food packets for the needy.

This is what our Captain Jude Rego had to say, ” I thought the stop we made for the solitary old beggar sleeping on the roadside and  the police force who were so happy when we offered them the food packets and water-their looks said it all. Thanks to our batch mates who contributed to this good cause, and for making a difference in peoples’ lives. This shows that The class of 75 are more than Aloysians. They have a heart of gold. Proud of you guys. The Lord God bless you all”. Our efforts were applauded with words of praise from our other batch-mates and friends- and also from Fr Dionysius Vas-the Rector of st Aloysius Institutions, who said, “God has given us two hands-one to receive, and one to give. Indeed nice to note that you Aloysians are giving  back to those in need from part of your wealth. What a nice concept and gesture from you all. We want our (Aloysian) men and women serve others, and that has been our institution aim. The efforts put in by you all helping out the society through this little contribution is praiseworthy. May God bless you all for what you are all doing during this pandemic”

In conclusion, in my perspective- where the answer is found in Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says, “Whatever you have done to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you have done it to me.” One really does matter. You can help the needy around you in practical, creative ways. And this is exactly what a bevy of us Aloysians of High School batch of 75 did to help the less fortunate and the needy with love. “You may never know what results come of your action, But if you do nothing there will be no result. The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems” had said Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa once said, “We cannot do great things on this Earth,Only small things with great love.”- and that’s exactly we did to put miles of smiles on the faces of these hungry people.

We will be trying hard in future also to make a difference in the lives of the needy in the community.”We need to have a aim in our lives to help others in needs”and that’s our motto. And once again, a BIG THANK YOU to the St Aloysius High School  batch of 1975 for being generous and making this project a successful one. Today was our second day, where we served Bisi Bele Bath, and in the next six days, different menu will be served ( Veg Biriyani, Puliyogare, etc). Long live our Alma mater – and Long Live the 1975 Batch of SAHS! Cheers until we meet again for yet another community project or for the 2020/21 Reunion Bash of the “Brady Bunch?” of the 70’s?