Russell Nicholas: Pudupet boy, Champ Athlete, Colonel in Indian Army, Happy retiree in Chennai

Russell Nicolas was born and grew up in Pudupet. He retired as Colonel from the Indian Army. And he studied from Std. One to Six since 1952 in St. Anthony's.

Today, he and his wife live in an independent house in Chennai's Neelankarai, with birds, garden and some quiet for company.

This is the Russel story in two parts.

The school years. Life in Pudupet. But both interweave in this story.

His dad was in the Royal Artillery. The Three Field Battery based in Pallavaram. Russell says his grand-dad had roots in Russia, worked in the Railways in Arakkonam and the grandma was a Mangalorean.

His mother was a nurse, worked at General Hospital.

How did the Nicholas family grow roots in Pudupet?

Grandma was also a nurse, working at the Opthalmic Hospital on Marshall's Road in Egmore and so Pudupet came to be home.

Home first was on 1st Street.

Pudupet was full of Anglo Indians and Christians since the 19th century. Russell recalls the Dubiers and Collins, the Bents and Pereiras and Fletchers.

Most worked in the Railways, ICF…

Small houses, many tiled.

There was no power supply in many houses till the late 1950s. Kerosene lamps in use. No phones, no radios.

Russell still owns three kerosene oil laps to remind himself and others who care of the good old days.

This is the Nicholas family.

Paul was eldest, worked for Glaxo and a good musician.

Russell came second.

Ian Nicholas was third and champ athlete.  He bagged the Best Athlete title when St Anthony's held its first annual Sports Meet at Rajarathinam Stadium owned by Madras Police. He was a banker ( Indian Bank) and is settled in Bangalore.

Amber was fourth. Settled in Bangalore.

Heather was the fifth and last, did a secretarial course after schooling at St. Anthony's and is now in Canada.

Russell spent a few years schooling at St. Anthony's, 1952 onwards.

Memories of school early days -

Major Pereira owned the property where Std.1 / KG classes were ( in that plot where now stands a multi-storied building of a private company).

There was a wire and plants fence: no masonry wall all around the school.

Senior girls who attended the Secretarial course stayed in the campus hostel.

Ms Rosy Dubier was a senior teacher from Pudupet.

Ms Rosario taught in Std II and III.

Ms Neaves taught in mid-classes. 

His great memories?

His senior was athlete Jothiraman.

Most evenings, sports minded boys of Pudupet went to the Pudupet Maidan; a vast open, grassy space where in one corner garbage of the area was dumped.

The police and senior athletes would get coached there.  T A Krishnamurthy was a well known coach for seniors. Later, A J De Souza came here and coached the juniors. Don Bosco Athletics Club (DBAC) was started and juniors like Russell were members.

Rajarathiram Stadium was launched in 1954 (?) and famed athletics coach Ken Bosen and Olympian Jesse Owens were chief guests.

Russell says boys played football and hockey too on this ground.

Memories of School:

Almost 70% were Anglos and Christians among students. Mother Anthony was then the Headmistress, Irish. There were some 20 Irish nuns, some retired and in the convent.

School had many cultural events, concerts.

Russell left St Anthony's after Std.6, joined St Mary's AI School, was Best Athlete in City Schools in 1964, champion in 400 mts and 800 mts, joined Loyola College, did his BA (Eco.), was Best College Athlete in 1966 and won the Mr Madras body building contest in 1972.

Then he joined Indian Army after training at OTA, St Thomas Mount, Madras, was in artillery like his dad, a gunner, served in some prominent regiments, saw action in the China, Pakistan and Kargil wars, besides the militancy operations in Punjab and retired in 2001 after 30 years of service. As Colonel.

He served in private positions, settled some 20 years ago in Neelankarai on the ECR, Chennai when it was desolate, ran around to get water lines and good streets  for this colony and keeps fit to this day.

Call him at 92832 43016.

Regina's stories of school in 1950s

Regina - 2018 photo

Regina (born 1943) attended first the Nano Nagle Primary School and then moved to St Anthony's. In the late 1940s. She was interviewed for this article in mid-2018. Regina passed away on August 31, 2018 at her residence in Egmore.

This is her story -

My great grandfather lived on what was commonly called 3rd Street ( Thulasingham Street). My father ( Amalorepavanathan ), and his sisters ( aunts) had studied at the school. Those were the days when students went from Form to Form ( Std. to Std. system came in later)

I was the 10th in a line of 12 children of the family. 

From Kindergarten, students moved to the main school which was co-educational.

The girls wore white blouse and blue pinafore. I recall Mother Augustine's presence ( designation unconfirmed) and the large pet dog she reared - when the dog passed away it was big news in the campus.

Our school worked from 9.30 am to 12.30pm, and from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 pm. But classes for Std.10 students went on till 4.10 p.m. The Anglo Indian students were served lunch free at a lunch room.

Most students lived in Pudupet, Chintadripet and Egmore.

A key fun and well-remembered event was the annual fancy fetes on campus. Games, food and fun.

Another event was called Reverend Mother's Day - students were given a special treat.

There was a jumble sale at Christmas time and gifts were given to children.

One teacher that students of our time - 1950s - can never forget was Ms Stevens. A portly lady, she drove in her car to school; and if there were hawkers at the gates, would disperse them loudly. The buzz among the students then was that Ms Stevens, who handled Std.9 often suggested to her students to take tuitions from her. And she did made a fortune. She lived on Montieth Lane and later migrated to Australia.

The annual Sports Meet was held at Rajarathinam Stadium down the road.

These are teachers of that time -

Ms Fernandez, Ms Rosario, Ms Samuel, Ms Leela ( who also taught short-hand), Ms. Neaves and Ms Stevens. Ms Surendra.

Nuns of that time - Sr Kevin who taught Catechism and Sr. Anthony.

School fees of the time -

Rs 5 for Std1.

Rs.6 for Std.8

Rs.7 for Std.9

Rs.8 for Std.10/11.

Students were offered Commerce and Typewriting ( from Std.8 onwards to Std.11).

In my time (in1960), there were only 11 students in Std.11 since many moved on to other schools to choose other subjects.  The small batch took the Anglo Indian School Exam at Christ Church, the centre on Mount Road ( which it was for many years). The exams were held in November and results were out in January.

Most students at the school were Christians but in  later years, many families especially the Anglo Indians migrated to other parts of the city; some went abroad.

Regina ( left) and her sister Jayaseeli

School Magazine Article on Early Days of School

Reproduced here is an article on the School in a school magazine ( the date of publication is yet to be located but one presumes it was during the tenure of Rev Mother Augustine here)

------

ST. ANTONY'S PRESENTATION CONVENT

A party of Presentation nuns from Vepery went to Egmore in 1911 to take charge of a primary school for Anglo-Indian children which was run by St Anthony's Church parish.

The nuns had to face trials of every kind but with Government aid, the present premises was purchased and the school moved to Pudupet in 1917.

During the period of 1911 - 1917, the Education Department was very favorably impressed with the results and recorded in their Inspection Reports the zeal and self-service shown by the nuns in their noble work.

In 1924,  and again in 1933, additional classrooms were put up to accommodate the increasing numbers.

The poor children who attended the school get a daily meal and receive clothing thrice a year.

 THE SCHOOL OF COMMERCE

This school was started in 1919; a few 'old' boys and girls from the Primary School formed the nucleus of the present flourishing 'Pudupet Convent School of Commerce' - the only school of its type in India managed by the religious.

In 1921, the Education Department showed its appreciation of the useful work done and gave the school recognition.

The average strength of this School is 250.

Students who have passed from the Commercial School, apart from those holding appointments in all the leading firms of Madras are to be found in Burma, Ceylon and most of the big cities of India, while several are working in London.

A pleasing feature of this School is that all classes, creeds and nationalities work amicably side by side.

LADY STUDENTS' HOSTEL

In 1923, once again at the request of Dr. J. Aelen, the nuns took over the Catholic Young Womens Home, an institution that was under a secular management, which adjoined the Convent and which was about to be closed; they thus solved the problem of housing of the working girls and their students.

This building was unsuited to the purpose of the hostel and in 1933, the nuns were able to purchase the present hostel premises.

Suitable rooms were added and the lady students moved to their new residence in 1934.

The progress of the work of the Presentation Convent in Pudupet in due in great measure to the initiative and untiring zeal of Rev. Mother Augustine, who for 18 years has devoted all her energies to the cause of Catholic education and to promotion of the welfare of youth in the city of Madras.

Fascinating stories of school, Pudupet, campus buzz. By Mani Kadirvel / 1965 batch

This is the recollections of a man who was from the batch of 1965.
A man whose stories of the school ring in days and years of the 50s and 60s.
This story has been shared by Mani Kadirvel who now lives in Singapore with his daughter who also studied for some years in our school.

Mani keeps visiting Madras often and during one recent visit we caught up with him for his school story -

Mani's family has roots that run across four / five generations in Pudupet. His great grand father (Agatheeswarar Mudaliar) was said to have been a famous and well off vaithiyar ( native medicine expert) who was seen traveling in a coach in his times. Perhaps in the 1900s.

The family owned houses across the 3 famed streets of the colony around the church. So mani as a toddler has virtually seen the walls and people who made St Anthony's.

As was the case with families in the area, Mani was admitted to Nagle Preparatory School. St Anthony's also existed then but the latter was primarily meant for Anglo indians, Christians and kids of well-educated families. Nagle was for people who still had not mastered English.

So clearly, the student community in the two streams were different.

One man who seemed to dominate the campus then was one Krishna Iyer, who was a manager of all things of sorts. People said that Mani had a say in matters that also included admission!

Nagle classrooms were simple ones located at the rear of the campus, closer to the Harris Road wall side. Away from the main school classrooms. Ms Kirk is the only teacher at Nagle that Mani recalls well.

Recalls Mani," The school used to get milk powder in cans and we had to join queues to drink the hot milk served every day. Till a point we began to take it and later didn't like it."

From Std.5 in Nagle students joined the main school. But there was a screening and if students were found not 'qualified' they would have to repeat Std.5 in the main school. Mani had to do just that.

He recalls Ms Dubier as the Std 5 class teacher and Ms Dharmabal as his Tamil teacher.

Ms Leela (Kalyanaraman) was the teacher for Std. 6 and 7, Ms Neaves for Std. 8, Ms Sambandam for Std.9, Ms Chandra Babu for Std.10 and Ms Surendra for Std.11. Surendra was also then the Headmistress.

The main gate of the school faced Marshalls Road. If you came in from the Pudupet 1st Street side, there was a small wicket gate, then the main gate of metal sheets and then a garden gate which led to a grotto and the convent of the Presentation nuns.

Mani recalls one Ms Stevens who used to come from Vepery and came in a  small car and was also a manager of sorts. She was a "terror" and would chase away all the carts that sold sweetmeats and ice creams.

As you entered the school campus, there was a wired compound divider where cars could be parked. On the right side of the ground were small rooms, then the stage, a office room and the HM's room, from one end to the other. It ended with the typewriting and shorthand classroom - this was offered as an elective to students. Master Krishan was the teacher here then.

On the far end, from north south was a tiled section of the school, with long sections using dividers to create senior classrooms and then the Teachers' Room, to rest and relax and have lunch.

Behind this was a no go zone, a central kitchen, a space for fowl and birds. In that central bungalow like space is where teachers Ms Leela and Ms Theodore lived.

There was also a bungalow behind the main block on the north side, where Std 1 and 2 of the main stream were run. A gate opened to Harris Road. Off that bungalow was the dining space for students. On the first floor of the bungalow lived the Pereira family. A daughter was in Mani's batch and she migrated to Australia very early.

Mani says there were only 30 students in Std.XI in 1965 batch. He recalls 17 plus were girls.

"The Anglo Indians, especially the boys used to drop out since they didn't study much…so we really did not have Anglos in the final batch," recalls Mani.

Sports and extra curricular activities were a minimum on campus. For many students exposure to the Anglo Indians was new and the use of a new form of language which used Tamil words in a different style got into everybody's vocabulary!

Mani recalls among students who made a mark one Jyothi Raman who was a good mid and long distance runner who won medals at city meets.

St Augustine House in school was always the House that had the best sportspeople and bright ones, says Mani. He says it became a tradition to join St Augustine's and excel on and off the field.

Mani recalls that Ms Neaves was always planning activities and events. He recalls times when she hosted a Christmas Dance and Dinner at a campus in Vepery to raise funds for St Anthony's school.
" She would take us senior boys to cut candles up and throw the wax on the dance floor to waxen it and decorate the place. Then only a few boys were asked to come back and thatsbwhen we watched the dances. People had good fun and there would be some scrapes too when guys eyed other girls!".

The 1965 batch took the public exams at Christ Church on Mount Road in December 1965. All the 27 who took that exam passed. 9 in First Class, 9 in Second Class and 9 in Third Class.

But there were hard lessons that the students who went to college got to learn. That the Anglo Indian stream educational level was low and that students who studied in places like St Anthony's were just not fit to compete with the rest. They had to work hard, struggle and make it.

Mani Kadirvel is on FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/mani.kadirvel

--
Note/ If you know of students of the school who studied here in the 1950s/60s please share leads of their names and contacts. Please mail to - vincentsjottings@gmail.com.

Teachers Day celebrations; Sept.5, 2013

The core group of the school's alumni has been doing its bit at the annual Teachers Day event at school these past years. So when Jacklin of the group shared the info and I found time on Thursday ( Sept.5) I drove down to Egmore this morning.

I live in Adyar, the south side of this city so the easy way to get to Egmore is to swing down the Marina Beach road and get across Chintadripet.

It is always a pleasure to set your eyes on the beachside in the morning and Chintadripet, another hub for St Anthony's alumni is as maddening as ever - you cannot escape the famed fish market here but it is crumbling.

Waves of cheers greeted us as we entered school. The kids were all sitting on the ground, in semi circle format while the corridor of the main building had been turned into a viewing gallery of sorts!

All eyes were fixed on the stage where a string of dance, skit and dance pieces by the students made the most of the Teachers Day event. As expected, the hit Tamil film dance numbers grabbed everybody's ears and even the kids of Std.4 went into a frenzy when they played ' Kasu..Panam...' from the film ' Soodhu Kavam'.....and as it rocked the campus some of us alumni rewond to our days at St Anthony's when anything loud and filmi was quietly sidelined and when wild dances set to film songs were 'no-no'.

Times have changed, so have tastes and fancies. And eve a school community lives by the times, I suppose.

What impressed us was the energy that student leaders brought to the day's events which included fun games for teachers.

This as a rather stuffy morning and as the sweat began to trickle fast, the finale was called - all the teachers led by Sr. Jayarani assembled on stage and a large cake was cut and pieces shared.

Quickly, the teachers adjourned to the cool Staff Room, which is on the ground floor of the main building where I guess Std.VIII once functioned.

Asha and her group had arranged for a pack of sweets and karam and a small gift for all the teachers ( 26 I am told) and non teaching staff too. Portraits of a few teachers who are no more adorn the wall. We suggested that one of Ms Devotta who passed away recently be mounted too.

The teachers were in their best Kanjeevaram saris and seem to have enjoyed the event of the day. On the sidelines I got to know that Ms Evonne ( did I get the name right?) who teaches Std.IV now is the seniormost - in service for about 23 years and there are 2 others who have been around for 20 plus years.

Perhaps, it is time to document a St Anthonys Teachers Listing from as far as we can possibly go.

Sports Day; June 29, 2013

The annual Sports Day at the School may have shrunk a lot from the Meets of the 60s and 70s but the 2013 edition held on the school campus on June 29 had a charm of its own.
For one it was well organised and had the students closely involved.

It was 4 p.m. when I dropped by - parents and junior students sat on the edge of the ground and each House had its own cheer group. In fact. there was a prize for the best cheer group House!

It was prize giving time on stage. Rotarian Ragupathy was the guest and alumnae Asha Marina was beside him, representing the alumni besides the wife of  late P T Master Pannerselvam. The master's portrait was displayed on the stage and a trophy in his name was also given.

Each House team - Agnes, Augustine, Joseph and Teresa was seated on the ground; the rain the previous night had helped to settle the dust here.
All the chalk markings created for the races had merged with the dust.

The cheers for each prize winner was resounding indeed.

St. Jospeh's House walked away with the trophy for the overall winner and the group in red let loose their joy. But it had been a tough fight as the photo here showed the points table.
St Teresa's came second and St. Agnes third.

The March Past trophy was bagged by St. Augustine, the greens. St Joseph's was placed second and the blues, St Teresa's came third.

Once the prizes were given, the teams stood up to sing the School Anthem - I quickly recorded it and will post it soon here - and then, the National Anthem.

It was a nice evening; the Rain God let the Sun God rule. And as a gift, the schoolprincipal announced a holiday on Monday!

On the sidelines I meet young boys who had won more than one medal. There is talent here. Perhaps a need for more time and support for the sportsminded kids and better coaching too. That will allow St Anthony's team to take a place in city schools sports area.

Also, there is a need to have better trophies. A few are being recycled. The call is to the alumni to gift the school large rolling trophies/shields that can be used over a decade.

Enjoy a series of photos taken at the Sports Day - https://picasaweb.google.com/108229909377795883653/SchoolSportsJune2013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Tribute to PT Master Panneerselvam

He went the way he wanted.
Dressed in his trademark T-shirt and spotless white trousers, sports shoes and cap; even the small locks of hair dropping down on his neck.

Former P T Master Panneerselvam passed away on June 18, felled by yet another heart attack.

The next day, we like many others made our way to his home in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, beyond Perambur and Peravallur to pay our respects and say a prayer. And we felt good - for his family had respected his wish - 'dress me up in my favorite when I make my last journey.

The funeral service was held at a CSI church in Perambur and he was interred at the Kilpauk cemetery.

"Dad used to tell me - when I die dress me in my favourite clothes...", Panneerselvam's son Sam Aton told me outside the drawing room where people streamed him to see the body, join in the prayers and console his wife.

In many ways he was a colourful character who left a mark on many, many students at St. Anthony's. And for the boys and girls who loved sport, he was indeed a mentor with a signature style of work.

We were in Std.VI when Panneerselvan joined school after graduating from the YMCA College. His nativeness was all over him ( he hailed from the Tirunelveli area). But he spoke the English he knew and did not shy even when many of us tittered at his accent.

"Take-a-book and read man!"
"Lizsen to the music!"

Some of his colorful orders we would hear at Assembly, prayer, sport or on the campus. Panneerselvam was was the kind of guru who wanted to be involved everywhere.
But sports was his passion and his vocation and for the small community of sportsmen and women carefully nurtured by Miss Neaves, that icon of school sports in our city, he was a mentor.

St Anthony's did have impressive sporting talent. In athletics, volleyball, cricket, throw ball. And Pannerselvam helped to mould, train and lead our athletes.

Looking back, we can only smile at the condition - one PT master handling over 100 athletes, an annual Sports Day and class after class of PT sessions.

And we now know that he worked real hard for a not-too-handsome pay packet.

It was that drive that drove him to work at the Brittos Academy in the south suburbs. He used to drive across the city and back for this and it certainly took a toll. His son told us that he has suffered two attacks and yet he strained himself.

"I have been reborn," he told a bunch of us when he was in our midst in January this year at the Alumni Meet at school. ( the photo featured here was taken then). He looked trim, chirpy and was in his trademark attire.

That was the man.

( Contact Sam Anton - Panneerselvam's son - 98841 61105.