Reflections on my journey through the Boys’ Grammar School

Tue, May 15. 2012

CHAPTER SIX – THE SCHOOL MASTERS – part 2

by OSWALD FEREIRA
madungo@shaw.ca

No one could go through secondary school without memories of one’s peers. These were the people with whom we spent the most productive hours of our time awake each day; with whom we partnered for lab experiments; with whom we struggled to translate the Scalae Mediae, solve Geometry riders, formed debating teams, exchanged class notes, etc. We watched each other grow up from timid pre-teens into confident young men. In many ways we all left our marks on each other and there is a part of you all in the person that I became. From time to time you are all in my thoughts.{{more}}

Year after year I watched people move through the School, become Prefects and go on to jobs or to study overseas. I saw whole clans such as the Bowmans and the Dougans go through the School. Every year, I felt closer to the goal of graduating and possibly going off to university. When I became a Fifth Former and graduated to wearing long pants, it was quite a satisfying experience.

In the culture of control, it was difficult to bond with classmates because any association in class would often result in lines or a detention. It is difficult to develop meaningful relationships while needing eyes in the back of one’s head to watch out for a Master, Prefect, or worse, the Headmaster. We bonded in the short time we had before class, at recess and largely over the lunch hour, while we played “raisings” (my peers would know what that means), watched a game of cricket on the school oval, or congregated around the tray of goodies that was sold by Norma each school day.

Many events stand out and I will try to remember a few, perhaps at my own peril. Russell Quashie was a classmate in Form 5A. Russell has a distinctive laugh and he was intrigued with my hair, more so with its ability to fall back into place once it was tousled. On several occasions a classmate would run their fingers through my hair, making a mess, and Russell would watch in awe as each strand of hair slowly fell back into place as if it was freshly combed and then there would be the great laugh, often followed by a detention – my apologies Russell.

Canute Campbell also had a similar laugh. Canute would laugh at anything and was often rewarded with lines or a detention. Emil Cox was another such character. Such irony! Many of the wealthiest folk in Hollywood are those who make us laugh for a living – but laughter at BGS was considered anti-social behaviour that must be punished and discouraged.

One thing that stood out in my memory was the fierce loyalty among my classmates. I am sure we would have done almost anything for each other. After all we spent so many hours together, we grew up together, we were like family. I remember that our Lower Fifth Form class was housed for a while in the old wooden library building that had been moved from the hill and placed beside the bridge by the Prep School. My classmates would tease Prefect DaSilva each morning and we would get a daily class detention. We would watch as that Prefect walked down the oval to preside over detention and as he neared, we would all, without exception, jump out the back door and disappear down the gutter, emerging on the Back Street. After some weeks, he gave up; that was one battle we won.

Another great show of solidarity was when a local Mistress at the High School (I cannot remember if it was Mrs Connell) was terminated and the Girls’ High School was locked out. In our eyes, her dismissal was unjust and the whole of BGS went out on a sympathy strike for several days, choosing instead to camp out at the Administrators’ home at the Botanic Gardens. The Mistress was reinstated and we went back to school. I can still see a young High School Girl holding a placard; it read: “Incompetence at the head confuses the issue”; it’s engraved on my brain.

(Chapter 7 to be continued)