GOA is the theme of St.Britto HS Annual Day! It made me proud to be a parent of a Britto Boy and an alumnus of St.Britto HS, Mapusa, last evening. The school had chosen GOA as the theme of the school concert and Annual Day and kept it focused there. Even the backdrop had a large mock Mario Miranda type of cartoon on Goa. What a wonderful way of getting the message to the school students through repeated rehearsals and to the parents of the many participating students through their involvement in the costumes, music selection etc and finally to the audience and Chief Guest.
PWD Engineer Vivek M. Sardesai was the Chief Guest and his wife Varsha [also a PWD Engineer] gave away the prizes. In his address, Vivek said he was happy to be associated with the St. Britto HS as a parent of a student for the last eleven years. He appreciated the fact that the school takes care of the all-round development of the student, way beyond mere academics. The presentations by the students, who also anchored the event, were proof of this. He admitted that he was a first time Chief Guest and thanked the school for the honour. Vivek reminded the parents that the sewing machine, so essential to stitch our clothes, was invented by a poet and that we have jeans thanks to a teacher. One does not know what potential one has in the field that is otherwise beyond one's professional training! The all-round development of a child makes the surfacing of hidden talents possible. St. Britto HS, Mapusa, makes it possible for students to explore beyond academic excellence. The Annual Day started dot on time, 4.00 P.M. The School's Chief Minister, Terence Nunes, introduced the Chief Guest and his wife to the parents and invitees. This was followed by a original "Welcome" song sung the boys [half of them dressed as girls in bright saffron skirts] and set to the tune of "Daisy, Daisy", which has an ever popular string of spontaneous remixes sung at Britto picnic and parties. Teachers Jyoti Sirsat, Anne, and Angela had trained the Std V and VI boys [half of them dressed as farm women in nav-vari sarees, the rest with towels and banian as farm men] to do the Xetkari Nach or Farmer's harvest dance, with realistic props of threshing and winnowing paddy. That set the tone for the evening's performances. A Mando was performed by the Std. VIII boys [dressed in black suits or Indonesian style "Pan baju", as per gender represented] trained by teachers Brazina and Alzira. It was nice to see my son, Colin, singing with gusto. BOB Basil Dias's [photo # 058] son, dressed in Pan-baju, was the lead singer and did full justice to the Mando "Udentichem Neketr" [Star of the East] and "Sobit Amchem Goem" [Our Beautiful Goa] Teachers Shantaram Halarnkar [photo # 027], Manjita and Dayanand, with the help of a student's parent Afonso "Bond" Braganza, trained the Std. IX boys to present a comic play called "Somzonnint chuk" [Misunderstanding] about a person who mistakenly takes a sleeping pill instead of medicine and is presumed dead. Saieesh Malvankar not only acted the role of a grieving female relative to perfection but teacher Yvette Pais had to announce that "she" [Saieesh] was indeed a Britto boy when he came up to receive a prize for academics dressed like a lady in a saree … and looking like one!! Fr. Apolinario [Apollo] Cardoz sj, the Headmaster, in his address said that the school is like a relay race track. Each batch of students runs its lap and ….at the end of SSC… passes the baton to the next batch. The school management, teachers and non-teaching staff [and we BOBs have learnt a lot from the enthusiasm, discipline and loyalty of our "non-teaching" staff like Librarian Alex Almeida and peons Simplicio Fernandes and Constantino] are like the track officials to ensure that the race is run well and the victory is deserved. The St.Britto HS runs an extra mile, along with the PTA and the Britto's OBA, to make the students the very best. He thanked the parents, teachers and alumni who volunteered their time and knowledge to make things better for the current students. Correct the students where they go wrong but, when they do good, applaud them, he said, to a round of applause. The school plans to continue the "Evening Study" [see photos at www.brittos-oba.com] sessions on the campus for students who do not have a conducive environment at home for study due to various causes [noisy neighbourhood, busy household, cramped space, no person to help comprehend the text, etc]. It has already procured a LCD projector to use power point presentations and VCDs as teaching tools in the secondary and DVD player with big screen monitor for primary section. The school has a large playground and its students are among the best in sports in Goa. It has a good PTA and OBA [alumni association] and they are doing a fine job. He asked more parents to volunteer to help when they can spare the time to empower the students with more life skills and knowledge. Among the participants in the Annual Day and Prize winners for academic excellence were a host of children of Britto's Old Boys Association members* [Membership No. to locate the photo at www.brittos-oba.com in brackets] 1.Chief Minister, Terrence Nunes s/o Francis [# 038] 2 Vhoddekara .. Isaiah D"Souza s/o Kenneth [# 024] 3. Mando ……..Colin Braganza s/o Miguel [# 002] 4 Xetkari …….. Andre D'Souza s/o Charles [#051] Prizes 1. Ashwin K. Sawant s/o Krishna/Umesh [# 049] 2. Colin Vasco Braganza s/o Miguel [# 002] 3. Aaron Carvalho s/o Roque [# 045] 4.Clarence D'Souza s/o Aloysius [# 004] 5. Akshay da Gama Pais s/o Jose [# 026] Interestingly, the prize for highest marks in Marathi at SSC went to Sudesh Pillai. The prize distribution was followed by a lively Dhekhnni to the tunes of "Choltam, choltam zali mhaka rati" and "Tarya mama" presented by boys trained by teachers Perpetua , Sandy and Shankar. It was followed by a love song –n-dance "Vhoddekara" ..an eternal tribute to the Sondekar Rajas, who provided a haven at Shiroda in Antruz mahal [now Ponda taluka] during the colonial era, specially before 1764 A.D. The evening ended with a Carnival-with-a-message [or Bonderam] float parade trained by Marialena Sequeira, Genevieve and Yvette Pais, with a slim six-footer Queen Momo accompanying the King, dancers with pom-poms singing "Quem Si, Quem No." followed by Senhoritas and Cavalleros doing the Corredinho to the "Marcha de Fontainhas …closing with a Remo rendered "Jump" from the Bollywood blockbuster "Bhagambhag" The message on the placards said it all "No to RP 2011" "Say NO to Garbage" and "SAVE GOA" . The last words were from King Momo " Goa is the Meditterranean island of the East. Value its people. Save Green Goa." Mog asundi. Miguel -- -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Miguel Braganza, S1 Gracinda Apts, Rajvaddo, Mhapsa 403507 Goa Ph 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
