A great personality wrote me the following letter.
He still loves his school and school days.
He send me photos too.Older generation can trace their friends and teachers in it.It is my pleasure to publish it in our blog
HEAD MASTER
PRATHISH.P.D
9567408409
read n njoy
SOME REMNISCENCES OF SCHOOL DAYS AT HSP ( NOW GHSSP)
Parameswara Krishnan
Professor Emeritus o(Sociology, Demograph)y, University of Alberta,Edmonton, Canada
Introduction:
I was a pupil at HSP from Class 1 through Form V. For the SSLC ( Form VI) , I had moved out to Boys’
High School , Chittur-Palghat. My family had moved out of Thriprayar to Chittur ,after almost 17 to 18
years of stay in the Cochin side of Thriprayar ( north of the river embracing the Shri Rama Temple) . We
were located close to Chelur Mana. My SSLC study period was during 1951-1952.
My father Shri E.S.Parameswara Iyer taught for nearly 12 years at the HSP from where at age 55 ,he
took retirement from active school services This was in 1946.He was First Assistant to the HM of
HSP.During the summer period, he was in charge of public examinations (SSLC and Form III final s. My
three elder brothers, P.Ramachandran; E.P.Seshadri and P.Gopala Subramanian and my elder sister
P.Rugmani were all students at this school .My sister Rugmani was the first girl student, in the annals of
HSP, to receive a First Class in the SSLC examination . This was in 1943.
Interesting and Exciting Teachers
During my primary , middle and high school days, I had interesting and exciting instructors. During
my Class III days, we had Chacko master who used to bike down to the school from his Puthepitika
residence. He was a taskmaster ,but he loved his students. It was common for him to gift us with
bananas ,or biscuits during the lunch hour, when he used to sit by his table in the class room and had
his lunch. Shri Dharmaraja Iyer taught me in Class 1 and a lady teacher in Class IV. I do not recall her
name .We had Mr. Paul as the physical education instructor. We used to call him the Drill Master.
When he retired from services, or was transferred from HSP,he was replaced by Kurian Master from
Puthepitika. Besides his government job, Mr. Kurian used to have some contracting business. The
girl students did not attend physical education classes. They used to have embroidery and stitching
classes. There was no music teacher. Mrs. Mary was in charge of instructing the girls with stitching
and embroidery. I vividly recall her face even now. We used to call her Thunnalamma. She was always
pleasant. We had an instructor to teach us how to draw pictures. The Drawing Master used to meet us
three times a week. When he was not inclined to engage us in drawing, he used to get the class engage
in Akshrasloka activity.
I used to wend my way with my father and sister( who carried dahi bath in a big tiff in carrier for lunch
for us the four brothers and herself) wading through pools of water near the Chemmapilli intersection
at the Thriprayar Chempalli road during the monsoon season. During the summer, we had a shortcut
through the harvested fields located on the eastern side of Chelur Mana. We the students had a great
treat on the birth day of the Maharajah of Cochin. All the students got a good helping of aval ( beaten
rice), jiggery and bananas in celebration of the birth day of the Maharajah.
Middle School Years:
In the First Form, mathematics was taught by Shri N.G.Sreenivasa Iyer who used to be the class master
for Form III. He taught us fractions in arithmetic. Numerator and Denominator were a problem area for
us. To add fractions, we require LCM and HCF(GCM) ideas. He made us remember the numerator of a
fraction as Ennadhari, as we apply oil on our head. Denominator is called Namadhari , as we put our
religious mark on the forehead . Shri Srnivasa Iyer was a great organizer . He was a great invigilator
of exams. Those who copy in the exams are caught redheaded by him. Nobody dared to copy in the
exams, when he was around.
For Forms II and III, I had Shri Ittuthra Warrier as the class teacher. His warrium was close to Chazhur
Kovilakam. The Thampurans of this Kovilakam were the sixth ,or the seventh in rank as far succession
to the Throne of Cochin was concerned. When Shri Warrier was on a long medical leave for a three
month period, Shri Sukumaran Pottekat, who had just finished his BA degree, .officiated as the class
teacher for Form II .Shri Pottekat was my sister’s class mate and a student of my dad Success in the
Third Form Public Exam took me to the High School class.
High School Days:
The integration of Travancore and Cochin (TC), led to changes in the curricula .We had learned
everything, Sciences, Mathematics, History and Geography through the medium of English. Cochin
had a System of Education based on the British style. The medium of instruction was English. All
these changed after the integration. We followed Ross Algebra, Pier Point’s, and Bernard and Child’s
Geometry, Dudley Stamp’s Asia and Africa for our courses. Mills and Menon was the text book used for
science classes .History and Geography were like science subjects. No essays were to be written. One
word, or one sentence answers was the pattern of questions .All these changed , as I began my SSLC
exam in 1952. Essays were to be written in the History and the Geography exams..
The universally accepted standard books were replaced by texts written by some college instructors in the Travancore area of TC. Books were not available at all in the Cochin side. We had to struggle hard to survive. There were no model question papers presented to us who faced the new set up in education.
Mr. Simon Mandi taught us Physics and everyday science. Mr. Mandi used to talk about density in the
Physics class. The density of water is unity (or one). But according to Mr. Mandi , the density of water
in the Teppakulam tank located close to St.Joseph’s College in Trichinopoly where he studied for his
science degree was different.. He used to note that the density of Teppakulam tank water was greater
than one as the tank was polluted to a high extent. If one throws a beaker on to the Tepppakelam ,it will float.
Shri A.Sankara Menon taught us Chemistry. It was a pleasure to be in his class. We did not have a Math teacher for some time. Mr. P.L.Anthony joined as the Math teacher for a short time.This Math Instructor had an exciting approach to teach Algebra. He was with us only for a short time ,as he went on study leave to do a Masters Degree in English. Shri V.P.Ramakrishna Iyer replaced Mr.P.L.Anthony .Natural Science ( Zoology and Botany) was taught by Ms. Brinda Devi. Mr. C.J . Antony
Master taught us History and Shri Sankaran Geography. Shri T.V.Krishnan was our class teacher in Form IV. He taught us English and on occasions Malayalam as well. I had opted for Malayalam as my second language. It became the First Language as per TC integrated system There was a Karthavu Master who taught Malayalam. Mrs. Karthavu became my Hindi Instructor as I went for a course in Hindi that was offered by the Dakshina Baratha Hindi Prachar Sabha. According to the New Educational l System ,
Hindi was a compulsory subject. Hindi was the Third Language. We did not have instructors for Hindi
due to the laxity on the part of the Government in making new appointment, especially in Hindi , as it
was a new subject area.. Also after the transfer of a teacher from the HSP, a replacement teacher joined
after a long lapse of time. The Sanskrit Pandit Pisharody was a familiar figure in the School. My dad’ retirement group photo contains the pictures of almost all those who taught at the school at the time of my father’s retirement in 1946 . Shri T.V.Narayana Iyer was the then HM. He was followed by a bunch
of others. When I was in the High School , the HM was Shri Venkitadri Iyer in 1950-.He used to teach
Geography which was a privilege of Matthew master. Mr. Joseph, brother of Mr. C.K. Mathew taught
History and English.I left for the Boy’s School Chittur in the summer of 1950. Chittur had already a well established Girl’s School . After my departure to Chittur, I lost contact with HSP colleagues and friends till 1973, when we brothers and sisters decided to launch an endowment in my Dad’s name. My parents were alive at that time. My Dad did not desire to have a gold medal presented in his name. But my mother suggested that we should go ahead. Thus the E.S.Parameswara Iyer Endowment Gold medal was started. On advice from the acting HM of HSP it was changed to just a prize Her reasoning was that the price of Gold had skyrocketed. The endowment interest cannot buy enough gold for a medal The money was invested with the Treasurer of Charitable Endowments of Kerala. The idea of honouring all great teachers of HSP dawned later in our mind. The corpus for this was deposited with the Indian Overseas Bank in Sreekanteswaram ,Trivandrum. The interest earned from the corpus was designated to honour the teachers of long standing in the school. There were awards named after Ittuthra Warrier,Kavunni Kartha, Srinivasa Iyer, Seetharama Iyer(who HM for some time), Narayana Iye(who was HM during 1946-48 time period ,Raghava Pisharody, Vidwan Prakasham, and Sankara Menon. These awards were presented for some time. But HMs of HSP changed frequently and there was no continuity in presenting these awards. No file was maintained in the school so that succeeding HMs have an overview of the situation and request IOB for the prize money just before the school day commences.Since the money earned by interest was not utilized in time, the awards account got closed by the IOB.I was able to restart the wheel of the awards scheme by a recent visit to the Bank. I appreciate that the new HM Pratish and Devayani teacher for turning a new leaf in the annals of this Great Institution.Classmates:
I had a bunch of good classmates at the HSP. Mr.Chandra Bose , a smart boy from Peringottukara was one such. I met him at Cornell University, Ithaca,New York, U.S.A. where I was pursuing my doctoral program. He had come on a postdoctoral assignment to Cornell. I met Mrs.Bose and their daughter in Ithaca.Mr. Karunakaran, Raghav Pisharody’s son was my class fellow. Mr Thrivikraman from Thriprayar, a Chattan Family boy, Goda Varma Thampuran, Kerala Varma Thampuran and Subhadra Thampuratti,all from Chazur Kovilakam were my class mates. Subhadra Thampuratti was indeed smart. Mr. Balan ,
a son of the Tulu Brahmin lady who lived next door to Srinivasa Iyer’s home in Cochin Thriprayar
studied with me. Later he moved to Thrissur to be with the Pathan’s Café. Balan’s brother Krishnan
Embranthri is responsible for the Kalyana Mandapam located in the western side of the Sri Rama
Temple in Thriprayar. Mr. T.J.Devassy who hails from a rich Catholic Family in Peringottukara was a
good classmate of mine.When I was doing my High School , a Convent School was started by some Sisters , circa 1949-50 , just close to the Catholic Church on the Chempalli- Peringottukara Road. This drained away all the girls from HSP. Thus HSP became a boy’s high school. I am glad to see that the HSP has become a mixed school again.
There were no mid-day meals served to the school students at that time. Some went to their home, if
that was close to the school, for a grab of a quick lunch. My sister used to carry dahi bath from home for all of us. Often she did not get her share ,as she was keen on feeding us her younger brothers. My Dad used to get for him and her dosa,or steamed plantain for lunch. This tea shop ,located to the eastern gate of the school on the Peringottukara –Anthicad road side ,was very popular with the teachers and others.
Education was not free at that time. We used to shell out fees from Class 1 through Class 10. Girls had
to pay only half of the fees paid by the boys. The rate of the fees was under Re.1 for the primary
classes; Rs 3.00 for the Middle School and Rs 5.25 for the High School classes. The fee structure in the
Cochin area while it was lower in Travancore. When I joined the college for higher studies, the Cochin
Government Fees were higher . As the TC fee structure began to be applied, the college fees were
reduced. It was later that the Government decided to make school l education free throughout the
State.
P.S.:
When my Dad retired in 1946, he was presented with a document of appreciation (Mangala Patram).
This was prepared by Poulose Master, Malayalam Pandit. The mangala patram was read by Shri Gopalan of the SSLC class- a tall young man who was called School Gandhi. Mr. Paul Varghese, HM during 1943 presided over the retirement party meet .Mr. Raghava Pisharody prepared a reply in Malayalam for my Dad for presentation at the end of themeeting. My Dad invited the whole school to come to our
home and receive some goodies.. The teachers got tea and some snacks. Chelur Mana Namboodiri
volunteered his automobile for my Dad to travel. But he preferred to walk with the students all the way
from HSP to Thriprayar by the main road. The Chelur automobile just plodded this route without my
Dad all the way.
I shall be failing in my write up ,if I missed to note the name of Govinda Menon, a Math teacher, who
used to walk a long distance from around Guruvayur to Peringottukara and back every day , Monday
through Friday. Shri Govinda Menon taught Math optional to senior students. My brother Seshadri was
taught by him. Among the support staff ,Shri Kartha was in charge of ringing the bell to let know the
students that it was time to go to the class. He was always well dressed in his uniform. He used to bring
notices to be read in the class room to apprise the students of important matters. The other support
members were Mr. Poulose and Mr. Kunjunni.
The south entrance to the school was guarded by a huge banian tree. Peanut packets, toffees and even
other goodies were sold by vendors by the tree to the boys. The Devi Temple was just west of the
banian tree . There was big tank adjoining the temple close to the school. During the monsoon season,
the tank b rimmed with water and students were instructed to keep way from the temple tank.
He still loves his school and school days.
He send me photos too.Older generation can trace their friends and teachers in it.It is my pleasure to publish it in our blog
HEAD MASTER
PRATHISH.P.D
9567408409
read n njoy
SOME REMNISCENCES OF SCHOOL DAYS AT HSP ( NOW GHSSP)
Parameswara Krishnan
Professor Emeritus o(Sociology, Demograph)y, University of Alberta,Edmonton, Canada
Introduction:
I was a pupil at HSP from Class 1 through Form V. For the SSLC ( Form VI) , I had moved out to Boys’
High School , Chittur-Palghat. My family had moved out of Thriprayar to Chittur ,after almost 17 to 18
years of stay in the Cochin side of Thriprayar ( north of the river embracing the Shri Rama Temple) . We
were located close to Chelur Mana. My SSLC study period was during 1951-1952.
My father Shri E.S.Parameswara Iyer taught for nearly 12 years at the HSP from where at age 55 ,he
took retirement from active school services This was in 1946.He was First Assistant to the HM of
HSP.During the summer period, he was in charge of public examinations (SSLC and Form III final s. My
three elder brothers, P.Ramachandran; E.P.Seshadri and P.Gopala Subramanian and my elder sister
P.Rugmani were all students at this school .My sister Rugmani was the first girl student, in the annals of
HSP, to receive a First Class in the SSLC examination . This was in 1943.
Interesting and Exciting Teachers
During my primary , middle and high school days, I had interesting and exciting instructors. During
my Class III days, we had Chacko master who used to bike down to the school from his Puthepitika
residence. He was a taskmaster ,but he loved his students. It was common for him to gift us with
bananas ,or biscuits during the lunch hour, when he used to sit by his table in the class room and had
his lunch. Shri Dharmaraja Iyer taught me in Class 1 and a lady teacher in Class IV. I do not recall her
name .We had Mr. Paul as the physical education instructor. We used to call him the Drill Master.
When he retired from services, or was transferred from HSP,he was replaced by Kurian Master from
Puthepitika. Besides his government job, Mr. Kurian used to have some contracting business. The
girl students did not attend physical education classes. They used to have embroidery and stitching
classes. There was no music teacher. Mrs. Mary was in charge of instructing the girls with stitching
and embroidery. I vividly recall her face even now. We used to call her Thunnalamma. She was always
pleasant. We had an instructor to teach us how to draw pictures. The Drawing Master used to meet us
three times a week. When he was not inclined to engage us in drawing, he used to get the class engage
in Akshrasloka activity.
I used to wend my way with my father and sister( who carried dahi bath in a big tiff in carrier for lunch
for us the four brothers and herself) wading through pools of water near the Chemmapilli intersection
at the Thriprayar Chempalli road during the monsoon season. During the summer, we had a shortcut
through the harvested fields located on the eastern side of Chelur Mana. We the students had a great
treat on the birth day of the Maharajah of Cochin. All the students got a good helping of aval ( beaten
rice), jiggery and bananas in celebration of the birth day of the Maharajah.
Middle School Years:
In the First Form, mathematics was taught by Shri N.G.Sreenivasa Iyer who used to be the class master
for Form III. He taught us fractions in arithmetic. Numerator and Denominator were a problem area for
us. To add fractions, we require LCM and HCF(GCM) ideas. He made us remember the numerator of a
fraction as Ennadhari, as we apply oil on our head. Denominator is called Namadhari , as we put our
religious mark on the forehead . Shri Srnivasa Iyer was a great organizer . He was a great invigilator
of exams. Those who copy in the exams are caught redheaded by him. Nobody dared to copy in the
exams, when he was around.
For Forms II and III, I had Shri Ittuthra Warrier as the class teacher. His warrium was close to Chazhur
Kovilakam. The Thampurans of this Kovilakam were the sixth ,or the seventh in rank as far succession
to the Throne of Cochin was concerned. When Shri Warrier was on a long medical leave for a three
month period, Shri Sukumaran Pottekat, who had just finished his BA degree, .officiated as the class
teacher for Form II .Shri Pottekat was my sister’s class mate and a student of my dad Success in the
Third Form Public Exam took me to the High School class.
High School Days:
The integration of Travancore and Cochin (TC), led to changes in the curricula .We had learned
everything, Sciences, Mathematics, History and Geography through the medium of English. Cochin
had a System of Education based on the British style. The medium of instruction was English. All
these changed after the integration. We followed Ross Algebra, Pier Point’s, and Bernard and Child’s
Geometry, Dudley Stamp’s Asia and Africa for our courses. Mills and Menon was the text book used for
science classes .History and Geography were like science subjects. No essays were to be written. One
word, or one sentence answers was the pattern of questions .All these changed , as I began my SSLC
exam in 1952. Essays were to be written in the History and the Geography exams..
The universally accepted standard books were replaced by texts written by some college instructors in the Travancore area of TC. Books were not available at all in the Cochin side. We had to struggle hard to survive. There were no model question papers presented to us who faced the new set up in education.
Mr. Simon Mandi taught us Physics and everyday science. Mr. Mandi used to talk about density in the
Physics class. The density of water is unity (or one). But according to Mr. Mandi , the density of water
in the Teppakulam tank located close to St.Joseph’s College in Trichinopoly where he studied for his
science degree was different.. He used to note that the density of Teppakulam tank water was greater
than one as the tank was polluted to a high extent. If one throws a beaker on to the Tepppakelam ,it will float.
Shri A.Sankara Menon taught us Chemistry. It was a pleasure to be in his class. We did not have a Math teacher for some time. Mr. P.L.Anthony joined as the Math teacher for a short time.This Math Instructor had an exciting approach to teach Algebra. He was with us only for a short time ,as he went on study leave to do a Masters Degree in English. Shri V.P.Ramakrishna Iyer replaced Mr.P.L.Anthony .Natural Science ( Zoology and Botany) was taught by Ms. Brinda Devi. Mr. C.J . Antony
Master taught us History and Shri Sankaran Geography. Shri T.V.Krishnan was our class teacher in Form IV. He taught us English and on occasions Malayalam as well. I had opted for Malayalam as my second language. It became the First Language as per TC integrated system There was a Karthavu Master who taught Malayalam. Mrs. Karthavu became my Hindi Instructor as I went for a course in Hindi that was offered by the Dakshina Baratha Hindi Prachar Sabha. According to the New Educational l System ,
Hindi was a compulsory subject. Hindi was the Third Language. We did not have instructors for Hindi
due to the laxity on the part of the Government in making new appointment, especially in Hindi , as it
was a new subject area.. Also after the transfer of a teacher from the HSP, a replacement teacher joined
after a long lapse of time. The Sanskrit Pandit Pisharody was a familiar figure in the School. My dad’ retirement group photo contains the pictures of almost all those who taught at the school at the time of my father’s retirement in 1946 . Shri T.V.Narayana Iyer was the then HM. He was followed by a bunch
of others. When I was in the High School , the HM was Shri Venkitadri Iyer in 1950-.He used to teach
Geography which was a privilege of Matthew master. Mr. Joseph, brother of Mr. C.K. Mathew taught
History and English.I left for the Boy’s School Chittur in the summer of 1950. Chittur had already a well established Girl’s School . After my departure to Chittur, I lost contact with HSP colleagues and friends till 1973, when we brothers and sisters decided to launch an endowment in my Dad’s name. My parents were alive at that time. My Dad did not desire to have a gold medal presented in his name. But my mother suggested that we should go ahead. Thus the E.S.Parameswara Iyer Endowment Gold medal was started. On advice from the acting HM of HSP it was changed to just a prize Her reasoning was that the price of Gold had skyrocketed. The endowment interest cannot buy enough gold for a medal The money was invested with the Treasurer of Charitable Endowments of Kerala. The idea of honouring all great teachers of HSP dawned later in our mind. The corpus for this was deposited with the Indian Overseas Bank in Sreekanteswaram ,Trivandrum. The interest earned from the corpus was designated to honour the teachers of long standing in the school. There were awards named after Ittuthra Warrier,Kavunni Kartha, Srinivasa Iyer, Seetharama Iyer(who HM for some time), Narayana Iye(who was HM during 1946-48 time period ,Raghava Pisharody, Vidwan Prakasham, and Sankara Menon. These awards were presented for some time. But HMs of HSP changed frequently and there was no continuity in presenting these awards. No file was maintained in the school so that succeeding HMs have an overview of the situation and request IOB for the prize money just before the school day commences.Since the money earned by interest was not utilized in time, the awards account got closed by the IOB.I was able to restart the wheel of the awards scheme by a recent visit to the Bank. I appreciate that the new HM Pratish and Devayani teacher for turning a new leaf in the annals of this Great Institution.Classmates:
I had a bunch of good classmates at the HSP. Mr.Chandra Bose , a smart boy from Peringottukara was one such. I met him at Cornell University, Ithaca,New York, U.S.A. where I was pursuing my doctoral program. He had come on a postdoctoral assignment to Cornell. I met Mrs.Bose and their daughter in Ithaca.Mr. Karunakaran, Raghav Pisharody’s son was my class fellow. Mr Thrivikraman from Thriprayar, a Chattan Family boy, Goda Varma Thampuran, Kerala Varma Thampuran and Subhadra Thampuratti,all from Chazur Kovilakam were my class mates. Subhadra Thampuratti was indeed smart. Mr. Balan ,
a son of the Tulu Brahmin lady who lived next door to Srinivasa Iyer’s home in Cochin Thriprayar
studied with me. Later he moved to Thrissur to be with the Pathan’s Café. Balan’s brother Krishnan
Embranthri is responsible for the Kalyana Mandapam located in the western side of the Sri Rama
Temple in Thriprayar. Mr. T.J.Devassy who hails from a rich Catholic Family in Peringottukara was a
good classmate of mine.When I was doing my High School , a Convent School was started by some Sisters , circa 1949-50 , just close to the Catholic Church on the Chempalli- Peringottukara Road. This drained away all the girls from HSP. Thus HSP became a boy’s high school. I am glad to see that the HSP has become a mixed school again.
There were no mid-day meals served to the school students at that time. Some went to their home, if
that was close to the school, for a grab of a quick lunch. My sister used to carry dahi bath from home for all of us. Often she did not get her share ,as she was keen on feeding us her younger brothers. My Dad used to get for him and her dosa,or steamed plantain for lunch. This tea shop ,located to the eastern gate of the school on the Peringottukara –Anthicad road side ,was very popular with the teachers and others.
Education was not free at that time. We used to shell out fees from Class 1 through Class 10. Girls had
to pay only half of the fees paid by the boys. The rate of the fees was under Re.1 for the primary
classes; Rs 3.00 for the Middle School and Rs 5.25 for the High School classes. The fee structure in the
Cochin area while it was lower in Travancore. When I joined the college for higher studies, the Cochin
Government Fees were higher . As the TC fee structure began to be applied, the college fees were
reduced. It was later that the Government decided to make school l education free throughout the
State.
P.S.:
When my Dad retired in 1946, he was presented with a document of appreciation (Mangala Patram).
This was prepared by Poulose Master, Malayalam Pandit. The mangala patram was read by Shri Gopalan of the SSLC class- a tall young man who was called School Gandhi. Mr. Paul Varghese, HM during 1943 presided over the retirement party meet .Mr. Raghava Pisharody prepared a reply in Malayalam for my Dad for presentation at the end of themeeting. My Dad invited the whole school to come to our
home and receive some goodies.. The teachers got tea and some snacks. Chelur Mana Namboodiri
volunteered his automobile for my Dad to travel. But he preferred to walk with the students all the way
from HSP to Thriprayar by the main road. The Chelur automobile just plodded this route without my
Dad all the way.
I shall be failing in my write up ,if I missed to note the name of Govinda Menon, a Math teacher, who
used to walk a long distance from around Guruvayur to Peringottukara and back every day , Monday
through Friday. Shri Govinda Menon taught Math optional to senior students. My brother Seshadri was
taught by him. Among the support staff ,Shri Kartha was in charge of ringing the bell to let know the
students that it was time to go to the class. He was always well dressed in his uniform. He used to bring
notices to be read in the class room to apprise the students of important matters. The other support
members were Mr. Poulose and Mr. Kunjunni.
The south entrance to the school was guarded by a huge banian tree. Peanut packets, toffees and even
other goodies were sold by vendors by the tree to the boys. The Devi Temple was just west of the
banian tree . There was big tank adjoining the temple close to the school. During the monsoon season,
the tank b rimmed with water and students were instructed to keep way from the temple tank.
Parameswara Krishnan
A happy news for all wellwishers of GHSS Peringottukara
PRATHISH.P.D
Headmaster.
9567408409
LETTER OF Mr. RAMNKUTTY
ramankuttym@gmail.com
Year 1934.
M.Ramankutty, Madathil House, Pullu, Alapad P.O Trichur District joins preparatory class in Peringottokara Sircar High school after a successful course of 4 years in Pullu aided Primary School
Preparatory class was inserted between fourth class and First Form (as the fifth class was then called) to enable the malayalam medium primary school students to get acclamatised with the English education wich started in Vth class (First Form) in High Schools in the erstwhile Cochin State. The sixth form or SSLC examination was conducted by Madras University with texts prescribed and question papers set by them.
My three elder brothers had also had education from High School Peringottukara although the 2nd from the top stoppeld with 3rd form. The first in the list of four brothers M.Krishnan stood first in the State in English in the SSLC exam and was a Medal for this achievement.
We , the last two brothers had simultaneous study period my elder brother being one class ahead of me. He is M Appukuttan who passed in first class in 1939 SSLC. We both had schiolarships from 1st form to Vi th form though I could manage only a half fee scholarship from IVth to VI th the last 3 years.
We had Mr.Ramakrishna Iyer as class teacher in Preparatory class. His first class I remmember vivildly even now . He gave the English word Mother for amma in Malayalam and asked each one us to get up and repeat the word Moher, which most of us did nervously . But one big surprise and shock for most of us was in stoe. When the turn for repeating the word Mother came to Chennankutty,, failed student from the previous year, he boldly shot and said " M O T H E R, mother" and triumphantly sat down with a condescending look at all of us in the class. We were struck with awe and admiration at the knowledgeable Chennankutty. After the class, Chennankutty was besieged with his classmates seeking friendship with him. But alas, suffice it to say, as the classes progressed, this charisma of Chennankutty died down and he faded away from our memory.
Mr.Dharmaraja Iyer who vociferously conducted the 1st class accross the courtyard from our lpreparatory class, was an interesting personaliity. His continous shouts to the bundles of mirth, to keep the tiny tots from spilling into the courtyard, "go to your place","less noice " accompanied by strikes of his cane on the table was very interesting. His frequent calls for the aid of the class monior KALYANI, in keeping some sort of discipline in the class was well appreciated. Dharmu had a side business on the sly. He prepared coffee in the class room during the lunch interval and supplied fo all the teachers who had been surviving with some packed food brought from home. Most of them belonged to the Iyer community and had meals in the morning and Dharmu's coffee was quite welcome, on payment of course. I remember that along the years, Dharmarraja Iyer had named his class monior KALYANI though the school register had otherl names. And these Kalyanis helped our Dharmu by gathering firewood for the coffee making and was earned the gratitude of Dharmu.
During the period I was in the School, very famous and competent teachers adorned the faculty. To start with we had Menokaimal Vasudevan Unnithan as Malayalam Pundit, who was a well known figure in the literary field , who wrote among others, the Novel, Mugdharagam in two volumes which was a beautilful translation of the famour novel THE WRECK by Sri Ravindranatha Tagore. Those were days of translation, and our school library had a good stock of them, books authored by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra Upodhyaya. I had, with under cover collaborlation of school clerk, one Mr.Nambiyar , access to these and other English Novels, like IVNHOE and other classils. I confess that such access had helped me ivery much.
We had also Mr.Ullattil Sankarankutty Nair, the author of CHITHRASLABHA SANDESAM a famous Sandesa kavya in the steps of Mayura Sandesam of Raja Raja Varma, all following the classis Megha Sandesa of Kalidasan.
I had chosen Sanskrit as my second language as a family tradition as all brothers before me had taken Sanskrit. I could not say, the passage through sanskrit classes was very smooth. Our Sanskrit Pandit Mr.Sreedharan Namboothiri, was strict disciplinarian and would want each one of us , to know the prose order, delension of each and every word. My friend Balakrishnan sone of a Police constable in Anthikad police station was absolutely non plusesd in the ocean of nama linga, avyaya, parasmaipaid and almanaikpadi etc etc and bore the brunt of the wrath of Namboothiri Pandit. This Pandit had a novel way of meeting out punishment to erring ones. He brought a small pile of sand taken from the courtyard and kept at the corner of the table in open view of all the students and when an error occurred in the declention , he called the student to his side , took a pinch of sand from the pile, and screwed the flesh on his thigh till the recepient howled at a high decibel. Often blood smears were seen on the clothes of the recepient. Balakrishnan, the whipping boy would have happily shifted to Malayalam class , but for much more aggressive punishment threated by his father, who was an ardent follower of Sanskrit, the reasons for which, poor Balakrishnan had no idea. Mr. Namboothiri mellowed a little before his retirement and we had covertly celebrated his departure though we dutifully attended the send off function and speakers therein eulogised Mr.Namboothiri.
Then comes Mr.Pisharodi, truly a man iof the masses. He introduced us into the wonderful world of literature. He told us of Uddannasastrgal, Kakkasseri Bhattathiri and beautiful enjoyable anecdotes about the poems and poets of the past and present. Mr Pilsharodi was not overconcerned about Vibhakti, gave us questions and their answers and in between led us slowly in the Vyakaranam, Alankaram areas just as a picnic journey and many of us enjoyed it. Many slokas outside the texts became known to us . Glory to Mr. Pishradi and his ilk
We had the redoubtable Mr.P>H Rama Iyer who was capable of handling any subject and N.S.Subramania Iyer who was a post graduate . A great man with a great fund of knowledge. The only defect we noticed his tendency of calling the erring student and slapping him on his face. My frilend Kuamaran overcame this condition when he covered his cheek with both his hand before the slap ceme. Mr.Iyer asked Kumaran why he is covering his cheek when he came to the table. Kumaran non challantly replied that he was trying to prevent the oncoming slap landing on his cheek. Mr.Iyer was bemused and stopped this unhealthy practice much to the merriment of the class.
We had Mr.Venkigtakrishna Iyer, our maths teacher, who , much to our dismay, knew everything byheart. Theroms, Riders, formulas etc just flowed from his mouth without even a glilmpse to the text book. Most of us had our mouths wide open during the class. We had Kavunni Kartha agailn a master of all subjects and preferred to sit with us in the class rather than occupy his chair..
We had Mr.C C Mathew and Oxford University Post Graduate as our Head Master in the beginnig when I joined Peringottukara. Fully dressed in coat suit and tie, entire school felll silent when he came to the school and took round through the verandas of the class rooms. The sound his shoes striking the tiled floor sent a shifer through the classes. He was such a displinarian. Then came Sri Appu Iyer, N S Plarameswara Iyerl.
Mss V.K.Dakshayani amma, the first gradate from harijan community, joined our school on first appointment as teacher. It is history that the teacher latered entered politics and was an MLA iln Cochin Legislative Assembly.
We had sportsmen of value, Veeravu a hope step and jump medalist, Sreedharan a pillar in our volley ball team.team leaders like Pulilckal Bhaskaran , Cheloor Nraryaan Kutty from Anthikad, Cherthedeth Balan and Manoharan from Thriprayar, Paul George from Nadakkalan family, Karanchira etc etc.
Memory is failing at this age of 89 yrs. Ihis msg has been long. I have written what came to my mind now. I know a lot more is to be written. Later , if there is a chance. Bye for the present. Ramankutty ;M.
The history of our school since 1934 is clearly visible now.One of our
old student has sent a note to me which I felt very valuable at this
moment.
I am tying to trace our long 120 year old history.I am sure by seeing
this other old students of this school will also try to write their
memories.I welcome all old students to write your memories to
ghssperingottukara@gmail.com.
Thanking you,
PRATHISH.P.D
Headmaster.
9567408409
LETTER OF Mr. RAMNKUTTY
ramankuttym@gmail.com
Year 1934.
M.Ramankutty, Madathil House, Pullu, Alapad P.O Trichur District joins preparatory class in Peringottokara Sircar High school after a successful course of 4 years in Pullu aided Primary School
Preparatory class was inserted between fourth class and First Form (as the fifth class was then called) to enable the malayalam medium primary school students to get acclamatised with the English education wich started in Vth class (First Form) in High Schools in the erstwhile Cochin State. The sixth form or SSLC examination was conducted by Madras University with texts prescribed and question papers set by them.
My three elder brothers had also had education from High School Peringottukara although the 2nd from the top stoppeld with 3rd form. The first in the list of four brothers M.Krishnan stood first in the State in English in the SSLC exam and was a Medal for this achievement.
We , the last two brothers had simultaneous study period my elder brother being one class ahead of me. He is M Appukuttan who passed in first class in 1939 SSLC. We both had schiolarships from 1st form to Vi th form though I could manage only a half fee scholarship from IVth to VI th the last 3 years.
We had Mr.Ramakrishna Iyer as class teacher in Preparatory class. His first class I remmember vivildly even now . He gave the English word Mother for amma in Malayalam and asked each one us to get up and repeat the word Moher, which most of us did nervously . But one big surprise and shock for most of us was in stoe. When the turn for repeating the word Mother came to Chennankutty,, failed student from the previous year, he boldly shot and said " M O T H E R, mother" and triumphantly sat down with a condescending look at all of us in the class. We were struck with awe and admiration at the knowledgeable Chennankutty. After the class, Chennankutty was besieged with his classmates seeking friendship with him. But alas, suffice it to say, as the classes progressed, this charisma of Chennankutty died down and he faded away from our memory.
Mr.Dharmaraja Iyer who vociferously conducted the 1st class accross the courtyard from our lpreparatory class, was an interesting personaliity. His continous shouts to the bundles of mirth, to keep the tiny tots from spilling into the courtyard, "go to your place","less noice " accompanied by strikes of his cane on the table was very interesting. His frequent calls for the aid of the class monior KALYANI, in keeping some sort of discipline in the class was well appreciated. Dharmu had a side business on the sly. He prepared coffee in the class room during the lunch interval and supplied fo all the teachers who had been surviving with some packed food brought from home. Most of them belonged to the Iyer community and had meals in the morning and Dharmu's coffee was quite welcome, on payment of course. I remember that along the years, Dharmarraja Iyer had named his class monior KALYANI though the school register had otherl names. And these Kalyanis helped our Dharmu by gathering firewood for the coffee making and was earned the gratitude of Dharmu.
During the period I was in the School, very famous and competent teachers adorned the faculty. To start with we had Menokaimal Vasudevan Unnithan as Malayalam Pundit, who was a well known figure in the literary field , who wrote among others, the Novel, Mugdharagam in two volumes which was a beautilful translation of the famour novel THE WRECK by Sri Ravindranatha Tagore. Those were days of translation, and our school library had a good stock of them, books authored by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra Upodhyaya. I had, with under cover collaborlation of school clerk, one Mr.Nambiyar , access to these and other English Novels, like IVNHOE and other classils. I confess that such access had helped me ivery much.
We had also Mr.Ullattil Sankarankutty Nair, the author of CHITHRASLABHA SANDESAM a famous Sandesa kavya in the steps of Mayura Sandesam of Raja Raja Varma, all following the classis Megha Sandesa of Kalidasan.
I had chosen Sanskrit as my second language as a family tradition as all brothers before me had taken Sanskrit. I could not say, the passage through sanskrit classes was very smooth. Our Sanskrit Pandit Mr.Sreedharan Namboothiri, was strict disciplinarian and would want each one of us , to know the prose order, delension of each and every word. My friend Balakrishnan sone of a Police constable in Anthikad police station was absolutely non plusesd in the ocean of nama linga, avyaya, parasmaipaid and almanaikpadi etc etc and bore the brunt of the wrath of Namboothiri Pandit. This Pandit had a novel way of meeting out punishment to erring ones. He brought a small pile of sand taken from the courtyard and kept at the corner of the table in open view of all the students and when an error occurred in the declention , he called the student to his side , took a pinch of sand from the pile, and screwed the flesh on his thigh till the recepient howled at a high decibel. Often blood smears were seen on the clothes of the recepient. Balakrishnan, the whipping boy would have happily shifted to Malayalam class , but for much more aggressive punishment threated by his father, who was an ardent follower of Sanskrit, the reasons for which, poor Balakrishnan had no idea. Mr. Namboothiri mellowed a little before his retirement and we had covertly celebrated his departure though we dutifully attended the send off function and speakers therein eulogised Mr.Namboothiri.
Then comes Mr.Pisharodi, truly a man iof the masses. He introduced us into the wonderful world of literature. He told us of Uddannasastrgal, Kakkasseri Bhattathiri and beautiful enjoyable anecdotes about the poems and poets of the past and present. Mr Pilsharodi was not overconcerned about Vibhakti, gave us questions and their answers and in between led us slowly in the Vyakaranam, Alankaram areas just as a picnic journey and many of us enjoyed it. Many slokas outside the texts became known to us . Glory to Mr. Pishradi and his ilk
We had the redoubtable Mr.P>H Rama Iyer who was capable of handling any subject and N.S.Subramania Iyer who was a post graduate . A great man with a great fund of knowledge. The only defect we noticed his tendency of calling the erring student and slapping him on his face. My frilend Kuamaran overcame this condition when he covered his cheek with both his hand before the slap ceme. Mr.Iyer asked Kumaran why he is covering his cheek when he came to the table. Kumaran non challantly replied that he was trying to prevent the oncoming slap landing on his cheek. Mr.Iyer was bemused and stopped this unhealthy practice much to the merriment of the class.
We had Mr.Venkigtakrishna Iyer, our maths teacher, who , much to our dismay, knew everything byheart. Theroms, Riders, formulas etc just flowed from his mouth without even a glilmpse to the text book. Most of us had our mouths wide open during the class. We had Kavunni Kartha agailn a master of all subjects and preferred to sit with us in the class rather than occupy his chair..
We had Mr.C C Mathew and Oxford University Post Graduate as our Head Master in the beginnig when I joined Peringottukara. Fully dressed in coat suit and tie, entire school felll silent when he came to the school and took round through the verandas of the class rooms. The sound his shoes striking the tiled floor sent a shifer through the classes. He was such a displinarian. Then came Sri Appu Iyer, N S Plarameswara Iyerl.
Mss V.K.Dakshayani amma, the first gradate from harijan community, joined our school on first appointment as teacher. It is history that the teacher latered entered politics and was an MLA iln Cochin Legislative Assembly.
We had sportsmen of value, Veeravu a hope step and jump medalist, Sreedharan a pillar in our volley ball team.team leaders like Pulilckal Bhaskaran , Cheloor Nraryaan Kutty from Anthikad, Cherthedeth Balan and Manoharan from Thriprayar, Paul George from Nadakkalan family, Karanchira etc etc.
Memory is failing at this age of 89 yrs. Ihis msg has been long. I have written what came to my mind now. I know a lot more is to be written. Later , if there is a chance. Bye for the present. Ramankutty ;M.
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