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| A boy from Calcutta International School belts it out on stage; Loreto House girls have a blast cheering on contestants at the two-day fest on the Middleton Row campus (Arnab Mondal) | |
Boys have managed to enter Loreto House, thanks to the first fest in 20 years on the Middleton Row campus.
The school that produces the “smartest girls” — according to students past and present, of course — has long been a no-entry zone for boys.
That changed over the weekend with the Klima fest on August 3-4 hosting La Martiniere for Boys and co-educational schools like Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Calcutta International School, along with three girls’ schools.
The determination of the Nature Club members at the 170-year-old school has managed to end the 20-year drought.
“When the new Nature Club (called Klima) board took over in January, we decided that we would do something which would be a milestone in the history of Loreto House,” said Rashmeka Banerjee, the president of Klima.
So, the two-day fest titled Klima: Weathering for Change brought in change of a different kind — throwing the gates open to boys for a fest two decades after Communique, the annual fest started in 1983, packed up.
“The children were demanding it and so.... We have to move with the times,” Gouri Basu, the vice-principal of Loreto House, told Metro. “Our girls participate in fests in boys’ schools and also co-educational schools,” she added.
Klima: Weathering for Change involved spray painting, photography, debating, quizzing, western music....
And the girls sure did have fun — on their toes and on the chairs grooving to We Found Love by Rihanna and When We Were Beautiful by Bon Jovi, shouting, cheering and clapping. No points for guessing for whom the noise was the loudest — Bob Marley’s One Love performed by Loreto House — but even Satyajit Chatterjee of Calcutta International School drew loud cheers for his rendition of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young.
But all under the vigilant gaze of the teachers and all before sunset. “The teachers are all over so that the students cannot do anything unruly. Our teachers reach before the students arrive and leave only after the students have left,” said Basu.
Even present teachers who were denied their dose of fun as students of Loreto House, welcomed the move. “It was a long-cherished wish of many batches put together that finally came true,” said Rianne Selwyn, from the class of 2003, who is now a teacher of English and history.
If Loreto ex-students are split into pre- and post-Communique batches, even outsiders like Nupur Ghosh remember waiting for the big an nual bash at the Middleton Row school.
“I would single-mindedly focus on Communique because St. Xavier’s and La Martiniere for Boys would come for it and it was the only legitimate platform we got,” said the Modern High School ex-student. “We came from traditional Bengali families and were not allowed out of home after sunset, so this was our one ticket. As our Modern High did not have a fest we would never miss Communique,” added the schoolteacher.
Communique was replaced by We Care, a two-day programme for senior citizens from some old-age homes in Calcutta.
“Twenty years back we decided to host one of the two programmes because of financial constraints and the girls chose We Care over the fest,” clarified vice-principal Basu, who has been associated with the school for the past 30 years.
Now, a new chapter has been scripted by the Class XI-XII girls. “Generations afterwards will remember us as the path-breaking plus-II batch.... Having such a fest has doubled, tripled, increased our enthusiasm a million times!” smiled Class XII student Purnima Singh.
This effort has also earned a thumbs up from ex-students like actress Kamalinee Mukherjee of Aparajita Tumi fame. “Lucky, lucky! We didn't have that.... Terribly sad that I’m not going to be around for such a fest. I think it’s great. All for girl power. So Loreto finally steps into a long-loved tradition! Yippee:).”
“We used to have an all-girls’ fest. No Hindi music was allowed by our strict Irish nuns. So what we had back then was different but fun too.... But school has changed a lot since that time. They are a lot more lenient, that’s what I hear. A fest after so many years sounds exciting and students must be really looking forward to it. I’d be more excited about a reunion!”
— Raima Sen, actress
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“Our fest was called Communique and it was one of the most-looked-forward-to fests in the school circuit. Boys were the main issue for the Loreto nuns. So if the fest activities would take place in the main hall, a balcony section upstairs was where all the schoolgirls were made to sit so that they wouldn’t be seen mingling with the boys! Only prefects and participants were allowed into the main hall.
It’s fantastic that the school is having a fest again. It shapes you as a person and that’s where I got started — that if you can do it here, you can do it outside.”
Rila Banerjee, singer