Update for 30 May 2007

Hi Northpointers & Friends,

The ball has been set in motion and unlike the proverbial rolling stone that gathers no moss, i hope this one manages to collect a lot of cash along the way.

As mentioned earlier Ms. Jashoda Chettri has promised to get our article published in the Sikkim Express. Thank you very much.

Dhrubo Gupta(NP 55) was the first person to write back asking for the address to where the cheques should be sent.

And according to Fr. Van:

"Cheques should be made out to "Darjeeling North Point School Alumni Association" and sent to me at NP school
Alumni Office,
St. Joseph's College,
School Department,
P.O. Singamari,
Darjeeling 734104,
West Bengal, India.

The Mungpoo account is 34601010006293.

Without writing out a cheque, it can also be sent straight into the account, from bank to bank but I do not know how costly that would be.
I remember Dhrubo very well and am deeply grateful for his interest. We need more people like that if we ever hope to proceed to a full school, so Vishal, spread the news around. If money comes in American dollars, then the bankwill send more information that will be useful for the purpose. The bank address is Rink Mall, Darjeeling 700 001, where the Rink cinema used to be.
Many thanks for your own interest, too, Vishal,

Fr. Van"

Arnold McKenzie (NP '52-60) from Manila, Philippines, who is himself a regular contributer to the Alumni has also written and expressed his support. I am sure a cheque will follow shortly. :-)

We have also written to Peterson Dangol (NP 83-89) who is the coordinator for the Nepal Chapter of the Alumni. Hopefully he will be able to organise something at his end. (Will keep you posted on the developments)

Prabir SJB Rana (NP 84-90) who is currently the Head of H.R in Nepal Investment Bank has agreed to contact his batchmates (there are quite a number of them in Kathmandu and doing pretty well too) and arrange some kind of a fundraiser or something. Hopefully his bank will pitch in too. :-)

David McMahon (NP 72) also wrote back. He was very succinct and to the point. "Will certainly do so," said he and we certainly believe he will. Cheers to that.

If there are any clarifications then please do not hesitate to write to Fr. Van gvanwall@yahoo.com or myself vishalsubba@hotmail.com .

More updates soon.

SURSUM CORDA

Everything is possible; the impossible just takes longer - Dan Brown

(Have you recently seen young kids look so happy and proud to be in uniform?)

Hi,

Dear Northpointers & Friends,


I hope you read my previous blog about the school being built in Mungpoo for deserving but poor kids of the village. As you know this school is being built completely of treated bamboo for the poor, underpriviledged but very deserving kids of the village.


Fr. Van has kindly sent me a couple of more snaps of the school and it gives you a pretty good picture of how it is being built etc.



But once again Money is the issue here.


Let me get straight to the point here.


They require money and any amount, big or small, will do.


It needn't be a huge amount and you don't have to arrange a fancy fundraiser.


Be innovative. Have an office pool, arrange a pot-luck-dinner at maybe 10$ a head or even a 'movie' showing at your house on dvd at 5$ a head.


You could even have a yard sale. Just imagine, the junk in your closet being able to help some poor kid make a life for himself?

A very kind lady, Jashoda Chettri from Sikkim has kindly used her kind offices with the editor of Sikkim Express to have the article printed in the paper.


If any of you have any contacts who can help publicize this 'mission' please step up.


Fr. Van can be contacted at gvanwall@yahoo.com if you require any more information.


You can also mail me at vishal.subba@adnoc-dist.ae


As cliched as it is, someone, somewhere once said
"You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give."


Please join us and help make many, many lives.


Sursum Corda!

“The greatest irony of life is that in giving to others we gain so much more ourselves” – Lahsiv Abbus


‘Sursum Corda’ is the motto of my school and in Latin it means ‘Lift Up Your Hearts’ and this blog today is your chance to lift up yours.

Mungpoo is a small village in Darjeeling district in India. And like most villages it is poor.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that poverty is usually thought to be just the absence of food or heating or fancy clothes or other luxuries. However the biggest effect poverty has, is on Education. No place, leave alone a town or city or country, can prosper in the real sense of the word without proper education.

I, with the grace of God, studied at one of the best schools in the world. St. Joseph’s school popularly referred to as North Point, was established by the Jesuit priests in the Eastern Himalayan resort town of Darjeeling in 1888. Their aim was to form leaders in service. Men and women of competence, conscience and compassionate commitment. It began with an exclusively European student body, thereafter became the institution where among its students were the scions of the ruling houses of the Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim.

Run very efficiently by Jesuit priests it offers not just the best in academic learning but also overall development of a child’s personality. The fact that it is about 119 years old and built like a dream doesn’t hurt. (see pic below)

(my school. This is just the front facade. ahem ahem)

Every winter, when the students have gone home for their winter vacations, the school is thrown open to provide free classes to under-privileged kids. As good as that is, kids from villages far far away, like Mungoo cannot come.

So Fr. Van along with volunteers and the local people of Mungpoo have begun building a school in Mungpoo itself.

(school being built at Mungpoo)

Also called St. Joseph's, it is being built entirely out of bamboo, which is treated to make it durable. It is cheaper than concrete and a renewable material. The site is a former cinchona plantation -- quinine is now synthesised, so cinchona bark is no longer needed. It is the first secondary school in the area, and locals have been asking the Jesuits to build them a school for the past 35 years. Fees charged are ludicrously low -- and the school is up and running with three classes, even though construction is incomplete.

However as usual money makes everything go round. Intentions are very noble but 'cash' is required to make it a reality.

This is your opportunity to make a difference to poor but very eager young children.

(students of std 5 in mungpoo school along with Fr. Van and the internationally renowned speaker Phillip Khan-Panni, himself an alumni. Just see how earnest the kids look)

My nephews and nieces are always asking for iPods and Digi Cams but all that these little kids want are books and a place to study. We all give to charity and to temples and churches etc but here is an opportunity to really make a difference and SEE your money make a difference.

If you want to contribute (and the figure needn’t be big) please contact any of the below details..
The details of the school can also be seen at http://www.npmungpoo.org/.

The last verse of my school anthem is;

“Here`s a hand to a faltering brother,
Here's a lift for the lame and the slow,
And we'll stand, boys, like men to each other
As onwards through life we go.”

Make it the anthem of your life.

Sursum Corda

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTACTS:
Father Van at gvanwall@yahoo.com or
Andre Lefevre

Alumni Office

St. Joseph's College

School Department

P.O. Singamari

Darjeeling 734104

West Bengal

India


email: npalumni@rediffmail.com


phone: 91-354-2270205

91-354-2270377

Finally!

We finally have the elusive pics of the little devil (quite literally, esp if his padre is anything to go by).

Mini Kabir was allegedly air kissing when this pic was taken and is also said to be a compulsive flirt. Must have gotten more of Shraddha's genes.

Some one left a comment on my blog adding that Kabir also "signifies things like simplicity, humility and universality".

I just wish you guys would leave your name when you comment so i know who it was who actually took the time to write. Thanks.

My weekend begins today and so will probably be blogging again on Sunday at the earliest.

Abu Dhabi is inching closer to 50 degrees and while we sit in our A/C houses/offices and cars the poor labourers are soon going to be dropping like flies in construction sites.

Capitalism is well and truely alive here.

9 months in your mama's tummy... Kabir welcome to the real world.

Darlings,

Great piece of news.

Excerpt from the Financial Times.

FYI.

Ciao

Vish

Darjeeling to pop the Champagne?

Dylan and Sarah Cameron — from Leeds (UK) — are planning their 15th wedding anniversary, sometime in mid-June, in Darjeeling. “Dylan is a great lover of tea,” Sarah told HT over email. “When he read on the web that Darjeeling tea has been given Geographical Indication (GI) status, he jumped.”
The Camerons are one of the foreign ‘tea-tourists’, whose tribe will now increase given that Darjeeling’s brand equity has gone up several notches after the tea growing in the region has been accorded the international GI mark.

It happened in Champagne, Bordeaux and Tequila — so, why not Darjeeling?

Last week, Forbes reported that high-end travel planner Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) was organising 14-day packages to Darjeeling and Bhutan priced at $7,000-plus per head. Bookings are full up till the beginning of October. “With Darjeeling tea being accorded GI, tea tourism is the best bet,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, secretary, Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).
“Earlier, tea gardens were producing and selling teas but lately the gardens are diversifying towards tea tourism.” Gardens like Glenburn Tea Estate are even organising helicopter charters “on request”.

GI for Darjeeling tea means that it's now officially recognised that the tea grown and produced in 87 gardens in the region has special and inherent qualities, that cannot be replicated and imitated.

Darjeeling tea will now be called just Darjeeling, just like Champagne (wine produced in Champagne district), Bordeaux (wine produced in Bordeaux region), Tequila (spirit made in Tequila, Mexico) or Cognac (brandy produced in Cognac).