Update for 03 June 2007



Friends, North Pointers & Well-wishers,

I have come to praise our contributors not bury them.

Naaa, i'm just joking. Sorry but I just couldn’t resist all those years of Shakespeare from school.


Anyway in the last few days since the previous update we have had some more very encouraging responses from the alumni members.

We thank all of the following and look forward to some more responses.

Fr. Van, who will be directing a spiritual retreat in the Kalimpong Novitiate from 02 June till sometime Sunday June 10th also sends his thanks and says that you are all remembered regularly in his prayers. He also added that they “are already in a fair amount of debt and have only enough funds to last for this year”. So please, please help the poor kids.

Loosen those purse strings, skip that restaurant treat, forego the 1 extra new-shirt….
Every penny (quite literally) will make a difference.

Andrew Raschid who has regularly contributed in the past has promised to do so again. He is an alumni of the college (1972-75). However the interesting bit about him is that he is also an ex Paulite. For those of you who are not from Darjeeling, well, North Point & St. Paul’s are like Oxford & Cambridge respectively, with an equally illustrious history of rivalry and contest between them.
To have an ex-Paulite contribute is not only a sign that childhood rivalries usually turn into adult partnerships but also that a good deed knows no boundaries.

Classmates and friends of Andrew who may have lost touch can contact him at andrewraschid@hotmail.com


Josh Nirula who is the Regional Coordinator for CARITAS – Asia, based in Lalitpur, Nepal is going to contribute US$ 200. He had some very valid questions about the bank details and after corresponding with Fr. Van. the answers are are as follows:-

The name of the Bank is UTI BANK Ltd, Darjeeling Branch,
Address: Rink Mall,
16-22 Laden La Road,
Darjeeling 734 101.

The Bank Manager is Arun Misra.

The name of the account is DARJEELING NORTH POINT SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.

The Association has other accounts but this particular one is reserved for St. Joseph's School Mungpoo and what comes in to this will be receipted by the school commitee treasurer who at present is Anurag Agarwal.
If donors fail to get receipts his personal e-mail address is rameshwar1885@hotmail.com
The receipts will be useable for Income tax deductions.

The account number is 346010100006293 (15 digits)

If donors are sending money from abroad in American or other currency, then there is the necessity of using a SWIFT CODE NO and a few other items of information are required and these vary from country to country. (I will post then online as soon as i get them from either Fr. Van or the bank people)

Josh our prayers and thanks are with you and please accept our very sincere gratitude for your contribution.

Classmates and friends of Josh who may have lost touch can contact him at joshn@caritasasia.org


Rajiv Sharma (NP 66-73) who is currently living in Sweden wrote:

“Hi Vishal,
Your blog was a very interesting read. Thanks!
I am an old NP guy from 1966-1973 living in Sweden and I would like to contribute something to this school that you mentioned. Could you be kind enough to tell me how I can go about it in a practical way. Who do I pay and how best? I personally feel that morally and otherwise this cause is more justified than others in the past. I am sure you understand!
Please reply.
Rajiv Sharma”

The details are as mentioned above and once again we thank you and our prayers are with you and your family. Truely once a northpointer always a northpointer.

Classmates and friends of Rajiv who may have lost touch can contact him at rajivrattna@hotmail.com

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Now on a different note I would also like to request you to please vote for PRASHANT for the Indian Idol.

Voters in India can type PRASHANT (that is without the ‘h’ in the end. Prashant not Prashanth) and send sms to 2525. Voters in UAE can sms the same to 3535. I believe voters in the US can also vote but i am not sure of the numbers there.

His late father was working for the Calcutta Police and after his death, Prashant Tamang was offered a job with them and is now a sepoy with the Cal Police.

I know this is kinda cheesy and personally I am not a fan of Idol or programs like these which allegedly ‘discover’ talent but its hard to deny that programs like these do offer a huge pan-Asian platform and publicity. And in today's world, perception is often a measure of success.

So apart from the fact that Prashant is a humble Nepali from the Hills, do vote so that his success and exposure will hopefully inspire the other youth of the hills to do something worthwhile with their lives. The Gorkhaland agitation left too many unemployed and unmotivated youth in the hills and if any success story (however cheesy) can provide an impetus for them to go and do something, it will be worth it.

Till the next update.

Ciao

Sursum Corda