Sir,

The good old boys of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in Calcutta recounted the good old days in memory of one of the best loved teachers. Anecdotes about Father Camille Bouche SJ were shared at the school assembly on Thursday, bringing alive the man generations of Xaverians have loved and revered.

Alumnorum Societas (Alsoc), the old boys’ association, celebrated Alsoc Day on Father Bouche’s 94th birth anniversary – Thursday – by organising a free health check-up camp on the school premises.

Governing body member Joydeep Dattagupta (of the class of 1985) recounted what happened to a classmate who had got a C in conduct in his weekly report card.

“Father Bouche asked him to go down to his office with his bag,” Dattagupta, a chartered accountant, said. “He kept waiting in fear that his parents would be called. After about two hours, Father Bouche returned and asked: ‘You are still here? Get back to class’.”

The anecdote left students in splits. It also showed the humane side of the Jesuit priest who had been Father Prefect at the school from 1960 to 1986 before becoming the headmaster for five years.

“He was kind and didn’t believe in involving parents. But he made sure we learnt our lessons,” Dattagupta said.

Cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar of the first ICSE batch (1975), the key speaker of the day, recounted his shock when Father Bouche announced in class one day with seven months to go for the board exam, “if you were having a good time debating and playing hockey, volleyball and cricket that was because we are one subject short. We still have to learn biology. So let’s get on with it”.

Sarkar said two years’ syllabus was covered with the help of teachers and 80 per cent of the 160-odd students scored one point (90 per cent or more).

Father Bouche landed at St. Xavier’s in 1948. He became a Jesuit priest in 1955 and started teaching at the school. He stayed at the Fathers’ Residence on the campus after retirement till his death in 2002.

Ashutosh Sen, Middleton Row, Calcutta

  Camille Bouch, Jesuit education, Jesuits, letters