Memories of Kalimpong
Schooldays at Dr Graham's 1943 - 1952
By Pat Hardie (nee Wilsone)
I can recall my first day in Mansfield Cottage. It was a cold February afternoon and some girls were sitting around the fire in the dining room waiting for teatime. One of them said, “buns in the store room”, and I thought we were going to have buns for tea. In fact the bun referred to was Mansfield’s housemother, Aunty Ella Horgan, whose nickname was ‘Bun’, and who was to be my mentor for the next ten years. All the cottage staff were called “Aunty” by the children.The year was 1943, I was 6 years old, and had just spent three weeks in the Steele Memorial Hospital, which was a requirement of all new children admitted to the Homes. There was a very large intake of new children that year, with both the downstairs wards and the Isolation Block filled. There was a war raging, and some of the children were from families who had left Burma following the Japanese occupation of that country. In 1945, when the War with Japan ended, the news was relayed by a messenger on foot to each cottage. To celebrate, the whole school enjoyed a meal of pork curry and rice on the school playground. The biggest treat was eating off banana leaves with our fingers!
I had my whole education in the Homes, starting in Kindergarten 1 and finishing in Senior Cambridge. I can recall the names of all my teachers, and still have most of the prize books I received by “General Proficiency”. Fellow-Mansfieldites remember me as a bookworm, and I think I was in trouble more often for reading a book when I should have been studying or doing some other task, than for any other misdemeanour. Most of the teachers and cottage staff were dedicated to their work and to the children. Discipline was strict, and corporal punishment was usual. The punishment (other than corporal) could sometimes outweigh the misdemeanour.
The regime of cottage life, schoolwork and after-school activities of athletics, games or swimming, we all took in our stride. The girls in the cottage ranged in age from 5 – 18 years. Daily cleaning in cottage was an important part of the routine. All the children participated in the cleaning tasks. The weekly rota of cottage work was divided into three groups: small, middle-size and big girls. My earliest task was cleaning the dining room windows. My least favourite, as a senior, was “kitchen girl”, which required being woken at 5.00 a.m. to light the solid fuel kitchen stove for cooking the day’s meals for the cottage. In winter one had to work by the light of a hurricane lantern as no electricity was generated at that time of day. I remember that on one occasion I could not get the fire to light, and was duly admonished. At the end of the week as kitchen girl, you were given a special breakfast in bed on Sunday morning.
Scholastic achievement was commended, but it was equally important to get a good school report. We were also encouraged to participate in other out-of-school activities; I sang in the Church Choir, and was in the Girl Guides. There was Girl Guides and Bulbuls for the girls, and Cadets, Scouts and Cubs for the boys.
Religion naturally played an important part in our lives: morning and evening prayers each day in the cottage, and Church on Sunday mornings. It is still wonderful to hear and sing all those lovely hymns which formed part of our worship. On Sundays there was also Sunday School, Confirmation Classes (for Church of England children), Christian Endeavour and Youth for Christ when visiting evangelists held meetings, often in Kalimpong town.
During the mid-year school holidays in May and September we sometimes went on picnics and outings but, s with week-ends, we entertained ourselves on the cottage compound or down the khudside. We were imaginative and innovative in our play as there were few toys or other equipment. A cottage party or celebration brought great excitement and meant collecting ferns and greenery from the khudside to decorate the cottage. From Mansfield we enjoyed wonderful views of Mt Kanchenjunga, and the snow capped Himalayas, and occasionally we would have aspiring artist visitors to the cottage to paint the view, particularly the spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
In fact life in the cottage was extremely sheltered. In my ten years in the Homes I can remember visiting Kalimpong town on very few occasions. I did not visit Darjeeling until 1960, 8 years after leaving the Homes.
Many of the children did not go home for the long winter vacation, December – February. Some of the cottages would be closed and the remaining children from those cottages would move to another cottage for the holiday. My two brothers and I spent only one Christmas in the Homes. I recall the happy celebrations, tucking my pillowcase at the foot of my bed on Christmas eve and waking early next morning to find it filled with goodies. In the evening Father Christmas visited and gave each of us a present from under the big Christmas tree. We went camping by the Rilli river for two weeks in January, when we slept in tents and spent carefree days wandering along the almost-dry riverbed looking for rough garnets, catching fiddler fish, and discovering waterholes where the more adventurous would dive and swim.
Mansfield had some fine swimmers and athletes, though I was never in that league. Girls like Mona Owen, Mary Orchard, Meggie Johnston, Patsy Harris to name a few, won for us the Sports and Swimming Shields, sometimes both in the same year. Except for health reasons, we were all expected to learn to swim and particularly in all games and sports. Every child was fiercely loyal to their own cottage and made every effort to win, or collect points for the cottage. All inter-cottage competitions were taken seriously, and the annual Swimming Gala and Sports Day were highlights of the year.
The Homes Birthday celebrations each September brought huge excitement. At the Speech Day assembly, often with a VIP present, we especially looked forward to the reading of the Birthday greetings and messages from OGBs in India and around the world. I remember that Mr James Purdie always ready the greetings. He was the Homes Superintendent for a few years (the title predated that of “Principal”). Mr Purdie was much loved by the children and OGBs in that era. The annual treat of Buns and Jelabies which followed the Speeches would be enjoyed on the school playground, and was followed in the evening by a special School Concert. -- Pat Hardie
