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30Nov/078

Shah Rukh Khan’s school life in St Columbas, New Delhi

  • The early flowering tulips….:
  • Shah Rukh was enrolled in The St Columba’s School,in kindergarten in January 1972 at the age of six. It is an impressive institution spread over numerous acres of land in the heart of Delhi. Founded by the Indian Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, it was started on April 29, 1941 with 32 boys enrolled. The school’s status grew with its size. By 1955, the students numbered 2200, and a new building had been added.

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  • The demureness of the school:
  • The Irish Brothers were well-known for discipline and punishment. Up to the late 1980s, corporal punishment was used at St Columba’s. Minor children were striked on buttocks. Older ones were caned on their backsides — a few whacks meant sitting on a sweater or bag all day to pad the cuts. And the eldest boys were rapped on their knuckles and fingertips. On cold winter days, the canes connecting with frozen fingertips caused on the spot blisters. The Brothers hid canes in their robes. If a rule was wrecked, penalty was instantaneous and excruciating.

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  • His visits to the hair-dresser:
  • The school insisted on snappy nails and tiny hair. Anybody with hair over the chosen length was sent from school to the barber on the sidewalk at the nearby Gole Market. Shah Rukh, blessed with a intense, disorderly wash made this spree frequently. It was seven-thirty A.M and the barber had usually just woken up. He had morning breath and eyes full of sleep but he began the haircut with the same question, ‘What style haircut do you want, Dharmendra or Amitabh Bachchan?’ Years later, Shah Rukh knew he had attained celebrity when hair stylists told him that clientele were asking for the Shah Rukh Khan cut.
  • His noutankis:
  • Hindi gaalis or curse words bombarded his verbal communication. Fights were not infrequent. Shah Rukh saw knives pulled and blood pour. The image of cane-carrying priests and the prolonged schedule of rules at St Columba’s didn’t dissuade Shah Rukh. He was a master prankster. His best tricks were humorous, overconfident and generally put his burgeoning amateur dramatics aptitude to use. In the ninth grade, he hired an Amitabh Bachchan line from a film called Kaalia to persuade a teacher that his parents and the school administration neglected him.
  • The teacher, his saviour:
  • The teacher was his solitary unsubstantiated encouragement. Considering this and his tantalizing analytical rank, he told her, she should allow him to leave out some forthcoming tests. ‘Mere liye toh oopar bhagwan hai, neeche aap. Beech mein Yamraj talwar le kar vaar kar raha hai,’ he said. ‘For me, God is above and you below. In between, Yamraj, the Lord of Death, is attacking me with his sword.’ The repercussion being that the teacher was the only one who could save him from devastation. She bought it and endorsed him to overlook the tests.
  • Fun with Teachers:
  • Whenever they got a new teacher, he would play to have an epileptic fit. The students would pull off his shoes and would force him to walk bare feet. Everybody knew that Shah Rukh was playing consciously. He was really very asinine. He was awarded with the Sword of Honour by the school for all round development.
  • His first crush:
  • The primordial Church of Goldakhana is closest to the school and attached with its compound is the prominent Convent of Jesus and Mary.
  • Gauri (now his spouse) used to study in that convent. It is learnt that they used to come by the same school bus. SRK had a crush on her. During a Christmas show, SRK showed Gauri his fondness to salsa with her. She agreed. Later on to meet her even during school hours SRK used to bunk classes and reached the girls convent to meet Gauri. The sharp Brothers of St Columbus caught SRK’s wayward playoffs and later built a huge compound barrier unscrambling the Convent of Jesus and Mary and St Columbus. Gauri’s parents later shifted her to the elite Modern School, Barakhamba Road.(Now Gauri is SRKs beloved wife).
  • His school gang:
  • In school there were four of them and called themselves the ‘C’ gang.
  • As they were from the C-section. They are still friends and are married
  • friends. Like he married Gauri who’s best friend is married to Vikas.
  • He has never had more friends and close friends than these three-except
  • perhaps, Chikki. Anyway, they were very cool, yanky gang, very American. They loved wearing Nike and they’d have a little spring in their walk, like the Americans and the blacks do.
  • The good quality Khan:
  • Shah Rukh would return home at nine every night, after taking part in elocution, exhibitions, or rehearsing. Later at night he would play Cricket under the street lamp. He would study at the last minute as he had a good memory.
  • The arrogant Khan:
  • At college he was quite lost as he came from a sophisticated school. But he was not an artificial guy with an accent like most guys from St. Columbus’s get. He admits that he learnt to be arrogant because of the ambience in school. He had it for 13 years in school. That amount of arrogance he says is excellent. Then that approach continued at Stephens College, Delhi, which he left after a year. He then joined Hansraj College, Delhi and after that he did Masters in Mass Communication from Jamiya Miliya Islamiya, in Delhi, but quit it in a year.
  • Time has elapsed, he is a Star now:
  • Now SRK is invited as a VVIP to the schools’ prominent and elevated profile shows, but he hardly ever attends those functions. Now only reminiscences are left. At the foyer of the school a big life size snap of King Khan is positioned as a chronicle of the legendry luminary.

Address
St. Columba's School
1, Ashok Place
New Delhi - 110001
India
Phones - (091 - 011) 23363462, 23363134
Fax - (091 - 011) 23340831
Email - stcolumbas@stcolumbas.net
principal@stcolumbas.net
junior@stcolumbas.net
middle@stcolumbas.net
senior@stcolumbas.net
School Anthem

Play

Chorus 1.Chorus2.Chorus We sing praises of you St. Columba,
Scholars of Columba's we,
Date to be wise always
Sincere and constant we.
This is our motto that guides us
Through life eternally,
This truth we learn in our days of youth
Gives us strength in fraternity.
With glory glows the spirit of S.C.S.
Marking all our efforts with true success
And our Alma Mater seals us as a chosen band
We all work together for the glory of our land.
Pride in Carrying our banners of green and gold
Banners that will lead us towards, all our goals
Service to others and our nation's good
We all come together in godly brotherhood.

Some Pictures..

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  1. Wow,48 students failed by st.columbas in class 11!Was the principal, class teachers sleeping the whole year through? Its a slap in the face on the quality of education being imparted by the school, the incompetency of the class teachers in particular. Have the teachers no responsibility nor role to play in the success/failure rate in the school?Parents are informed out of the blue, one fine day, to take their disgraced failure kids away! What about the teachers, the principal and the whole Christian management of this school(who has conveniently been turning a blind eye to what is happening at saint columbas,delhi)who have failed the expectations, trust and hope of gullible parents having high expectations from this once renowned institution?48 students failed and principal not shifted? Which teacher/s were thrown out? Will these mediocre teachers with limited teaching skills continue in this fashion year after year ruining careers? A PROPER INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT IS GOING ON IS URGENTLY REQD.

  2. A school encashing on its Brand Name-St.Columba’s,New Delhi::-

    Recent newspaper reports are a classic example of how Institutions set up with dedication & labour,slowly,over the years,come to rot from within,in the absence of the nourishing zeal and love of its founding-fathers.And then,sets in motion, a merciless milking of its Brand Name,the fooling of innocent people who have placed their faith and trust at its feet.

    This year,48 students were detained in Class XI in Science and Commerce streams in St Columba’s,New Delhi. The Acting Principal directed every parent concerned to remove the child from his school and place him in any other school.Be damned as far as He was concerned.To facilitate his bid of getting rid of the “Muck”, he proferred to inscribe for posterity,on every Transfer Certificate, the golden words ” Promotion maybe considered to class XII “.This he offered as a bait (some light at the end of the Dark Tunnel) to hapless parents who readily removed their children in contrast to certain doom (of repeating class XI if they stayed on) !! Apart from playing on the hopes and ambitions of innocent parents,this mighty representative of an honourable Christian Institution chose to (i) misguide other educational institutions by passing on candidates considered “unfit” by his very own institution for being promoted to class XII, (ii) Fooled the parents seeking Transfer Certificates into hoping that some other school “may consider promotion to class XII” of their ward. The other schools promptly rejected this cunningly worded Transfer Certificate outright as having no meaning.Does it behove a reputed Christian Institution such as St Columba’s School to play dirty tricks with the careers of innocent children in this fashion? Their Dirty Tricks Department seems to be in overdrive ! It is a separate issue that subsequently, with the intervention of the concerned authorities in the Delhi Administration, the school had to shamefacedly take back/permit to stay back in class XI,the students who had been directed to leave the school. As per newspaper reports,the Acting Principal had commented that all these boys had fallen into bad company ! With this cheeky comment it is clear that the Acting Principal was fooling nobody but himself. As per his own logic,if these 48-50 ruffians could not be controlled/reformed by his renowned, reputed, well-established, blah-blah institution i.e. St Columba’s, New Delhi, was it justified on his part to let them loose on the streets of Delhi,like a bunch of rabid dogs ? This shows the sly, perverted thinking of the authorities that be in St Columba’s, New Delhi.

    Apparently,this flunking of 48 to 50 students in class XI has been going on for the past few years in St Columba’s New Delhi. There is indiscipline, rowdyism, bullying, smoking, imbibing of drugs by students merrily going on.The teachers feign ignorance or totally refuse to tackle these issues. On the teaching front, the teachers are most reluctant to teach, since they are unable to handle or control the rowdy boys. They prefer to shriek hysterically,bluntly refuse to teach but do trot around in short-short skirts & almost backless blouses. The higher authorities of the school turn a blind eye to what is happening and are ready with an impromptu retort ,”If you are having problems,then change the school “!! What supreme conceit !! The sensitive,serious minded boys cower in a corner,in this School of No Justice,trying to avoid getting into the path of the Big Bullies of St Columba’s. What a school !!

    Is such a high annual failure rate normal in reputed Delhi schools? Don’t relevant authorities/Departments investigate/look into this fact? Why has no corrective action been taken to prevent this from happening? Why were the Principal,teachers sleeping the whole year through ? This is a slap in the face of the quality of education being imparted by this school and the incompetence of the class teachers in particular.Have the teachers nor school no responsibility nor role to play in the success/failure rate of the students of the school. How can they pretend that only the students are to blame ? Parents are informed, out of the blue,one fine day (No written or verbal warnings issued to them) to take their disgraced failure kids away ! What about the teachers,the Principal and the whole Christian Management (who have conveniently been turning a blind eye to what is happening at St Columba’s, Delhi) of this school who have failed the expectations,trust and hopes of gullible parents having high expectations from this once renowned institutions ? 48 students failed and Principal not shifted? Which teacher/s were thrown out? Will these mediocre teachers with limited teaching skills and more limited child handling skills,continue in this fashion year after year,ruining precious careers?

    A question arises.How are these 48 to 50 students annually adjusted within the total pool of seats available in class XI in St Columba’s, New Delhi? That also, with the fresh lot of class X students coming in? Are all of them accounted for, especially while submitting accounts with regard to income earned via fees from class XI students.A doubt arises with all this going on in St Columba’s and particularly in view of shocking reports in the press about diversion of funds by the St Columbas’ school authorities to their own parent Organisation and the subsequent de-recognition of this school last year. Horrifying facts which no one is waking up to. When will the Authorities wake up to these harsh facts and stem the rot that has set in St Columba’s ,New Delhi? A PROPER INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT IS GOING ON IS URGENTLY REQUIRED

  3. I WANT TO HAVE A ADMISSION IN YOUR IN SCHOOL DUE TO WHICH MY FATHER IS READY TO FILL ALL NECESSARY DETAILS IN ADVANCE.
    CONTACT NO. 9899390999
    . 23970999

  4. I WANT TO HAVE A ADMISSION IN YOUR IN SCHOOL DUE TO WHICH MY FATHER IS READY TO FILL ALL NECESSARY DETAILS IN ADVANCE.
    CONTACT NO. 9899390999
    23970999

  5. i want an admission for my child in your school.

  6. Respected Brother,
    Greetings of the day,

  7. I wish I had a sixpack like Shah Rukh Khan, so I think it is great that he wants to give some exercise advice now.

  8. I remember being caned by Bro.Morrissey alongwithwith my good friend Asadul Islam once.God Bless his soul,he was one fine teacher with a typical Irish temper.I remember when the Late Jayaprakash Narayan died, the announcement for a holiday in his memory was made which was greeted by whoops of delight.Bro.Morrissey was in his element as his face went red and he shouted in his typical accent….”You Chokhorras”"”"”.well, I remember his dog a dachshund named candy which was so faithful and unfortunately got run over. The Chole Baturas at 35.p and the Qwality orange ice cream at 50 p still is unbeaten in taste. Asadul Islam, wherever you are, you are and will always remain my best friend.There was Puneet .Shah,Sanjeev,Montu,Kashyap,david,Ronnie Ampat and so many others. Thanks to my teacher Sita for what I am today and Mrs Popli my Hindi teacher, Istill remeber some of the lessons…..Hiran ka balidan and of course the poen by Harivansh Rai Baccahan…Phool aur Kanta .It was a pity I left shortly after and continued my studied fro the ninth std.in Nagaland. I owe St.Columbas a lot and it has given me a cutting edge over many other students.I would love to hear from some of my old friends,especially Asadul Islam.


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