It was my third visit to the school, the first having been in 1998. At that time the first wing of the school had just been built with a small flat area in front of it; the rest was mostly water. I can remember wondering how the boys would manage to find a patch large enough for even a modest game of cricket.

Now, arriving at the school six years later, I was greeted by a crowd of small, excited children, in an amazing assortment of colourful warm clothes and woolly headgear (as the weather had turned unusually cold). The campus now consisted of a much larger central area, with buildings on three sides: to the right was the dormitory wing, and to the left a two-storey block from which the sound of orchestral practice could be heard. Anup had assembled his Cosmopolitan Chamber Orchestra, consisting mainly of old boys from the Mathieson Music School and the Oxford Mission, and the Gap students who were currently teaching at the school. They were practising for the Mathieson Tenth Anniversary Memorial concert to be given in central Kolkata the following evening.

It was particularly pleasing to discover among these old boys Dipak and Somnath, who I first met when they were small children amongst the first batch of pupils at the foundation of the school, ten years ago. Now they are both professional cellists, working in the film industry in Hyderabad. Another foundation member of the school, Abraham, who is doing very well at the violin, had just learnt that he had been awarded merit in his Grade 5 theory examination; he will now be able to go ahead with his practical exams, and plans to study for Grade 8.

Four older musicians who were former pupils of Father Mathieson joined the orchestra on this occasion: Ashim and Sukhendu, now working freelance in Kolkata, and Rana and Sudipta, who made the journey from Delhi.

Above the orchestra room, on the first storey, is a long veranda where later in the morning I watched the dance teacher leading five of the older pupils in a dance routine; the rest of the children were gathered formed an audience, sitting on the floor.

Workmen had been digging a second deep tube well just in front of this building, and later that morning the first water gushed out in a huge fountain. Now there is an ample supply of clean, safe water for the school.

The following evening, all the children travelled into Kolkata to attend the public concert in the Kalamandir Hall. The programme comprised ten items, to correspond to the ten years we were celebrating. Agnes Biswas introduced each of the pieces, mostly western classical items, and the programme ended with a composition by Anup: his Incantation for Strings and Mridangam.

Next day the celebrations on the school campus consisted of a religious service in the evening. There are plans to build a church on the site, the foundations and half the walls of which are already standing, and no doubt the next time I visit this will be where such ceremonies will take place. But for the present, our chapel was the open air, and it would have been difficult to imagine a more perfect setting on this occasion. A small altar had been erected, elaborately decorated with flowers, and beside it stood a large portrait of Father Theodore Mathieson. Benches from the classrooms formed the seats for some mothers, other visitors and the children, while the orchestra sat to the right. Candles were lit as the sun went down behind the flooded fields beyond, and the goats were untied and led into their stall; a full moon rose golden behind the silhouette of trees. The Rev Orson Wells preached, and it was clear that his very graphic, interactive style engaged the children's interest; although 1 don't myself understand very much Bengali, 1 was able more or less to follow what he was saying, especially since he was expounding the parable (about the house built on firm foundations) which 1 had just read in English to a largely uncomprehending congregation!

The beautiful music included the Boyce symphony with trumpet; during the hymns, some members of the orchestra laid down their instruments and lifted up their voices to boost the singing, as not all the items were known to the children. Where the children had learnt the words, as in 'Away in a Manger', they sang lustily, and even when they hadn't, they made a good effort to copy the English-speaking adults as we mouthed the words at them! It really was a magical experience; one of the Gap students said afterwards that it had been the most moving and wonderful service she had ever been to.

Anyone visiting the school cannot but be struck by the cheerful friendliness of the children, and their delight in learning and in showing you what they can do. Here are young boys and girls with so little in material terms, who are prepared to make the most of what is offered. For example, while there was some time to spend between rehearsal items, I could hear singing coming from the dormitory block, and when I went over to investigate I was surprised and impressed to find the head girl Mitali (aged 12) leading the whole school, numbering about 60, in an impromptu sing-song! Another visiting teacher and I taught them some new action-songs, finger-rhymes and games, which they took to eagerly, thrilled to learn and to share these new tricks with one another. It was a real joy and privilege to spend some time amongst them.

Elizabeth Marden M.A.

(Retired English Lecturer and Teacher Trainer)