SCHOOL – THEN & NOW
St Mary’s Orphanage & Day School was originally founded as the Catholic Male Orphanage at Murgihata, Kolkata in 1848 by the Christian Brothers Missionaries of Ireland.
In 1947 it came to the present sprawling campus in Dum Dum serving the needs of underprivileged Christian boys. Thereafter, the school came to serve day-scholars from all strata of the society irrespective of any caste and religion.
The sprawling campus, consisting of two big fields, well-built classrooms, an auditorium a swimming pool, has made it an ideal institution.
In 2004, the institutional educational program was restructured and the boarding was closed down. “It was becoming more evident to us that our ‘dormitory style’ of management was not the best for boys in our care, needing special attention. An affirmation for the same comes from the fact that most developmental organizations are willing to fund only projects that are community based and those that are less institutionalized.” (St. Mary’s Orphanage, Annual Report, Easter 2004)
So, although the boarders were appropriately placed in different homes and Orphanages, all the corridors and the dormitories lie empty and silent, which once were so vibrant with prattle.
The day school continues all the same.
This website was launched on 3rd November 2006. the event can be regarded as a watershed for SMESA as the organization stepped out, for the first time, to reach Ex-Marians scattered all over the planet.
The initiative taken by Debabrata Guha (1985 batch ICSE) and the impeccable execution of the technical aspects of the project by Anindya Karmakar (1990 batch ICSE) and his brother Arijit Karmakar (1994 batch ICSE) deserve much, much more than words of praise.
Click here to read the Speech delivered by Debabrata Guha as Website Coordinator on the occasion of the launch
This video rekindles the memory of that day – when we launched our website;
Text: Dipankar Sarkar (1977)
Excerpt from Commemorative CD – TEN YEARS IN TECHNICOLOUR
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