A burning flame of enlightenment for 100 years

Guests and dignitaries on stage during the 100-year jubilee celebrations of church-run St. Nicholas High School in Gazipur district near Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Jan. 2. (Photo: Robin Noel)

Subir Kashmir Pereira is disappointed that he missed out on an event that he had been looking forward to for years: attending the centenary jubilee celebrations of his beloved alma mater, St. Nicholas High School.

Geographical distance and other complications restricted him from attending the Catholic school's reunion in the first week of January.

Pereira, 49, is a Bangladeshi-born American citizen who settled in Maryland in 2007 with his wife and daughter.

St. Nicholas, where he studied from 1988 to 1991, is located in Nagari in Gazipur district of central Bangladesh, about 40 kilometers from the capital Dhaka.

"When the school marked 75 years [in 1995], I could not attend due to personal reasons. I told myself that I would have to attend the 100-year jubilee, but I missed out again. This failure is likely to upset me for the rest of my life," said Pereira, a Catholic.

Employed at a pharmacy of a multinational company in the US capital Washington, Pereira was a youth activist back home. He is also a seasoned poet with several titles published in recent years.

He credits his days at St. Nicholas, run by the Brothers of Holy Cross, for laying the foundation for what he has become today.

A guiding light for Bangladesh's marginalized communities

Sister Salome Nanuar, CSC (Photo: Rock Ronald Rozario)

As a child Salome Nanuar assumed she would end up becoming a poor and marginalized tea estate worker like her parents.

She was born in 1971, the third of six children of an ethnic Kharia family, at Barmachhera village at Srimangal, a tea plantation hub in the Moulvibazar district of northeastern Bangladesh.

Nearly five decades on, Salome has become a Holy Cross nun, dedicating her life as a teacher, catechist and hostels, in the service of socio-economically downtrodden communities, including tea workers.

Sister Salome’s father died when she was at grade four in primary school.

Thanks to support from her two elder brothers and sister in-laws, all of them tea workers, she was able to continue her education.

The biggest support came from the local St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, the oldest and largest parish in predominantly tribal Sylhet Diocese, set up in 1950 by Holy Cross missionary priest Father Vincent Delevi.

শ্রদ্ধাঞ্জ‌লি: ফাদার বেঞ্জা‌মিন কস্তা, সিএস‌সি (১৯৪২-২০১৭)

ফাদার বেঞ্জা‌মিন কস্তা, সিএস‌সি (Photo: Stephan Uttom)

২০০১ খ্রিস্টা‌ব্দের জুলাই মা‌সে মাধ্য‌মি‌কের গ‌ন্ডি পে‌রি‌য়ে উচ্চ মাধ্য‌মি‌কে পড়‌তে ঢাকায় আ‌সি। সে সময় অব‌ধি গ্রাম ও মফ:স্ব‌লের আ‌লো-বাতা‌সে বড় হওয়া ও সদ্য কৈ‌শোরের চৌকাঠ মাড়া‌নো দুরুদুরু ব‌ক্ষের একজন ছে‌লের জন্য ঢাকার মতো ব্যস্ত ও বিপুলায়তন নগরী‌তে আসাটাই  এক অ‌বিস্মরণীয় ঘটনা। তদুপ‌রি দেশ‌সেরা নটর ডেম ক‌লে‌জের স্বপ্ন ছিল দু‌চো‌খে, য‌দিও মাধ্য‌মি‌কের রেজাল্ট ছিল নিতান্তই সাদামাটা। এখা‌নেই দেখা পাই  একজন পক্ক‌কেশ জ্ঞানী কিন্তু নিতান্তই সাধা‌সি‌ধে সন্ন্যাসব্রতী যাজকের। তি‌নি আর কেউ নন ফাদার বেঞ্জা‌মিন কস্তা, নটর ডেম ক‌লে‌জের অধ্যক্ষ।