I would like to say a few words that I have long wanted to about my association with St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. I entered the College as a science student in 1950 at the young age of 15, hoping eventually to read medicine. I had come from a small village, had poor command of English, and found both the city and the College intimidating. For several months I was restless, ill at ease in my academic and urban environment, and unsure of my ambition. As I began to settle down and make friends. I began to feel at peace and even to enjoy myself. I met Royists, socialists, liberals and people of other political persuasions. I took part in debates where my record was undistinguished. I tried non-vegetarian meals to prove my urbanity and quite liked them. I was surrounded by bright boys and girls, most of them migrants from Pakistan, who conversed in excellent English that made me feel rather small. Naturally I preferred the company of those with my kind of linguistic background, and did not venture out.

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