Several years after I had left the Society, I had a very interesting encounter at an Irani Bakery in Pune where I had gone to purchase my young family’s daily bread. The septuagenarian owner, who had quite obviously seen generations of customers, popped up an astonishing question “Are you from De Nobili College?” “No, err…not really,” was my, perhaps unconvincing, reply. I pressed on to ask why he asked me this question and he went on to tell me how people my age threw orders at him with scant respect for his age and achievements. He told me that the way I spoke to him showed qualities normally displayed by people who came from DNC. While this was surely a tribute to all the Jesuits from DNC who had visited his bakery over the years, (some of those may be readers of this article as well) for me this was one among several experiences that certainly proves that one can take a man out of the Society, but you cannot take the Society out of him.

Hector Andrade

The author is Former Principal of Mercedes Benz International School, Pune.