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In the new year of January 2008, new travels took me back to Kolkata and it was my 4th trip in 10 months - a testament to the dedication to my research into Armenians in India.  I had a week there researching and discussing various projects with the church.  With permission, I based myself at the Armenian College. 

Whilst I was there, they had their sports day  (see photos) which the children really enjoyed and they took a huge amount of pride in the various activities that were taking place.   I took lots of photos which I have given to Fr. Gulgulian and he has put them up on the school website.  It was particularly nice because co-incidentally an ex student, Steve Carapiet and his wife Barbara had called Fr. Gulgulian the day before to say they were in Kolkata.  Immediately Fr. Gulgulian invited them to attend the sports day, and he announced Steve as the special guest of honour.  Steve lit the flame to start the sports day, presented some winning medals and even took part in the “100m race for ex students”!  It really was such a brilliant day, and the children were flourishing.  From Steve and Barbara’s point of view, it was extremely moving and they were both very touched that they had been so readily absorbed into the days’ activities and given such a high profile.  The school band played their hearts out, and they were extremely well coached and had been dedicating a great deal of time to their music, and it showed.  They could have so easily been a professional band, you would not know.  Even more remarkable is that less than a year ago, they didn’t know one end of a drum stick from another.  When I was there is March last year, I remember them practicing on the field just with sticks and bits of wood, and 10 months later there’s a group of young professionals standing in front of me with drums beating a rhythm!

The school improvements and refurbishment programme continues at a great pace, and it is amazing to see what the junior dormitory looks like now. It has been completely redecorated in a jungle theme with large paintings of various animals and animal scenes on all the walls (see photos).  The shower and bathing facilities are so fresh, clean and modern, all with new toilets, showers, wash basins.  Everything is fully tiled and it is all done to such a high standard.  New windows are being installed, all double glazed.   As I say, I have been out there 4 times in the last 10 months and each time I go, there is something new done or another phase of refurbishment has been started or completed.    It is truly remarkable what Fr. Gulgulian has achieved in such a short space of time, he is completely and wholly focused on the well being and development of the children and his commitment to the school is unwavering. There is so much going on that I don’t know where to start, but I would simply say that the school and the children are really very lucky indeed to have such a dedicated and committed man as their manager who genuinely puts their wellbeing before anything else.  It was quite humbling seeing how he operates and how he interacts with the children and staff. He is well thought of by the children and highly regarded and respected by the staff.  Unfortunately, he still has his detractors both inside and outside of the community who are still not convinced that he is doing a good job.  All I know, as a simple visitor to the school from time to time, is that Fr. Gulgulian, in the face of certain adversities continues on with the programme of redevelopment and progress in an unwavering and tireless fashion regardless of those who are less than co-operative, and the pictures speak for themselves.

I went over to the Davidian school, and that is also under transformation, I took pictures there too so everyone can see exactly how pro active this management team is at the two schools.  Also went to Chinsurah church for the service.  (see photos). Again, what a fantastic place.  The refurbishments there have been very sympathetically done and the grounds are very beautiful.  The church is such a lovely little church.  Each time a service is held at one of the various Armenian churches i.e. Chinsurah, Saidabad, Tangra etc., a well rehearsed and well organized system is put in place whereby the children are transported on two buses and then there is another bus for the adults and any other members of the community who wish to attend the service.  Nothing is left to chance, and all operations are slick and organized.

The boys and girls are in good shape and happy, the school is being looked after and the whole of the staff, teachers and management as well as the Church Committee are all pulling as a team to get the very best out of the kids.  It gets better each time I see it.  The kids have got to know me now, and I was even helping one of the boys with stuff for an exam he’s got next week!  It is a lovely place to be right now.  They are lucky children indeed.

Contact Details:
The Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy (ACPA):
56B, MIRZA GHALIB ST. KOLKATA (Calcutta), India
E-mail: armeniancollege@yahoo.com
website: http://www.armeniancollege.in
 Manager: Very Rev. Father Oshagan Gulgulian

These buildings at the far end of the school grounds are being converted into a large laundry area.	Eventually the laundry area will contain industrial style washing and drying machines, and an area where the children will be able to pick up freshly laundered and pressed clothes	The school building is old and during the heavy rains the roof leaks very badly.  This shows the roof being completely refurbished in the hope that when the rains come the building will be water-tight
Up on the roof there is accommodation for staff and at the far end  (to the right of this picture out of view) is also a small dormitory for some older boys to give them a little more freedom and independence	This shows one of the terrace rooms being refurbished.  Again done to the same high standard as all the other refurbishments.  This room has a self-contained kitchen area with a large shower and toilet, it will eventually be allocated to a member of staff.	This shows a different style of staff accommodation on the terrace nearing completion.  Toilet and shower to the left, kitchen through the arch.
	Staff accommodation. Ceramic flooring  and simple painted walls will finish this room off.  Air conditioning units are being introduced around the school as the refurbishment programme progresses.

Any ex student of the AC will find all this quite familiar	I'm told it hasn't changed much over the years!	so far, this is all the boys have known.
The jungle theme on the walls goes all the way round the dormitory.  New and refurbished furniture will soon be in, and so will the children!	Plenty of interest and colour to feed the imagination of the younger children	New double glazed windows have also been installed, and plenty of electric sockets are installed in the walls.
A nice touch, and no doubt a comfort to the children, are the night lights built into the walls either side of the main doorway	Every picture tells a story!	To add some interest to the flooring these ceramic panels have been inserted randomly in the dormitory.  It helps to make the overall effect warm and welcoming for the children
before (above) after (below) Through a door at the end of the junior dorm is this area which will include a small facility for the children to wash small items of clothing, without having to go to the main laundry service. Right: the modern shower area

old style	new style	old style (above) new style (below)
showers old style (above) and new style (right)
Next to the older boys dorm, this newly refurbished room is ear-marked to be the school infirmary.  It will have a 6 bay bed area, with a doctor consulting area and be fully equipment to cover most eventualities.  Right: toilet and shower area in the infirmary
A new generator was delivered on the back of a lorry.  A piece of equipment that has been long overdue.  The old generator just couldn't cope with the requirements of the modern day electricity demands of the school, but this one will manage very easily.	Slowly it was manoeuvred into place	Father Gulgulian is never far away and was on hand to ensure that the generator was being placed in exactly the right position, attention to detail being upper-most in his mind with this, and all the other parts of the refurbishment programme

 

It isn't just the fabric of the school that is being overhauled, the lessons, curriculum and academic activities are constantly being reviewed and if necessary revised to suit the educational plans and requirements of the system in which the school participates.  One area that Fr. Gulgulian has spent a lot of time and effort on is the re-development of the school library which, over the years has found its contents sadly depleted.  Only recently did I find a reference to the well stocked Ararat Library  (for that is what is was known as) in a book written by Mesrovb Seth in 1895 in which he stated:

"In 1890 Mr. F. Conybeare and his wife went to India in a search of old Armenian manuscripts.  He visited the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Calcutta, which at one time had on its shelves more than a thousand valuable Armenian volumes, many of them in manuscript.

 

After looking at the title pages of one or two Armenian books (one of which was printed at Madras in 1773) he then requested to see the manuscripts, and was visibly disappointed on learning that they had long ago disappeared, no one knew where”

It is hard to believe that over a 1000 Armenian manuscripts once graced the library of the Armenian College and it does beg the question as to where they went, and who took them sometime prior to 1890.  However, historical and significant books and documents may have passed through the school, but today a major concerted effort is being made to restock the library of good and various books on all subjects.  Library software has been introduced and every book is now on the school library database. There is a full time librarian who, in conjunction with Fr. Gulgulian is systematically transforming a disorganised and shambolic library into something that the students can use and gain a great deal from.  Further improvements with additional computer stations are planned for this year and who knows, maybe 50 years from now the library will once again have some good works sitting on its shelves.

Then in 2005	Now in 2008
The school hall in 2005	and in 2008
The school kitchen in 2005	and in 2008
the water cooler in the dining room in 2005	and in 2008
the school library in 2005	and in 2008
One of the classrooms in 2005	and in 2008