The persistent Visionaries - Fr.Romuald D'Souza & Fr.Rudolf Schoch

[Raymond Rebello]

Fr.Romuald and Fr.Schoch. 

The BIG picture people.

While the tributes paid to Fr Romuald D'Souza SJ at his funeral mass in Goa on Nov 3 were aplenty, a few anecdotes shared by Fr.Tony D'Silva SJ stood out.

Fr.Tony recalled the years 1967-70, when he had taught as a young Jesuit at the St Vincent's High school in Pune (my Alma Mater) and learnt the ropes of priesthood from Fr Romuald. 

He also recalled how when Fr.Romuald aged 68 came to Goa in 1993, people thought he had retired from his stint as a management guru. 

"But to everyone's surprise, Fr.Romuald said he wanted to start a B-school in Goa. He rented out a room in the local law college, worked out of his car with the type-writer in the back seat and with a handful of students kick-started an all-new MBA institute, the Goa Institute of Management (GIM)," Fr.Tony said.

According to Fr.Tony, a few years later, Fr.Romuald's visionary zeal was evident when he planned to purchase 25 acres of land in the distant taluka of Sankhli ( bordering Karnataka) to expand the GIM.

"Several people pooh poohed Fr.Romuald's ambitious plans. However, the good priest stood firm and today, the sprawling campus of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) boasts of a top notch residential B-school which is ranked in the top 20 institutes of India," Fr.Tony said. 

Coincidentally, Fr.Romuald and Fr.Rudolf Schoch, both principals of the Pune based St Vincent's High school shared the same visionary zeal.

When the Maharashtra government had asked Fr.Schoch in the late 1950s where he wanted to set up a new Jesuit school in Pune, the good priest chose the lesser known Aundh-Pashan area and asked for a whole hillock and additional land to set up what is today, the popular, Loyola High school, Pune.

Always the BIG picture. Never anything small. So much to learn from these two visionaries and teachers. God bless their souls.

[Compiled/composed by Rahul Chandawarkar - batch of 1979]