MUMBAI: Very few institutions endure for 200 years, a span long enough to slip beyond collective memory. Besides landmarks such as Babulnath temple and the Elephanta Caves, there are only a handful of monuments or institutions that have celebrated a bicentenary in the city. Among them is a little-known school across the road from Byculla station.Antonio D’Souza School, located behind Gloria Church, traces its origins to Mazgaon when it was still an island. The church was established in 1548 as a private chapel in the mansion of Captain Antonio Peso, known as Nossa Senhora da Glória. In 1795, Goan merchant Antonio De Souza endowed Rs 40,000 to the church trustees to establish a free primary school for Roman Catholic children.Over two centuries, the school has produced alumni who have left a lasting imprint on India’s cultural, literary, sporting and politicallife. Among them is superstar Raj Kapoor and Nissim Ezekiel, widely regarded as the father of modern Indian English poetry and postcolonial India’s foremost English-language poet.
