ABOUT SHOBA

The Sacred Heart Boys’ High School, founded in 1937, is a Christian school established and administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of the Archdiocese of Mumbai. It operates under the religious jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mumbai. It is a recognised English medium school which, though primarily meant for Catholics of the Parish for whose education the school was established, is also open to the extent possible to pupils of all castes and creeds. The School is affiliated to the Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE).

Schooling was started in a ground floor cottage in Willingdon Colony by a group of parishioners from Santa Cruz who formed an administrative committee comprising President J. Selwyn, Secretary S X Pereira and members F A C Rebello, C D Pinto, P R Sobrinho, J A D’Souza and Fred Selwyn. The school, known then as Willingdon Boys’ School, was later moved to Holy Cross Chapel at Chapel Lane, Santa Cruz, which was given by Damian Pinto and now in use by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. In 1939, the Willingdon Boys’ School had sixteen boys on its rolls.

On January 26, 1940, the Advisory Board resolved to hand over the School with goodwill to the Parish Priest. Fr. Jose Alvares willingly took charge after getting sanction from the Archbishop’s House at Colaba, and the first Principal, appointed the same year, was Rev. Fr. H O Mascarenhas. In 1941, Principal Lucy Riberio took over as Principal for two years.

In 1948, Fr. Michael Rodrigues, serving as Parish Priest, coordinated the cooperative efforts of the parishioners to collect the bulk of the funds required to erect the fine building that we have now, which was designed by Herbert Payne.


THE HISTORY OF SHOBA

SHOBA, the Sacred Heart Old Boys’ Association, was founded in 1984. SHOBA owes its existence to the initiative of late Howard (Howdy) Martin, class of 1972, Juanita Ubale (Buddy Teacher) and Fr. Rodney Esperance, the then-Principal of the school who rendered all his support to the cause of SHOBA. Other prominent founder-members included Aloysius (Aloo) Mendes, Richard Creado, Richard (Richie) Rodrigues, Gordon Jacobs, Errol D’Souza, late Prakash Chhabria, Dr. Rajshekhar Gandhi and Elroy Vaz. The early meetings were held informally at the residence of Aloysius Mendes or in the school hall.

The first major event conducted by the SHOBA was the 50th Golden Jubilee anniversary of the School which was held at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Juhu. Needless to say, the event was a grand success with all tickets sold out, and the SHOBA-ites present at this event continue to recall the day with delight.

As the committee members got busier with their careers (and hopefully richer), SHOBA activities took a backseat and the next few years saw little or no action at SHOBA.

Howard 'Howdy' Martin

SHOBA made its presence felt once again at the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana, Santa Cruz, under the able support of Fr. Milton Gonsalves. The tickets at this show were also completely sold out. This was followed by the 60th Anniversary reunion in 1997, which was held in the school quadrangle. In 1999, SHOBA organized the reunion in the school hall, which was combined with a farewell party for Fr. Milton Gonsalves who handed over the baton to Fr. Ivan Mascarenhas.

2001 was a momentous year for SHOBA. With the induction of new members at the helm of SHOBA, the year rolled out with the school holding a ten-day fundraising fete in January under the leadership of Fr. Ivan Mascarenhas. SHOBA supported this wholeheartedly and pitched in by setting up four stalls for drinks and games, besides being the main sponsor for one night of the fun fair. The fete raised much-needed funds for the repairs of the school building.

By this time, a pressing need was felt to conduct the SHOBA activities in a systematic manner befitting its status and aims. Ex-student Vinay Singh, class of 1980, took the initiative to formally register SHOBA as a public charitable trust under the Bombay Public Trusts Act as well as the Societies Registration Act. A feather in the cap for SHOBA was obtaining recognition under section 80G of the Income Tax Act by virtue of which all donations to SHOBA are exempt from taxes.

In 2002, SHOBA held a grand reunion on December 22 at the Razzberry Rhinoceros and the Juhu Hotel lawns in Mumbai to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the school. This reunion also heralded the new SHOBA – a registered body with ambitious plans to bring together all our ex-students, wherever they may be, both on a social and business plane. It was seen as the coming of age for SHOBA.


MORE LINKS

SHOBA Committee Members

Sacred Heart Boys' High School Anthem
Sacred Heart Boys' High School Principals