Since my birth a name which was reverberating in my family was of Saint Berchmans College, an association spanning from 1947 when my brother John had entered the college as a student till he retired from this college in 1993 as the Head of Dept. of Physics. During this period, my brothers, George, Jose and I had spent eighteen years of our University education in this college, shaping our destiny and our lives. The College was affiliated to the University of Kerala.

Saint John Berchmans was born in Diest, a city in Belgium. He was a Jesuit scholastic and is the patron saint of altar servers and students. When Bishop Thomas Kurialasserry founded the first college in Changanasserry in 1922, he aptly named it Saint Berchmans College to honor the patron saint of students and appointed Rev. Fr. Thomas Purackal as the Principal.

In 1965, I was admitted to the first year of the Pre-Degree course. It was a two-year course. Previously it was a one-year course called Pre-University and later called it as 'Plus Two'. Admission was based on a Personal interview with the Principal Msgr. Kalasserry. On the interview day, all the candidates came with their guardians. When I went to the college that morning it was a long queue of about 200 students with their parents. My brother John was my guardian and he came to the college from his official duty as the commanding officer of the 2nd battalion of N.C.C in full regalia and so was immediately administered in the Principal's office with me. I enjoyed this privilege of being his brother till I left the College. He gave a grand salute to the Principal and exchanged some official business. When it was done, I was interviewed by the Principal and was admitted.

The transition from a school to a college was enormous. The college had many wings and so it was difficult to see all the students on a particular day. There was no college assembly in the morning. When the morning bell rings students had to stand where ever they are for the silent prayer. If the Principal had to address the students it was through a microphone from his office. Suddenly, teachers had become lecturers and the style of teaching had changed. Between lessons, students were moving from one block to another block. Initially, we all started 'floating' in the classes. It was a giant leap and took nearly one month to adjust to the new system. Students were classified into different groups, according to the choice of subjects. One of the optional subjects was Syriac and I chose that as a second language. Initially, there were many students, offering Syria as it was a mark scoring subject and Fr. Karikampally the Syriac lecturer started talking in Syriac. Students found it difficult to comprehend and after two weeks many of them left for other options leaving a few of us behind. Slowly we found the Syriac class interesting and scoring good marks at each exam.

The highlight of my pre-degree course was the training with N.C.C (National Cadet Corps). After the Sino-Indian war of 1963, the students in colleges had to join NCC compulsory for a period of two years to get basic training in parades and small arms. Later in 1968, it was made voluntary. My brother John had undergone training to become an officer in NCC and was holding the rank of Captain. Every Saturday all the students in the College would report to the campus by nine a.m. in full NCC khaki uniform. The whole ground was filled with cadets marching in steps with the commands of officers, sometimes marching according to the rhythms of a beagle. We enjoyed marching and other forms of training. The training lasted for two hours and then we were served with snacks of two boiled eggs and a ripened plantain. Before the end of the first year training, we attended a training camp at Peringara S.M.V High School, Thiruvalla for a week. My brother Capt. John was the camp Adjutant. It was one of the most memorable weeks of my early life. During the daytime, we had undergone training for different tasks and the evenings were full of fun with food, dancing, playing and socializing. During my second year of training, I wrote 'B' Certificate examination and was successful. I was the only candidate from my battalion to be awarded a 'B' Certificate and so became a member of the commanding team for my battalion.

Being a Catholic institution, there was a closed retreat for all the Catholic students every year for five days. The students would stay in the College’s various hostels for these five days. I stayed at Sahrudaya hostel and attended the retreat. A renowned preacher had taken us through the retreat. There was absolute silence in the compound and we rarely talked each other. The principal would move around in the evening through the corridors of the buildings to check for any uncalled incident. During the retreat, one can focus on scripture, prayer, and renewal for the faith. It provides refreshment for the body, mind and spirit. The retreat ended with confession and Holy Communion. Catholic institutions stand tall in character formation and mental discipline through such exercise apart from teaching.

Fr. A. C. Eapen who retired as the vice principal of the college in 1944 stayed in the campus building. He was very pious and was considered as a Holy priest. We used to seek his blessings before any examination. He was very old and had hearing difficulties. Some naughty boys used to go to him for confession.

Rev. Fr. Joseph Powathil (later became the Arch Bishop of Changanasserry) was my Economics lecturer and my brother Mr. K. K. John, was my physics lecturer. The golden jubilee of the College was celebrated in 1965 with a grand Science exhibition and Arts festival for a period of two weeks. The jubilee celebrations were inaugurated by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh Shri. Pattom Thanupllai. Science exhibitions were conducted in the daytime and the Arts festival cultural programs were conducted in the evenings. Popular artists and drama groups from different parts of the State performed at the festival. We were awed at their performances.

The St. Berchmans College has a periodic production of Shakespeare dramas of the English department. They staged a Shakespearian drama once in every five years. In 1965, the theater staged Shakespeare’s 'Othello'. The cast was a mixture of staff and students. Prof. S.L. Thomas played the role of Othello, a senior student played the role of Desdemona, Mr. K.K. Francis, an economics lecturer played the character of the villain Iago and my brother John acted as Roderigo. It was directed by Augustine and Augustine, the two popular professors from the English department. 'Othello' is a tragedy which had moved millions of people around the world to tears. Historians consider Iago as the reincarnation of the devil. Shakespeare's Macbeth was staged in 1969 directed by the same team. Students had to study a Shakespeare drama during their first-degree course and staging the chosen drama from the syllabus gave them a wonderful opportunity to follow through. I studied 'Othello'. In 2011 when I and my wife visited our son, Sherry in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States, he took us to watch 'The Merchant of Venice' at a Shakespeare theater. It was a marvelous experience.