Maurice Noronha (Malla Master): A dedicated teacher and committed community leader
By Dr. Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network
Padubelle, 04 September 2011: Every year, Teachers Day is celebrated on September 5 throughout India which is the birth anniversary of the Second President of India-Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, who was also a great philosopher and teacher. On this day, various programmes are held in educational institutions to honour teachers and public functions are organised from taluka, district, State to national levels to honour and confer awards to those teachers who have excelled in their profession. Best Teacher’s Award is such an honour that teachers cherish and feel proud of their service to the student community in particular and the society in general.
However, it is important to note that there are a number of teachers who had worked silently without any limelight or reward and many are still serving without any expectation of being recognised and work quietly teaching and shaping the bright future of millions of students. Thus, on this Teachers Day, it would be appropriate to recall the service rendered by one such dedicated teacher and committed community leader, Maurice Noronha popularly known as ‘Malla Master’ of Pamboor.
Those who had been the students of Malla Master or those who have been in his contact for many years cannot help but wonder how this man can cheat age. Though 82 years of age, Malla Master has a physical bearing and mental acumen that would put even a man of 60 years to shame. He is still active and even rides a motor-bike. His contribution, not only in the field of education but also in his parish and his social work in his village-Pamboor has been something that has endeared him to many people around him.
Born on November 12, 1929 in a middle class agricultural family at Kiriyadka in Padubelle, Maurice was sixth among eight children, seven sons and one daughter, of late Michael Noronha and late Helen D’Souza of Mudarangadi. Since his childhood, Maurice was fondly called as ‘Malla’, a name with which later he became famous as ‘Malla Master’.
Maurice had modest education. After finishing his initial education up to fifth standard at the Pamboor Primary School which was under the jurisdiction of the Belle Parish, Maurice went to Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle where he completed eighth standard which was considered as a reasonably high standard of education at that time. Even though the nearest High School was at Innanje that was started in the same year when Maurice completed his eighth standard, due to the untimely death of his father in May 1945, he could not pursue further education due to family responsibilities.
Thus, after completing eighth standard, Maurice helped his family in agricultural pursuit for three years. As many youngsters were heading towards Bombay in search of jobs, Maurice too had dreams of making it big in the city of opportunities. However, before he could pack his bags and proceed to Bombay, he became a victim of typhoid which held him back at home. Destiny had willed a different vocation for Maurice.
Meanwhile, Fr. Jerome Pinto, who had arrived as the Parish Priest of Moodubelle in 1947, asked Maurice to teach in the Pamboor Primary School as an untrained teacher, an opportunity that Maurice grabbed and began his teaching career from October 28, 1947 and continued to teach in the school till March 1948 as an untrained teacher at a salary of Rs.33/- per month. Thus, Maurice came too be known as ‘Malla Master’.
Realising the importance of teacher’s training, Malla Master proceeded to Udupi and underwent two years of training in the Teachers Training Institute that was established in 1946 at the place where presently Dr. T.M. Pai Hospital is located. Earlier, those who had to be trained as teachers had to go all the way to Mangalore.
After completing two years of training in 1950, Malla Master was reappointed in the Pamboor Primary School on permanent basis under the Teachers’ Service Register (TSR) with a monthly salary of Rs.50/- with 50 paise annual increment that gradually amounted to Rs. 55/- after ten years of service.
Malla Master was transferred from the Pamboor Primary School to the Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle in 1956. In the same year, he married Lilly Maria D’Souza, daughter of late Marcel and late Magdalene D’Sa of Kinnimulky, Udupi.
Malla Master was quite happy with his service as a teacher in Moodubelle as there were more than 1000 students and 20 staff members in the school. The school had a good reputation in the neighbourhood and was considered as a well managed institution. However, on the request of the then headmaster of Pamboor Primary School, late Francis Noronha and the advice of the School Inspector, Malla Master went back to Pamboor School on October 1, 1963 during the tenure of late Fr. Abundius D’Souza as the Correspondent.
As a dedicated and sincere teacher, Malla Master endeared to the Correspondents, teacher colleagues and students at large with whom he became quite popular. Besides teaching, he also took interest in sports and was also Scouts and Guides Teacher both at Moodubelle and Pamboor. After serving as a teacher for many years, Malla Master retired from service on April 10, 1984. However, before his retirement he saw to it that the Pamboor Primary School was elevated to the higher primary level up to seventh standard.
Even as a teacher, Malla Master was active as a community leader. One of the important achievements of Malla Master was the establishment of a Post Office in Pamboor which started functioning from December 16, 1971. The Post Office was inaugurated by late Bhaskar Shetty, the then MLA of Kaup Constituency. Malla Master was given the responsibility of managing the post office as the Post Master and the Postal Department was quite flexible in permitting him to function as the Post Master when he was free from the teaching assignment in the school. Though he retired from the school, Malla Master continued to serve as the Post Master till the age of 65.
Malla Master was one of the key persons when the new parish of Pamboor was established. He was in the forefront in opening dialogue with the parish priests of Moodubelle and Shirva and even with the diocesan authorities for the need to have an independent parish for the people of Pamboor and Padubelle. As a result of these efforts, a small chapel was built in Pamboor in 1966 and an independent Pamboor Parish dedicated to the Holy Cross was constituted on May 12, 1968. Malla Master being the most experienced person in that area, the first parish priest of Pamboor, Fr. Denis D’Souza used t seek advice from him on many of the parish related matters. Malla Master was in the forefront in collecting donation and helping in various other ways when the church building was under construction which was completed and inaugurated on May 18, 1971.
Since the establishment of the independent Pamboor Parish, Malla Master had been one of the members of the Parish Pastoral Council till 2010. In 1975, along with Louis Martis, Malla Master was sent to Mangalore for two days training as the Eucharistic Minister, a service in the church that he has been rendering even today. He was chosen as the Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council between 1982 and 1986. He also served the Council in the capacity of Secretary and Auditor at different times. He served as a member and president of other associations in the parish. In 1986, Malla Master was appointed as the President of the Bell Tower Committee, a project which was successfully completed.
While in service and even after his retirement, Malla Master worked relentlessly for the improvement and progress of Pamboor Primary school. Soon after his retirement, Malla Master was chosen as the first president of the Parents-Teachers Association that was constituted at the initiative of Fr. Maurice D’ Paula in 1984.
With a view to improve the infra-structure of the school, Malla Master initiated a school fund for which old students and generous donors contributed whole heartedly by which the school building was modernized, school ground was extended and a permanent stage was provided. Malla Master said that in the task of extending the school ground, the NSS students from St. Mary’s College, Shirva did ‘shramadhan’ for five consecutive years and expressed his gratitude to three principals of the college-Fr. Henry Castelino, Mr. Ronald Moras and Fr. Wilson D’Souza for sending NSS volunteers from the college. Besides these activities, Malla Master took initiative in planting the coconut trees in the school premise under the Six Point Programme.
Malla Master was instrumental in organising women and youngsters of Pamboor in 1986. Along with Lucas D’Souza, Malla Master established Priyadarshini Mahila Mandala and Navodyaya Yuvaka Mandala. In 1987, Malla Master took lead in establishing Anganwadi for which he himself provided a room in his own house and made provision for the expenses. However, due t his efforts since 1993, a regular government sponsored Anganwadi was started at Pamboor within the school complex.
As the roads in Padubelle and Pamboor were in bad condition, Malla Master took initiative in having good roads and lobbied with the elected representatives and administration to have the road from Pamboor school till Manasa asphalted. He was also instrumental in having the road from BC Road to Madhwanagar, a distance of three kilometres asphalted. Later the patchwork and re-asphalting of the roads was also undertaken. Malla Master gratefully mentions about the support given to these projects by the then Minister of Fisheries-Vasant Salian and later by the present MLA of Kaup, Lalaji R. Mendon.
Once the roads were done, Malla Master was keen to provide bus service to the people of Padubelle and Pamboor. He personally approached the RTO at Mangalore to start bus-service till Pamboor which was readily agreed upon by the authorities and the first bus services from the Manjunath Transport Company-‘Kripa’ was inaugurated on October 28, 1987. Presently there are three services undertaken by Kripa and one by Devi Prasad in the morning.
Malla master is a family man and was instrumental in keeping the family together. His mother lived up to 95 years and passed away in August 1988. He had been a source of inspiration and advice to his brothers and other family members.
As a father, Malla Master is very proud of his seven children, six sons and one daughter. He said that besides teaching profession and agriculture, in order to have sufficient income to maintain a large family, he started jasmine cultivation since 1959. It is said that Malla Master was the first person to cultivate Jasmine flowers outside Shankerpura, a practice that was adopted by many families in Pamboor, Padubelle, Moodubelle and Kattingeri which provided considerable income to the families. He also had a she buffalo whose milk he used to sell. He is quite proud to say that all his children would work in the farm, jasmine garden and even looking after the she buffalo and contributed in running the family under the supervision of his wife, Lilly.
Though he had modest education, Malla Master and his wife Lilly saw to it that their children had best of the education and practically all of them had either ITI or engineering education and are well settled in life. Eldest son James is working in Muscat and his wife Elsie and two children-Joslin and Josia are staying with the family at Pamboor; second son Valerian is married to Joyce and with children Allister and Ashlyn is working and residing in Abudhabi; third son Ronald has joined the Montfort religious order and is presently serving as an administrator in the Provincial’s House at Hyderabad; fourth child, daughter Precilla is married to Simon and has two children-Shawn and Shaina and are presently in Bahrain; fifth, Gilbert is married to Shalini and they too have two children-Alric and Ashna who work and live in Abudhabi; sixth, Kishore is married to Roshni and they have two kids-Reyon and Rishon and they live in Dubai.
Joy Noronha
When everything seemed to be fine and every child was moving in right direction, Malla Master’s family had to face one of the greatest tragedies when they lost their seventh child and last son-Joy to the dreaded leukaemia on December 26, 1993, while he was studying in the Second Year BCom at St. Mary’s College, Shirva. When the disease was detected, Joy was admitted to KMC Hospital at Manipal where he struggled with the disease for three months during which a large number of students from St. Mary’s College donated blood for transfusion. However, Joy lost the battle and succumbed to the disease. Malla Master still remembers gratefully the support given to his son by his friends in college and the principal and staff members. He said that Joy was enrolled as NCC Cadet and was also quite active in church activities and was the Secretary of the ICYM. The entire family has stoically accepted the loss of the beloved member of the family.
In spite of being 82 years old, Malla Master has been quite active. He always makes it a point to visit the sick and bereaved families. In fact when i went to meet him for an interview, he and his wife Lilly were getting ready to visit a bereaved family in the parish. He never misses any funeral and has been always available for those who seek his advice or help in any matter that he could extend an helping hand.
For his service in the field of education and social service, Malla Master has been honoured by a number of organisations such as the Rotary Clubs of Shirva and Shankerpura. He was also felicitated by Banks for his service to the society.
Malla master is quite modest and simple in his approach to life. He is full of energy and enthusiasm and does not seem to be tired when he has to do some service to the community. When i requested him for an interview to be published on Teachers’ Day in Bellevision, Malla Master in his simplicity said that there may be better teachers than himself for this purpose. However, on my insistence, he reluctantly agreed for an interaction which was an enriching experience for me and hope that the readers of Bellevision too will be enriched with the contribution of Malla Master in the field of education and community work. At the end of the interview he told me that most of his students have been successful in life and their own careers and are spread across the world and he is very proud of his students.