Book Review – ‘Once Upon A Time’ – a narrative by Fr. George A. Hess, S.J

[Ronald DCosta (Class of 1964 Loyola School, Jamshedpur) is organising the launch of the book titled "Once upon a time" written by Father Hess. The book will be launched on the 8th of July at TMDC auditorium in Jamshedpur at 5 pm]

This is the story of a young boy born in the early nineteen twenties in New Jersey, to a devout Catholic family. His father's business of manufacturing bulbs failed and they moved to Washington D.C. which was the turning point for young George. Being intelligent, he won a scholarship in 1933 to Gonzaga College, a Jesuit school, and three years later, at the age of thirteen, was convinced that he wanted to become a Catholic priest.

He was ordained in 1950 and after completing two years in Advanced Spirituality, he could go to Stanford University for a doctorate in Physics. He also had volunteered to serve in India. His superiors decided to send him to the Jamshedpur province in India. As Fr. Hess says, he does not know what he may have discovered in Physics, but he gained the opportunity to give thousands of students the confidence to face the future.

Fr. G. A. Hess chose to join this order of Roman Catholic priests who are committed to go wherever the church requires them to. The word ‘Jesuits' is used for members belonging to the Society of Jesus who are recognized by the initials ‘S.J.' written after their names. This society was formed by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish prince, during the Reformation period of history.

The aspirants have an extra long period of training generally spread over 16 years covering all aspects of personal development.

When young George Hess left for India, he expected never ever to return home to the US. This was quite a commitment for a young lad who had just reached his maturity.

His first assignment was to set up Loyola School in Jamshedpur, which he took up in 1952 with 285 students. Loyola was given 3.5 acres of land which once housed the ChotaNagpur Regimental Club(CNR). Hindi classes were held in a small school bus while the CNR Club hall housed several classes at the same time.

Under Fr. Francis MacFarland's supervision, the construction of the new building began and by the time Fr Hess left in 1963, it housed 1500 students.Today Loyola School, Jamshedpur accommodates over 3000 students.

The author has taken pains to describe his method of running a school, planning new projects and dealing with difficult students and staff. He has also been quite candid about his conflict of interest with his superiors and about how he had to adjust to the need of his province. Some of Fr Hess's innovations still exist like having green boards instead of black...let the book tell you why!

He developed De Nobili School, Dhanbad, which was just a small family house on the grounds of the Central Fuel Research Institute with five rooms, to another Institution that rivalled Loyola School in the number of students, building and grounds. He stayed on for seventeen years and developed long standing relationships in that city.

One of his students recalls that he was deservedly on the brink of being thrown out when Fr. Hess, after having asked for an analysis from the teachers, called him in and said, "Son, I can see that you are on top of your class but we have all five teachers complaining against you. If your behaviour does not improve, we may have to do without you." For Rajat Bhatia, Founder & C.E.O., Neural Capital, Delray Beach, Florida, that was his turning point. This method of handling a situation in a positive manner, describes Fr. Hess's style of moulding his students.

No one ever recalls him ever raising his voice but as a former student I can confirm that "a word to the wise-from him, was enough".

Hess moved to take over the Loyola B.Ed. College, Jamshedpur, when its founder, Fr. Ken Judge, had to return to the U.S. due to ill health. He master-minded its move to the huge 15-acre plot on the outskirts of Telco Colony. After establishing the college in its new premises, Fr. Hess moved on to Bhubaneshwar to help in XIMB, teaching communication.

He also negotiated the purchase of the land for Loyola School, Bhubaneshwar.

Fr. Hess had 2 more interesting experiences in Bhubaneshwar. He gave us an insight on how funding agencies work and how he managed to secure a $100,000 grant to establish the only Jesuit hospital in the country. Fr. Hess had his share of disappointments and failures. His long-lasting regret is that he was never able to establish an institute for communications to train students for the emerging media like television. This would have rivaled Xavier Institute of Communications, established in 1969 by Fr Francis Macfarland in St Xaviers Colleg, Mumbai. His experience also gives us a glimpse into the emphasis of the Society of Jesus towards a common goal, directed by a single authority and bound by the vow of Obedience.

This narrative is about an American Jesuit priest who could have been an outstanding scientist, who volunteered to work in India and burnt all the bridges behind him. I would recommend this to builders of institutions, teachers, alumni and certainly to those who have a fire in their belly to work for their community.

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Ronald DCosta (Class of 1964 Loyola School, Jamshedpur)