It has possessed the correct proportions of yellows and greens and has grayed its hairs over time. It has seen the nineteenth century stealthily zooming past, witnessed the 1900s arrive and depart. Perceived the springs and falls of ages and has stood as a colosseum with spirits wretchedly watching men getting metamorphosized to animals. It has stood tall bearing the testimony of times when knowledge got oppressed and beamed with pride whenever enlightenment overshadowed a fraction of the dark. And cradled in its palms a thousand lives, nursing a million hopes of dreaming high. It has seen surrealism coming true and has lived a 149-year-old life. It has sustained the virility of the revered spot it has replaced..the collapsed theatre that stood in the same address as it stands now. The legendary Sans Souci theatre that we can only strive to fathom a blurred impression of. Handsome limousines and elegant women in dainty evening gowns carrying artistic parasols..ornate staircases leading to the stage..Shakespearean plays being unwound out. And the debacle that destroyed it all.
It has put in vain the best efforts made to mix accurate proportions of the yellows and greens with a paintbrush in an elaborate attempt to bring its image into an approximation of life. I figure out that the innate divinity with which it had embarked upon is as hard to create an artefact of as it is to reach out.
It has started living its 150th year now and is counting days to celebrate its post-centenary golden jubilee completion. It has worn out in parts many a times and has undergone crude surgeries to retain its vigour. It saw children treading into its lap and men walk out. It has seen its siblings cropping up in and around its fences and shared rendezvous with the older kids in gray hairs. It has continued to spellbind people with its opulence and the brightly hued avalanches of glory it carries forward as its legacy. And its 150 year-old stories that still stupefies us.
It has written a chapter named 'St. Xaviers'. Nurtured a few beautiful minds and linked the term 'Xaverian' with a tinge of pride. And rendered meaning to the abstract and abrupt essence of the word 'beautiful' that still prevails in pieces between us.
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