It isn’t every day that a person turns a hundred years old but still has a wonderful memory and can remember certain incidents, moments and events that occurred during their former years. Purerose Baptista has challenged the odds and is still as young as ever! She was born in Bandra, brought up in Bandra and has spent her entire life between Chapel Road and Veronica Road. Purerose hails from a family of eight children (4 brothers and 4 sisters) of which, she and her two sisters, Searose and Mairose, are still hale and hearty. They communicate regularly and often discuss cooking and ask about each other’s health. She laughs and says that people often make the connection and realize they’re sisters because of their names.
Purerose was born in 1916 and grew up, staying at Alrose, Chapel Road. Back then only one side of Chapel Road had the convenience of electricity while on the other side residents had to make do with kerosene lamps and wood fires. Since there was no electricity on her side of Chapel Road, she used to go to Mt. Carmel’s Church to study, as her uncle (Father’s brother) was a vicar there.
Her father owned a horse carriage and that was their means of transport back in 1916 as there weren’t any auto rickshaws. The horse carriage was parked at Hill Road.
She studied at St. Aloysius and St. Andrews Girls School, completing her SSC from there. During her time, St. Andrews Girls School had classes up to the 7th standard after which the next couple of years had combined classes consisting of boys and girls, since there weren’t a large number of students.
When asked about any major changes in Bandra, Purerose smiles and says Supari Talao (Supari Tank) used to be filled with buffaloes and in the literal sense of the word ‘tank’, had a certain amount of water in it. She and her friends used to cycle around the Talao. There were cattle-crossings and people had to wait until all the cattle had gone by. Mehboob Studio was a field and vegetables were grown there. Also, part of Chapel Road had fields and a person could either choose to walk through the mushy, mud fields or walk on the periphery which happened to be the parapet of the surrounding drains or gutters. Most families lived in cottages and every cottage had a garden filled with love-apple, chickoo and guava trees. Houses were surrounded by barbed-wire fencing.
When she was child, her friends and she would only play on a holiday and not during school days. Families were close and shared a special bond. The children used to play hide and seek in the memorable by-lanes of Chapel Road. Once in a while, neighboring families and friends used to have a large get-together for certain occasions. Hill Road used to get lonely towards the evenings and had dim lighting, so they weren’t allowed to venture there. She learned how to cycle with the help of her friends and they used to cycle from Bandra to Juhu.
Purerose got married on the 16th of November, 1941 at St. Andrew’s Church. She then moved to Veronica Road. Prior to her marriage, she was a teacher at St. Aloysius and St. Andrews Boys School. She then took a break and 25 years after her marriage, she started teaching at Carmel Convent. Many students remember her as their ‘foundation’, as she was an excellent and kind hearted teacher.
When she taught in St. Aloysius, there were quite a few children and not many classrooms. Due to that, there was a shack built and used as a classroom for students.
On her Birthday, she had a lovely celebration surrounded by her children, close family and her student, Fr. Joe D’Abreo, said the mass. As it was mentioned before, it isn’t every day that a person turns a hundred years old and can remember the days when they were young, so clearly. Purerose Baptista has proved that such a moment can be made true, as she says, “It is God’s blessing”. Wishing her all the very best and many more birthdays, to come.
Nayan Sreenivasan
