KARACHI: The smoggy gray skies over the city felt even more depressing on Sunday as generations of former Karachi Grammar School (KGS) students woke up to the news that the former headmistress of their junior school, their beloved Mrs Norma Fernandes, had passed away.

She was suffering from several issues brought on by exceeding age. In her final days, it was also heard that she was having memory issues besides keeping frail, which was quite unbelievable in Mrs Fernandes’s case as she was particularly known to remember by name each and every child who had the good fortune to have attended school during her time.

Having started her career as a teacher at St Patrick’s High School, Mrs Fernandes was headmistress of the KGS junior school near the Empress Market from 1966 and then of both the kindergarten and junior sections, after the school moved to Clifton, till 2009.

She was married to one of KGS’s senior school teachers, Super Fernandes, who passed away in early 1980. Three years before her retirement, in 2006, Mrs Fernandes also took on the responsibility of school adviser, working with the KGS governing board, the principal and the internal management team, along with also giving confidential advice to parents.

For her services to education, Mrs Fernandes was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz on March 23, 2014.

While her exact age is not very clear, Mrs Fernandes used to say that she was born on a leap year, February 29. She often joked with students that she had also celebrated as many birthdays as them so they may consider her close to their age. Ironically, 2024 is also a leap year.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2024