OIU news sat down with Fr Tony Herbert SJ (OR1959) in Ramsay Hall during this year's Jesuit Mission Bazaar to reflect on his school days and his journey to Hazaribagh, India. We started by asking what Riverview was like in the late 50's and how he came to be sent to the school. 

Fr Tony: I arrived at Riverview in 1953. Initially the new drive didn't exist. The old drive was through the back gate. The Rector was Fr John Casey. I'd been to the Christian Brothers at Chatswood and my parents said, "We're going to go across to Riverview tomorrow to get you admitted there". We'd already bought our uniforms for Christian brothers. And my brother and I said, "We're going to stay in the same school where we are with our friends". After mass, we came around to the College. Dad went in and spoke to the Rector. Fr John Casey came out and he looked at my brother. He said, "Let him finish intermediate at the Christian Brothers. We don't want to disturb him. Then he looked at me and said, "He'll do, get him a uniform and have him in class on Wednesday". 

OIU News: Tell us about Riverview in the late 1950's.. 

Fr Tony: The boarders set the tone of the place. The new drive didn't exist. It was all grazing land, and we have cows there, yeah, Brother O'Brien had his cows. We had some good lay teachers, Tex Crowley. Fr Gerry Drum was in the second division, Jack Drury was in First division. Phil Kurtz was in Third division with Fr Durnin. 

OIU news: You were there when Fr Fraser shot the cow 

Fr Tony: It happened during the time I was there. Robert Hughes wrote a poem in the school magazine called "I am the cow that Fr Fraser shot" and they published it. 

OIU news: What prompted you to make that fateful decision, not only to join the Jesuits in the short term, but in the medium term, end up in Hazaribagh? 

Fr Herbert: I had a strong sense that I want to do something worthwhile in life. And I had one life, what could I do with it? The Sodality of Our Lady had a strong influence. That was supported at the school. It was very strong in the school. They taught us to pray every day so that became a part of my life. No one Jesuit stands out. Somehow, all of them, when they spoke to you, you were somebody, you know, you were a person. 

OIU News: You joined in Melbourne at Watsonia? 

Fr Tony: Mum drove down to Melbourne with me. The bonding was very close with group there, and even those who left subsequently. And I still look them up now straight away. You just pick up, after years of absence and pick up the conversation as if we're speaking yesterday. 

OIU News On being sent to Hazaribagh: 

Fr Tony: Every year, one or two or three were leaving Melbourne to go to India. The province had committed itself to keep on sending guys across. We knew at the end of our year that one or two from my batch would be going. The Provincial would come every year and meet every Jesuit going, asking on a much deeper level, how are you? And, he said, What about India? I said, Look, I don't know what India's like, and I don't know if I'm suitable for it. If you want to send me, send me. There's a basic commitment as a Jesuit to be ready for anything. When we take vows, it's a commitment to do anything, anywhere for the Glory of God. 

OIU News: What about arriving in India ?

Fr Tony: We came up the coast by boat. We stopped in Colombo where we met friends of John Coburn. We docked in Bombay early in the morning. Then we caught a train across northern India to Hazaribagh. We arrived in March, lovely weather at that time of the year, but you get a lot of rain during the monsoons from July or September. In Hazaribagh everything depends on the climate. What crops go in and when they go in, and the farmers know this back to front. Initially, I was a Novice at Saint Xavier School, which is not unlike Riverview. It was an English-speaking school. I was there for two years, and always with the feeling I don't know India. Wanting to know what was outside the front gate, wanting to get out and learn the language. After two years I went for Hindi studies in Allahabad, then I did a degree with Hindi as a subject. I then studied for theology in India and then came back for ordination in 1973. 

OIU News: Do you have a final message for our readers and the wider Jesuit Family. 

Fr. Tony: The Mission is a witness to their generosity. And it's not just today, but the preparation which goes into the Bazaar and the May Fair in Melbourne. All these different groups, there are different parishes. It's extraordinary. It's really that generosity, that input, apart from the income which earned for the Mission, which is so valuable, it's the self-giving which goes into it. Ordinary people, they do what they can, baking cakes and ordinary things, that's their contribution. I have been very conscious over there in whatever I'm doing. I've been very conscious of the people back here, our Old boys, my Mob as I call them, and we get together whenever I come back. We get together with a wide range of people, all the parishes. I want to thank people for the generosity of service, a very sincere thank you to so many for what they do.