Report of the 15th Annual Old Sanawarian Lunch
in London on Sunday 1 May 2015
By Harbans Nagpal – Nilagiri [BD] 1964.
The Annual Old Sanawarian lunch in London on Sunday 17 May 2015 was once again a great success!
There was a change in the venue this year as our usual Indian restaurant had developed a water leak. Aruna Mongia (Née Sharma 1967), our Chapter General Secretary found an alternative, the Indali Lounge, on 50 Baker Street. It was a good choice: central, well-appointed, cheaper, with drinks included, and large enough for the 60 or so persons we were expecting.
So, on another sunny day, Aruna arrived at 12 mid-day, inspected the premises and the food, and set up her little shop at the entrance, with cash box, labels and the guest list.
At 12.30 sharp, the first guest arrived: Old Timer Derek Boddington (Roberts 1947). He brought with him his nice physiotherapist daughter Coral, or, as she put it, she brought him. It is quite amazing how our Old Timers (pre 1950 batches) come long distances, often by bus and train, to attend these lunches. It is a great pleasure to see them, and this year too, they came in big numbers, nearly a dozen. Bob Massingham (Hodson 1947) arrived with great fanfare and delicious Hindi greetings to his Sahib and Memsahib friends. Stella Owen Beatty ( Hodson 1947) was there again, not with her OS brother but with her artist daughter, Lucy. Gladys Spencer (Nicholson 1945) was there, not complaining of punishments this year. One new Old Timer was Rajeshwar Pershad (1949), who came with his wife Evelyne. He brought with him a stack of old photographs. One interesting one was of the whole school assembled on Peacestead in 1949 – Prep school, Boys School and Girls School, all together -- less than 50 children! Those were the transition years, between the old British school and the new Indian school. By the time of the Middle Timers (post 1950) the school had come back up to capacity at around 350 children. It is some 700 today. Derek Boddington, Prabh Kang and Sanjaya Varma and other Sanawar historians should get a hold of those photos from Rajeshwar Pershad and scan them for posterity. James Coombes (recently seen in Sanawar), Ron Bailey, David and Betty Barfoot, Mitzi Webster and David Pott were other Old Timers who were present and we salute them once again.
The Middle Timers (batches between 1950 – 2000 ) were well represented again. The usual suspects looked almost unsuspicious, mingling easily at the bar. The two Kadan brothers, Yashvir and Rajvir were faithfully present. Rajvir’s wife Veera was kind to grace us with her company this year. Kamal Katoch comes every year, but this time we saw also his charming wife, Damni. Siddharth Deshraj brought his lovely doctor daughter, Anshul. Another Middle Timer who happened to be in London from America was Ravipreet Sohi (Nilgiri 1975). He came with his management student daughter, Simran. It was lovely to see all these daughters at our lunch. When you meet a friend’s daughter (or son) for the first time, you can almost immediately see the nicest side of your friend in the daughter. Partha Biswas, Subhash Jayaswal, Vinod Bhandari and your reporter Harbans Nagpal were other Middle Timers present.
This is a good time to report some Sanawar news. Every year at Founders, the school invites the 25th and the 50th year batches, for special treatment. 2014 was your reporter’s 50th Golden Jubilee Founders. Some 30 of our original class of 60 attended, 4 from London. There were speeches in church, a raucous OS Society meeting in the new gym, a lunch in the Headmaster’s house, a march past at the Parade, a dinner-dance….It was all very pretty and moving. Time had moved on 50 years for us, but the school was as lovely and as generous as ever. One piece of advice to others whose time is coming: start preparing early, at least two years ahead, to round up everybody and prepare your programme.
It is always a joy to see our smart, polite New Timers (post 2000). They often come with their spouses, fashionably dressed, adding colour to our gathering. And this year the newest of the New Timers were Tanya Sandhu, Poornavijaya Singh and Ayush Modi, all three having just passed out in 2014. All three were at University in England. Tanya was studying psychology, Poornavijay was studying law and Ayush was studying management.
Other OS present, from the 70s and 80s, were Mithlesh Singh, Diwaker Singh, Sangeeta Walia, Saba Ahmad, Zehra Baig, Harneet Kaur, Sunita Bhambri and Anuradha Bhatt (nee Verma). Their bright eyes and good manners shone through the crowd. How proud we can be of our young Sanawarians.
And so this mixed crowd of young and old, men and women, British and Indian, Sanawarians and guests had a nice long hour of chit chat and free drinks. You can see for yourself how happy we all were in the photos of the meeting, taken by Max Mongia, the quiet man behind our energetic secretary, Aruna Mongia.
At around 2 pm, when all 55 of us were in (36 OS, 19 Guests), Aruna called us to order and welcomed us with some friendly words. She announced the sad news of the deaths of Colleen Pitts, Betty Warwick, Minakshi Biswas, Diljeet Chowdhury and Kuljit Sethi, London Old Sanawarians, in the last year or so. We stood in silence for a minute. She then introduced our Chief Guest for the day: the newly elected President of the Old Sanawarian Society (OSS), who had flown especially to attend our lunch, Jitender Singh Chandel.
He cut a fine figure, standing very square, with waxed moustache, in (near) Jodhpur style trousers and a blue school tie. In conversation he was sharp and polite, with a winning military style: "Yesterday, Sir", "For you, Sir"! And a military man he was indeed. An early retired Lt Colonel, now in a second management career with the Fortes Hospital group, he had flown to London, out of duty, to meet us all at this lunch (with onward journeys planned for OS meetings in America). He brought with him personal gifts for each one of us. Each Old Timer received, amongst other things, a School Badge in a leather frame. He also brought a large, expensive, pictorial, coffee-table book about Sanawar for Sir Henry (who unfortunately was not able to attend) and for Derek Boddington. More impressive than the book was the dedication inside -- from Acting Headmistress Shonu Mukherjee -- a long, hand written letter, expressing the school's appreciation and attachment to its Founder, Sir Henry, and its old student and Sanawar historian, Derek. It was an unexpected and touching gesture. We thank OSS President Elect Jitender Singh Chandel for bringing these precious and heavy gifts, and we bow to Acting Headmistress Mukherjee for her gracious gesture.
Aruna then invited us to move to lunch. There were tables of 6 and 8 and more, laid out for us in a well-lit dining area of the restaurant. Spontaneously, we coalesced, more or less according to our batch years. The food, laid out in buffet style, was as tasty as ever, but with less choice than in previous years. No bad thing. With too much choice you end up tasting a bit of everything and soon you are over 2000 calories. Your reporter did a quick calculation. 2000 cals would take 7 Long back Hodson runs to burn off! And 3 Long backs and a short back to burn off even half the meal. Food for thought! (A twenty minute run at 15 calories per minute = 300 calories. So 7 runs, yes 7, to burn 2100 cals).
With the tasty food came less talk. It was nice to sit and partake in friendship, sharing quietly our meal and common memories of Sanawar -- of friends, teachers and places. Which Sanawarian does not have in his mind a secret walk, an adventure, an encounter, to savour at moments like these?
With coffee there was a chance to circulate again, and open the lovely presents we had just received from OSS President Chandel: badges, shields, cuff links, stickers....each person's packet with his or her name on it.
Clutching our goodies, we rose to sing the School Song. Unrehearsed, unprompted, from memory, we gave a fine rendering of both verses. Finally, we gave three loud cheers of thanks to Anu and Max Mongia for once again organising a successful London OS lunch.
Some people had to go quickly, but many lingered, unable to leave. Conversations continued, addresses were exchanged, extra cups of coffee were had, till finally we were thrown out by the restaurant staff.
Harbans Nagpal – NBD 64. (Email: hrsnagpal@hotmail.com)
**
(Announcement: These lunches are held on the third Sunday of May, and so the next meeting is on 15 May 2016. Please pre register with Anu Mongia on: anu@strongfield.com)
There was a change in the venue this year as our usual Indian restaurant had developed a water leak. Aruna Mongia (Née Sharma 1967), our Chapter General Secretary found an alternative, the Indali Lounge, on 50 Baker Street. It was a good choice: central, well-appointed, cheaper, with drinks included, and large enough for the 60 or so persons we were expecting.
So, on another sunny day, Aruna arrived at 12 mid-day, inspected the premises and the food, and set up her little shop at the entrance, with cash box, labels and the guest list.
At 12.30 sharp, the first guest arrived: Old Timer Derek Boddington (Roberts 1947). He brought with him his nice physiotherapist daughter Coral, or, as she put it, she brought him. It is quite amazing how our Old Timers (pre 1950 batches) come long distances, often by bus and train, to attend these lunches. It is a great pleasure to see them, and this year too, they came in big numbers, nearly a dozen. Bob Massingham (Hodson 1947) arrived with great fanfare and delicious Hindi greetings to his Sahib and Memsahib friends. Stella Owen Beatty ( Hodson 1947) was there again, not with her OS brother but with her artist daughter, Lucy. Gladys Spencer (Nicholson 1945) was there, not complaining of punishments this year. One new Old Timer was Rajeshwar Pershad (1949), who came with his wife Evelyne. He brought with him a stack of old photographs. One interesting one was of the whole school assembled on Peacestead in 1949 – Prep school, Boys School and Girls School, all together -- less than 50 children! Those were the transition years, between the old British school and the new Indian school. By the time of the Middle Timers (post 1950) the school had come back up to capacity at around 350 children. It is some 700 today. Derek Boddington, Prabh Kang and Sanjaya Varma and other Sanawar historians should get a hold of those photos from Rajeshwar Pershad and scan them for posterity. James Coombes (recently seen in Sanawar), Ron Bailey, David and Betty Barfoot, Mitzi Webster and David Pott were other Old Timers who were present and we salute them once again.
The Middle Timers (batches between 1950 – 2000 ) were well represented again. The usual suspects looked almost unsuspicious, mingling easily at the bar. The two Kadan brothers, Yashvir and Rajvir were faithfully present. Rajvir’s wife Veera was kind to grace us with her company this year. Kamal Katoch comes every year, but this time we saw also his charming wife, Damni. Siddharth Deshraj brought his lovely doctor daughter, Anshul. Another Middle Timer who happened to be in London from America was Ravipreet Sohi (Nilgiri 1975). He came with his management student daughter, Simran. It was lovely to see all these daughters at our lunch. When you meet a friend’s daughter (or son) for the first time, you can almost immediately see the nicest side of your friend in the daughter. Partha Biswas, Subhash Jayaswal, Vinod Bhandari and your reporter Harbans Nagpal were other Middle Timers present.
This is a good time to report some Sanawar news. Every year at Founders, the school invites the 25th and the 50th year batches, for special treatment. 2014 was your reporter’s 50th Golden Jubilee Founders. Some 30 of our original class of 60 attended, 4 from London. There were speeches in church, a raucous OS Society meeting in the new gym, a lunch in the Headmaster’s house, a march past at the Parade, a dinner-dance….It was all very pretty and moving. Time had moved on 50 years for us, but the school was as lovely and as generous as ever. One piece of advice to others whose time is coming: start preparing early, at least two years ahead, to round up everybody and prepare your programme.
It is always a joy to see our smart, polite New Timers (post 2000). They often come with their spouses, fashionably dressed, adding colour to our gathering. And this year the newest of the New Timers were Tanya Sandhu, Poornavijaya Singh and Ayush Modi, all three having just passed out in 2014. All three were at University in England. Tanya was studying psychology, Poornavijay was studying law and Ayush was studying management.
Other OS present, from the 70s and 80s, were Mithlesh Singh, Diwaker Singh, Sangeeta Walia, Saba Ahmad, Zehra Baig, Harneet Kaur, Sunita Bhambri and Anuradha Bhatt (nee Verma). Their bright eyes and good manners shone through the crowd. How proud we can be of our young Sanawarians.
And so this mixed crowd of young and old, men and women, British and Indian, Sanawarians and guests had a nice long hour of chit chat and free drinks. You can see for yourself how happy we all were in the photos of the meeting, taken by Max Mongia, the quiet man behind our energetic secretary, Aruna Mongia.
At around 2 pm, when all 55 of us were in (36 OS, 19 Guests), Aruna called us to order and welcomed us with some friendly words. She announced the sad news of the deaths of Colleen Pitts, Betty Warwick, Minakshi Biswas, Diljeet Chowdhury and Kuljit Sethi, London Old Sanawarians, in the last year or so. We stood in silence for a minute. She then introduced our Chief Guest for the day: the newly elected President of the Old Sanawarian Society (OSS), who had flown especially to attend our lunch, Jitender Singh Chandel.
He cut a fine figure, standing very square, with waxed moustache, in (near) Jodhpur style trousers and a blue school tie. In conversation he was sharp and polite, with a winning military style: "Yesterday, Sir", "For you, Sir"! And a military man he was indeed. An early retired Lt Colonel, now in a second management career with the Fortes Hospital group, he had flown to London, out of duty, to meet us all at this lunch (with onward journeys planned for OS meetings in America). He brought with him personal gifts for each one of us. Each Old Timer received, amongst other things, a School Badge in a leather frame. He also brought a large, expensive, pictorial, coffee-table book about Sanawar for Sir Henry (who unfortunately was not able to attend) and for Derek Boddington. More impressive than the book was the dedication inside -- from Acting Headmistress Shonu Mukherjee -- a long, hand written letter, expressing the school's appreciation and attachment to its Founder, Sir Henry, and its old student and Sanawar historian, Derek. It was an unexpected and touching gesture. We thank OSS President Elect Jitender Singh Chandel for bringing these precious and heavy gifts, and we bow to Acting Headmistress Mukherjee for her gracious gesture.
Aruna then invited us to move to lunch. There were tables of 6 and 8 and more, laid out for us in a well-lit dining area of the restaurant. Spontaneously, we coalesced, more or less according to our batch years. The food, laid out in buffet style, was as tasty as ever, but with less choice than in previous years. No bad thing. With too much choice you end up tasting a bit of everything and soon you are over 2000 calories. Your reporter did a quick calculation. 2000 cals would take 7 Long back Hodson runs to burn off! And 3 Long backs and a short back to burn off even half the meal. Food for thought! (A twenty minute run at 15 calories per minute = 300 calories. So 7 runs, yes 7, to burn 2100 cals).
With the tasty food came less talk. It was nice to sit and partake in friendship, sharing quietly our meal and common memories of Sanawar -- of friends, teachers and places. Which Sanawarian does not have in his mind a secret walk, an adventure, an encounter, to savour at moments like these?
With coffee there was a chance to circulate again, and open the lovely presents we had just received from OSS President Chandel: badges, shields, cuff links, stickers....each person's packet with his or her name on it.
Clutching our goodies, we rose to sing the School Song. Unrehearsed, unprompted, from memory, we gave a fine rendering of both verses. Finally, we gave three loud cheers of thanks to Anu and Max Mongia for once again organising a successful London OS lunch.
Some people had to go quickly, but many lingered, unable to leave. Conversations continued, addresses were exchanged, extra cups of coffee were had, till finally we were thrown out by the restaurant staff.
Harbans Nagpal – NBD 64. (Email: hrsnagpal@hotmail.com)
**
(Announcement: These lunches are held on the third Sunday of May, and so the next meeting is on 15 May 2016. Please pre register with Anu Mongia on: anu@strongfield.com)