This year’s annual London Old Sanawarian lunch was held at the Gaylord restaurant in Mortimer Street, a change from last year. You entered by a central door on either side of which were two large bay windows, giving light into the large restaurant. As you entered, a central panel obliged you to go to either the left or the right half of the restaurant. There were carefully laid out tables in the bay windows on either side, more tables along the left and right walls and a row in the middle of the restaurant, behind the central panel.

Entering into the left half you made your way along the aisle to where our Chapter General Secretary Aruna Mongia née Sharma (NGD 1967) was installed by midday, with her table, cash box and guest list. 45 persons had registered but with last minute additions and subtractions, finally we were 54 OS and guests. This is a high turn out. Congratulations to all those present. But all of us who sail into these lunches, eat, drink and make merry and then waddle off, should spare a thought for Aruna who has been arranging these lunches for the last 15 or so years, singlehanded. Time perhaps for one Middle Timer and one New Timer to give her a hand.

(Definitions: Old Timers, the Od Sanawarians (mostly British) who passed out before 1950. Middle Timers, who passed out between 1950 and 2000. New Timers who passed out after 2000.)

But Aruna was doing her duties with a smile, greeting everybody warmly and by name. You paid up your £25, got a label with your name and year of passing out, and you were ready to mingle.

You could now assess the show: the restaurant was quickly filling up and cliques were forming in the two aisles. Before you were taken up in conversation, you had a moment to appreciate the space you were in. The hall was large and bright, thanks to the two front windows. The walls on either side were covered from top to bottom with large paintings - scenes of luscious Indian dancing girls, food, wine, white pigeons. The colours were bright and the style sensuous, not the flat style of Indian miniatures. So we were in the London Gaylord restaurant! If you had been to the original, sleepy, dreary Gaylord in Connaught Place in Delhi (owned by the same family), you would be pleased for this change. But the Delhi original dated back to the 1940s, when Connaught Place and Lutyen’s Delhi were just completed. For Old Timers it would have recalled a certain pre World War II London chic. Middle Timers from Delhi would remember it as one of the two restaurants in Delhi (the other being Volga’s) where prospective couples would meet each other before (nearly) arranged marriages. Your reporter wondered how many of the couples here present might have met in the Delhi Gaylord in this way. He had his own stories to share but, alas, events moved in other directions and this rich subject remained untouched.

There was a small bar at the back of the restaurant and a small queue soon formed. Subhash Jayaswal (SBD 1964) and Zafar Khan (SBD1965), two Middle Timers were among the early arrivals and they nabbed your reporter: “So Naggy, I hear you are standing us to our drinks then!” “Er, sure, sure” mumbled your surprised reporter. “We’ll have two glasses of plain water!”. My financial relief was immediate but the philosophical import of this request took some time to sink in: water is the best drink! It is the conversation that makes for conviviality, not what you drink. And so it was that we had an enjoyable conversation with Zafar and Subhash over delicious plain water. Zafar Khan had done a full ten year stint at Sanawar, winning many medals and culminating as Head Boy in 1966. For an ex Head Boy, Zafar was disarmingly mild mannered. After Sanawar he had had a successful career in two large American companies. He was semi retired now, working as a consultant, advising companies on how to increase the efficiency of their systems. We would meet up with these friends again later

. The room was filling up now. The Old Timers were nearly all in. The Barfoot husband and wife team, both Old Sanawarians, (Outram and Lawrence 1945) were faithfully present again, as were David and Joyce Pott, (Roberts 1946). How lucky for them to be coming to these reunions together some 70 years later. Derek Boddington (Roberts 1947), the historian and custodian of the records, was there once again with his charming daughter Coral. Derek arrived a little later than usual (a comment not on his lateness but on how we notice the comings and goings of certain guests!) Ron Bailey (Nicholson 1947) was there with his pretty guest, Maureen Widders, just back from a trip to France. Robert Massingham was in fine fickle, conversing in pretty good Hindi. How pleasing and intriguing it is to hear our Old Timers talk in Hindi. Derek is another Hindi speaker. Another Old Timer who comes regularly is James Coombes, the maths teacher. His English parents were teachers in Sanawar and stayed behind into the 1950s. So James was at Sanawar till 1954 and in 2014 celebrated his 60th passing out year in Sanawar. He made a funny speech in Chapel, in which he recounted the early days of teachers that Middle Timers would later see for a generation: B Singh, Gore, Salim Khan, the Kemps. We got a glimpse of the youths of our teachers in their first years in Sanawar. James brought with him a jovial guest, Percy Roberts who was encountered in the Gents, releasing excess beer and a Russian proverb: “The Church is near but the road is icy. The inn is far but I shall walk carefully.” Your reporter was giddy trying to fathom this two liner as he zipped up and came up from the basement loo.

Back upstairs people were settling down at the tables because the starters were served sitting down. In the large bay window to the left of the entrance door looking out into the street, were seated the senior Middle Timers. Here to be found, in plain view, were our usual suspects, Junior Kadan Rajvir (Siwalik 1962), Senior Kadan Yashvir (Siwalik 1957) and Kamal Katoch (Headboy Nilagiri 1962). Arvind Sikund (Himalaya 1962 ) who usually makes up the Gang of Four was sadly missing this year. But the remaining suspects were huddled together plotting their mischief, which they don’t easily let you into. Sitting with them was our Founder’s great, great, great grandson, also called Sir Henry Lawrence. Junior Sir Henry, also called Comrade Sir Henry by friends, comes regularly now to our lunches. And there he was with his good cheer, fast staccato speech and his salt and pepper beard. He was without his banjo, without his lovely daughter Isabelle, and without a prominent front tooth. We gathered the banjo was at home, Isabelle was at the White House in Washington helping Michele Obama with something, but the whereabouts of the missing front tooth Sir Henry did not elaborate on. (Allowing us to wonder about raucous nights, perhaps altercations in defence of a lady’s honour…careful comrade Sir Henry !) And next to him was seated a special guest this year, Mr John Orr. John was a kindly young man not from Sanawar but from another famous school, Foyle College in Northern Ireland. Foyle College is one of the 100 oldest schools in Britain (founded 1612) but pertinent to us, because it was the school that senior Sir Henry Lawrence went to (from 1815 to 1819), before his military career in India.

Mr Orr is something of a historian and is writing a book on Sir Henry Lawrence. His researches led him recently to India and Sanawar and in Delhi he met up with Prabh Kang (NBD 1961 and Ex President of the OSS). Prabh has done a lot of work on the history of Sanawar and the 4 Lawrence schools and helped produce a large coffee table book on Sanawar. A copy of this book was to be presented to Mr Orr later in the lunch by Anu Mongia Sharma, so that he might take it to his old school Foyle College. So we now have a new connection between Sanawar and Foyle College. Sir Henry must have enjoyed his years there because he founded 2 schools in India, Sanawar and Lovedale. He particularly liked Sanawar, because he built himself a house in Kasauli, overlooking the school. This still stands and looks on the outside and inside more or less exactly as when he lived in it. It belongs to the Chima family and there are plans to make it into a museum of some kind. (See photos of the house and Harjit Chima and your reporter in 2014 by clicking on this link:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lftdaesz2i46di7/AADUqblI2UeQWyNwSnhRmHk7a?dl=0).  We await Mr Orr’s book , to see what seeds Sir Henry took from Foyles and planted in Sanawar.

Adjoining this table, in the same bay window was seated another group of Middle Timers. This included President of the OSS, Lt Col Jitender Singh Chandel (Nilagiri 1975). He had flown over once again this year for this lunch. He cut a fine figure with his waxed moustache and narrow trousers, making small talk with everybody like a good OSS president should do. Seated next to him was a very tall batch mate of his, Diwaker Singh (Nilagiri 1975). Diwaker lives in London and is in the IT business. His wife Sonia seated opposite him went to school in Simla, studied physics and then had a long career in London. So no wall flower! And nor were the others on this table, colourful though they were: Sangeeta Walia, (Himalaya 1979) dressed in a pale pink salwar kameez suit, and her husband Ajay. Sunita Ghai and Anjali Ewing, both Nilagiri 1977 were also seated at this table.

Virender Saini (Himalaya 1966) along with her husband Ravi and son Parminder arrived rather late but were lucky to find space for 3 at the head of Sir Henry’s table. At the table adjoining Sir Henry’s, towards the back of the restaurant were seated, the Barfoots and their guests Beverley, Dingy and Ranen; Girija, husband Tony and son Oliver, and Aruna. On the table alongside in the centre were seated Robert Massingham, Ron Bailey and guest Maureen Widders, Tony Cook, Derek Boddington and daughter Coral, James Coombes and guest Percy.

In the other bay window was the table with the remaining Middle and New Timers. They were closer in years to Sanawar and to each other and this perhaps explained the loud peels of laughter and good cheer that emanated from their table. They were unabashed, letting their hair down, with nothing to hide from each other. We found here our old friend Manmeet Singh Poonia (Vindhay 1993) the young executive from Shell. He was standing and sitting as straight and tall as ever. Near him was his friend Akash Mohan (Himalaya 1992), dressed in a smart dark shirt. Akash was confident and charming, able to come up to you, present himself and start the conversation first. We learned that he had been a banker in Bangalore before moving to London 13 years ago. Also on this table were Richa Ranawat née Pathania (Himalaya 2000), dressed in a smart white western suit, her husband Abhimanyu and their little 8 year old daughter Bhavya. Slim and elegant Richa was popular with all the men, handsome Abhimanyu with the ladies and friendly little Bhavya with everybody. For the record Richa’s dad, Govind Pathania was also an OS. Also on this table were Tanya Sinha (Nilagiri 1990), Ashvini Suri (Himalaya 1992), Aftab Chopra (Vindhaya 1986), Karan Gupta (Himalaya 1996) and his guest, another Tanya.

After the first course had been enjoyed and before the main course was ready, Anu called us to order. She made a short speech of welcome and thanked the attendance of 52 OS and their guests here present. She mentioned the absence of our oldest OS, George, aged 93. He was faring well but just could not join us this year. She then reported the sad deaths of some of our London colleagues since our last meeting: Violet Goodall, who used to organise these very lunches for many years, and run a newsletter for OS. Old Timers will surely miss her. Anil Manley, husband of Andy Kemp, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Kemp, who succumbed after a long illness, Stella Beatty (Hodson, 1947) who used to come regularly to these lunches and Ashok Saxena (Vindhaya, 1967) although not from London was Aruna’s batch mate and so was given a special mention. We stood in silence for a minute for these persons, and in our minds also for all the other Sanawarians we had lost over the years, a sombre moment. After this, Anu presented the large coffee table book on Sanawar to Sir Henry Lawrence, brought by OSS president Chandel, with a dedication hand written by Acting Headmistress Shonu Mukherjee. The same book had been sent to him last year but had gotten lost in the post. And a second copy of the same book was presented by Anu to Mr John Orr, above mentioned. Point of information: this is a splendid book that every OS will enjoy. It is available from the School or from the shop Giggles in Connaught Place in Delhi. (Phone : + 91 - 11-32036522, 65571644, Email : mailto:giggles.del@gmail.com)

And so now we could move to the main course. This was served in buffet style from tables at the back of the restaurant. The food was delicious and varied, but without overwhelming choice. There was pillao rice and nans. There were two vegetarian dishes, chicken and paneer. And there was refreshing raita. It was a splendid lunch, not too rich, and you could come back for more. Waiting for your turn and at repeat visits to the food table, you could exchange jolly words with others, new friends and old. These exchanges of a few sentences and smiles added to the enjoyment of the day. You felt you had some friends and could have more, many more, as many as you wanted, just like the food!

With plates full we sat down at our respective tables, mostly in our age groups. Your reporter, Nilagiri 1964, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst based in Paris, was with another group of Middle Timers, at a table in the middle row. At the head was Partha Biswas (Vindhya 1964) smartly dressed as usual in blazer and grey flannels. A retired banker, he had just come back from yet another world cruise with his wife, earning himself the nick name of Vasco da Gama for the rest of the lunch. His ex airhostess wife, who was sadly not present today, seems to have become a sea hostess in her retirement. Siddharth Deshraj (Nilagiri 1964), retired from the NHS, was looking his jolly self and somewhat lighter. He did not mention the weight he had lost, implying therefore that he meant to lose a lot more. His daughter Anshul, dressed in a green dress, looked too pretty to be the senior doctor that she is. You cannot guess what a woman does from her looks anymore. Anshul was long locked in conversation with Mrs Evelyn Pershad, the swiss wife of Rajeshwar Pershad (1949), an Old Timer from the very first batch of Indians after the school was handed over by the British to the Indian authorities in 1947. Evelyn shared with us how she met Rajeshwar in London in the 1950s, in an arranged set up, not unlike the arranged meetings in the Delhi Gaylord. It would have been funny if they had met at the London Gaylord. Next to your reporter was Subhash Jayaswal, (Siwalik 1964), looking as slim as ever. Subhash is a retired accountant and now works as a financial adviser in London. Also on this table was Vinod Bhandari (Vindhaya, 1969) and soft spoken Head Boy Zafar Khan (Siwalik 1965), whom we have already met. Both Subhash and Zafar continued the lunch on municipal water. Your reporter gave in to the temptation of a shandy.

And as we all tucked into our food, we caught up on each other’s news, asked about old friends, old enemies, old flames, old prefects, old teachers. We remembered sunny Sanawar days and shivering nights. We recalled train trips home or back to school. We remembered thunder and rain on the tin roofs of our dormitories. We recalled fiery sunsets behind Monkey Point. There was some talk about Sanawar food, how it gradually improved when Mrs. Sehgal took over the Boys’ Kitchen. Through her Delhi connections she introduced one cup of Kwality ice cream on Sundays, a big event to look forward to. Tuck was such an important part of boarding school life. Old Timers will be pleased to hear that the Tuck Shop is still in the same place, on the left of the steep slope up to the church. It is not as dark as it used to be, has been opened to the back and been expanded a bit. You can sit down to tea and snacks on a porch overlooking the Hudson arch, the end of the Hudson run. Another subject of talk, on our mostly male table, was girls, or as the slang was at the time, “dames”. How cruel we boys were, how superficial, crude, harsh. We would talk lasciviously about the pretty ones, and contemptuously about the others, giving them marks in stupid beauty contests. Only to realise, 50 years later, what a wonderful batch of girls we had had. You could not have asked for more friendly, gracious, intelligent and pretty female class-mates. We remembered them all fondly now, each by name, sweet cousins, and asked to be forgiven for our awful behaviour of youth.

And so with these bitter sweet memories humming in our minds, we ate our lunch, trying now to keep the calories down, hard with the lovely Indian deserts. And suddenly, bang, bang, bang. Spoon on table! Time to stand up and sing the school song. It seemed way too early, only 2.30 pm. We were only just warming up. Please! But no, this was it. With heavy heart we rose and sang the school song, which was also the swan song of our precious afternoon. Sadly, it was all over. The restaurant needed to prepare for the next shift. And so hurriedly we had to end our conversations, close our childhood albums in our minds. And out we went, into the street, staggering, dazed. Slowly we gathered ourselves to head home. Many groups went straight to the nearest pub, to continue, to get closure, to recover from the strong dose of the concoction we had imbibed, a concoction called Sanawar.

Harbans Nagpal – NBD 64.
(Email: hrsnagpal@hotmail.com)

LINKS TO PHOTOS:

Link for photos of the lunch: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m4umoivp48pd1pq/AAAM0T_K-fRLa3QJEgcq3iZfa?dl=0

Link for photos of Sir Henry’s Kasauli house: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lftdaesz2i46di7/AADUqblI2UeQWyNwSnhRmHk7a?dl=0



(Announcement: These lunches are held on the third Sunday of May, and so the next meeting is on 21 May 2017. Please pre register with Anu Mongia on: mailto:anu@strongfield.com)