“Hill ! Hill ! Hill ! Up Sergeant Tilley’s Hill ! “

“Hill ! Hill ! Hill ! Up Sergeant Tilley’s Hill ! “

Two steps at a time, heart bursting, your reporter arrived at the top of the steps of Gloucester Road tube station in central London, 5 minutes before 12 noon, for the 19th annual OS reunion lunch in London, on Sunday 19 May 2019, breathless.

Across the street was this year’s restaurant, The Bombay Brasserie, Courtfield Road, shown in Google maps as “High End Indian Restaurant”. Through a stately arch you entered into a large dark, windowless room, with wooden panels, sofas and a fireplace with a fire. This cosy lobby was only the anteroom. Polite Indian waitresses took your hat and coat and you went through into the next room, a large dining room with a high ceiling, but this too was not yet our room. Through some French windows, you entered a large, bright porch, a covered half circle of a courtyard, with a wall to wall ground glass ceiling. So no sky, but lots and lots of light. This lovely greenhouse like room, with many plants and tables laid out, was going to be our lunch room. To the right were our private tables and to the left was the serving area with the buffet lunch. High end indeed !

Surprisingly, at 12 noon, the announced starting time, nearly all the guests were already there, some 45 Old Sanawarians and their guests, a very honorable number. Looking at the list there were 3 Old Timers (pre 1950), some 20 Middle timers (1950 to 2000) and only one New Timer (post 2000). But these numbers change from year to year and we hope to see the Millennials more numerous next year. Happily, all the 45 people who said they would come were all there. The explanation for this early and high turn out was simple: this time we had to pay the 39 £ per head fee in advance and it was not cancellable. A sure way to make people turn up and not dither at the last moment!

Once again this year the lunch was organized by our long-serving General Secretary Anu Mongia née Sharma NGD 1967. We had a new, younger person in Richa Pathania Ranawat (HGD 2000) to take over, but for reasons of her work, this year was done once again by Anu. We missed smart Richa and her husband and hope to see her next year.

After you entered this bright, green house of a room you needed to gather yourself. There were no windows. You did not know where you were. And soon you were going to be talking about Sanawar, Kasauli, your childhood. It was like you were in a time machine, ready to take you backwards in space and time.

In anticipation, you were glad to talk first to a familiar person. In my case, this was Anu Mongia, her husband Max and their grown children. Anu has given much of her precious time and attention to these events over many years. Your reporter was pleased to see that somebody had brought flowers for her.

As your reporter dared into the assembled throng, the first to come up spontaneously to him was Captain Amit Dutt (NBD 1984), smart, erect, friendly, not an army Captain but a navy captain of ships. Amit was now based in a land job in Singapore and was passing through London. So good of him to come and so good for us to meet our far flung, cosmopolitan Sanawarians in London. Though much younger than your reporter, we had many friends and names in common. This is a good moment to remind others who travel through London. These Sanawar lunches are held on the third Sunday of May every year. Do note in your diaries. Next year- Sunday 17 May 2020. If you are passing through London, you will be pleased to meet old friends and make new ones.

Closer in age to your reporter was Vimal Khosla (SBD 1965), tall, dressed informally in a collarless shirt and a light jacket, and sporting a long, long pony tail of grey hair. An unrepentant hippy ! Having also been a long haired rebel in the 1960’s, who walked about, unashamed, in flared trousers, your reporter’s heart went out to the man in front of him. The rest of us had to sell out, wear suits and integrate. But not the brave man in front of me! Soon there was a good explanation. Vimal had left Air India (after being a trouble maker) and started his own travel business in the very early years of the internet. This was so successful that it was bought out by a giant web site called Lastminute.com, leaving him rich and with no need to ever work again. Whence no doubt the bohemian pony tail, the carefree manner, the happy smile. Just rewards!

As we moved along in our boring, integrated clothes, with no pony tail, we were accosted by Hamir Ratanje (SBD 1966). Hamir had been reading these reports and was upset that he had been missed out the last time. The confession was touching. Luckily, your reporter had not missed him out in the previous two reports. Hamir had just not seen these. And he is certainly present in this report, as the OS who came to Sanawar from Rhodesia. There were always a few children from Kenya and Uganda at Sanawar. But Hamir came from further afield and now comes regularly to these lunches.

On a table in one corner we found our faithful Old Timer, Mrs Mitzi Mckenzie née Webster (1945 Outram). She had brought with her once again her 8 year old adopted granddaughter, Amayi, and Amayi’s mother Lisa Brown. Amayi was the confident, posh-spoken black adopted daughter we met last year too. The family were doing well and were planning a trip to Sanawar. Amayi was surprised we remembered her, and we were surprised she remembered us. The beginnings of a little friendship.

Next door were some Middle Timers who we call our gang of four Usual Suspects, because they are close in years and come as a gang nearly every year. This year we had Head-boy Kamal Katoch NBD 1962 and his wife Damni, the Kadan brothers, senior Yashvir Kadan (SBD 1957) and junior Rajvir Kadan (SBD 1962) and Rajvir’s wife Veera. Making up their gang of four is Arvind Sikand (HBD 1963), alas not present this year. The gang were engrossed in a deep discussion about World Cup Cricket. Your reporter listened and waited a long while to put in his tuppence worth. But alas no such chance came.The tuppence stayed in pocket. Just as well because, on second thoughts, cricket is a subject amateurs should avoid talking about with the real pros.

Further along we met several Middle Timers of early 1950’s vintage. For the first time we encountered Vinod Raj Kumar HBD 1953 with his wife Mallika. Vinod looked mighty fit for his near 80 years. After Sanawar and a career in the Indian Army (NDA) Vinod had taken early retirement and had a second career in the UK. He had started a computer company in the very early days of computers, done well and sent his children to Sanawar from the UK ( if memory serves right).

Sitting near us were two other Middle Timers from this generation, Javed Kumar 1957 and his sister Parveen Kumar 1958, with an interesting story. They had both been at Sanawar in the 1950’s with their mother who was a teacher in the school. But they lost their father and somehow their mother made her way to England in the 1960’s. She raised them both as a single mother and managed to give them both a fine education. Javed became an Economist and a journalist with an international career, and Parveen a world famous lady doctor. Parveen was especially impressive: slim, silver haired, patrician with a very calm voice and bright eyes. In 2018 she had been to Sanawar for Founders and had given the main speech in Chapel as head of her batch of 1958, on their 60th anniversary. Later, your reporter was not surprised to hear that she was a Dame of the Realm. At the reunion she was just one of us, one of the better ones of us.

But now we were getting hungry. In the other half of the courtyard were four help yourself areas for the food. One area for the starters, (half a dozen choices of street food), one for the main courses, (a dozen choices of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes), one for salads and pickles, and yet another for the huge choice of luxurious and unusual Indian desserts. The choice and quantities was opulent, and our crowd was not holding back! The street food choice included gol guppas, complete with spicy water, dahi papadi, dahi bada’s, alloo chaat, fruit chaat, samosas, and more dishes for which your reporter had no room in mind, plate or tummy.

Back at our tables, we tucked into this delicious food, with rich memories of Indian bazaars, Kasauli Sundays, secret treats. It was strange to be enjoying this forbidden fruit in clean luxury so far from home. Of course we all had second and third helpings, abandoning all restraint, even the most portly, especially the most portly of us., Tomorrow will be another day !

As we enjoyed our food, we met up with Govind Pathania HBD 1967 and his wife Maalvika. They are an interesting couple: they live in Himachal, come every year to England and these lunches. And their daughter is Richa Rawat Pathania, HGD 2000, the new General Secretary of our London branch ( who was unfortunately absent on this day). The Pathania family have many Sanawarians to their name and so Govind was full of stories about Sanawar, over many generations, about boys, girls, teachers, local and national politicians... What impressed your reporter was this easy connection they had between the Simla Hills and the UK, coming and going as if they lived next door. Meeting them, exchanging names of common friends, you felt part of life back in Sanawar and India.

Another person who comes and goes a lot between the UK and Sanawar is James Coombes (Nicholson 1954), an English Old Timer who stayed into the new Indian school and so is also a Middle Timer. He had recently been to Sanawar again, meeting the Headmaster, inspecting his old dormitory, visiting the Kasauli Club and the Military Hospital. (He has written up his trip in a funny article, which maybe Brenda will put up on the Sanawar website).

As it happens your reporter was also in Sanawar and Kasauli in March of 2019. The school is still as charming as ever, Short Back just as pretty as 60 years ago. Long Back alas is a busy road with heavy traffic. The hospital, Birdwood, Barnes Hall, the gym, the dormitories, were soothingly the same. We also visited Kasauli, which is also wondrously unchanged. We met the new headmaster, Mr Pandé, a fine, serious man, who told us about his plans for reforming the school: more democracy, more participation, more equality between the girls and boys. After many years, he had recently won an increase in the school fees of nearly one lakh rupees to 550 000 Rupees per year (5 500 pounds roughly), which would give him the money to make some physical improvements to the school. One felt Sanawar was in safe hands….only to find out, at this very lunch, that he had decided to resign! -- for family reasons. Your reporter checked this out and it seems to be true. So we are soon going to have a new Headmaster.

Back to our lunch, we were pleased to meet a young, thirty something new Middle Timer in Ms Anya Singh ( HGD 1981). Smartly dressed in a black blazer and slacks, Anya was born in the UK , went to Sanawar aged 13 for a few years and came back to England when she was 17. Anya works as a teacher and was extremely well informed. She raised considerably the level of conversation at our table.

Last, but by no means least, we must mention two Hindi speaking Old Timers who we were glad to see: Bob Massingham (Hodson 1947) and Derek Boddington (Roberts 1947). Both were in good health. Both have deep family roots in India. Derek was born in India and before him his own parents too. Bob was actually born in South Africa, but only accidentally, because his mother was travelling. We hereby salute these sons of India who are now in England, who speak Hindi and who love India. We welcome them, and their families, not only to Sanawar but also to the land of their birth. We welcome their families too because they sometimes need help to travel. Derek’s daughter Coral was with him on this day and we thank her for bringing her lovely Dad to these lunches. We hope she will visit Sanawar and India with him soon.

At around 2.30 pm we were called to order by Anu Mongia. She made a short speech thanking us for coming, and apologised for cutting short our lunch. We had to clear the hall and some people also had to leave. As is usual she read out the names of Old Sanawarians we had lost in the previous year. We all stood up in one minute of silence. After this sombre moment she announced that next year’s lunch would be in this same restaurant on 17 May 2020. We then sang the school song, a fairly good rendering, the words suddenly coming to us from nowhere.

But luckily the end was not so brutal. The restaurant allowed us to linger for another half hour, during which we managed to taste some of the many rich desserts on offer. We finished our conversations with each other. We took photos of each other in the lovely room. We exchanged names and emails. And we hoped at least one or two of these new encounters would bear fruit.

Around 3 pm, it was all over. And so, down, down, down; down Sergeant Tilley’s Hill came your reporter. Down to Garkhal, down to Kalka, down to Gloucester Road underground station.

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

Next year’s lunch will be held on 17 May 2020, the third Sunday of May. Please register early with Richa Ranawat