A problem of identity

A few days ago I raised the issue of the identity of a 60er.

I had some interesting comments but no one recognised the individual from the name!!. Then along came David Keidan who said he knew Sheikh and remembered him well.

The jigsaw puzzle is now solved.

Below is a recent picture of our 60er Sheikh and his wife, Adeeba, in London. Doesn't his very broad and friendly smile show he is a Cathedralite. Can any of you recognise him from this photograph. I could!!!


Sheikh and Adeeba in London 2005

Then I was sent a series of photographs of school teams from the peroid 1956 to 1960 - and "Bingo", that part of my brain which had been demolished 21 years ago by alcohol was partly rejuvenated - and I remembered the Sheikh as if it was just yesterday. He certainly was one of our great sportsman but, unfortunately, he lived in a day when our class of 59 was overwhelmed with enormous sporting talent that it was almost impossible to make the first team with just normal skills!!

I present here a series of photographs where many readers to this blog feature - even the one who made rather a caustic joke about our fellow Cathedralite - they both played in the same team!!

I will list team members of each team only at the end of this blog entry, so that you can enjoy yourself working out who is who. Some names I have forgotten - so please forgive me. It is not that I have forgotten you, but like in the case of Sheikh, the name and my association to the face escapes me just at this moment.

1. 1956 Junior Football Team - The guy sitting on the right of Wabhi and just below Jack is Sheikh!!


1956 Junior Football Team

2. 1956 Junior Hockey Team - The guy sitting on the far right next to Noel and in front of David is Sheikh.


1956 Junior Hockey Team

3. 1957 Junior Football Team - The guy sitting between Noel on the far left and Viney is Sheikh.


1957 Junior Football Team

4. 1960 Senior Football Team - The guy sitting between Trevor and John Kurian on the far right is Sheikh.


1960 Senior Football Team

5. 1960 Senior Hockey Team - The guy standing between Naubir and Ajeet and above Mr. Pande is Sheikh.


1960 Senior Hockey Team

Now the million dollar question. Has dementia set in for you?

Here are the teams as far as I can remember the guys names. Please correct me if I am wrong. In some cases I may only remember the first name or the surname:

1. 1956 Junior Football Team:

Standing: ?, Viney Sethi, Johnny Jameson, Jack Haskell, Ajeet Mehra, Noel Ezekiel
Sitting: ?, Vijay Shivdasani, Wabhi Zayani, Sheikh Zahur, Solomon
Sitting on the Ground: ?

2. 1956 Junior Hockey Team:

Standing: Solomon, Ajeet Mehra, Jack Haskell, Roger Cloy, David Colaco
Sitting: ?, Viney Sethi, Ashok Kapur, Noel Ezekiel, Sheikh Zahur
Sitting on the ground: Mark Sopher

3. 1957 Junior Football Team:

Standing: ?, Phiroze Mistri, Armeane Choksi, Solomon, David Colaco
Sitting: Noel Ezekiel, Sheikh Zahur, Viney Sethi, ?, Flicky Shroff
Sitting on the ground: ?

4. 1960 Senior Football Team:

Standing: ?, ?, Armeane Choksi, Roger Cloy, Ajeet Mathur
Sitting: Maurice Belacourt, Phiroze Mistri, Trevor Newnes, Sheikh Zahur, John Kurian
Sitting on the ground: Jaswant Ghatge

5. 1960 Senior Hockey Team:

Standing: ?, Maurice Belacourt, Naubir Mohindar, Sheikh Zahur, Ajeet Mehra, Andy Gordon
Sitting: Trevor Newnes, Arvind Thadani, Ashok Kapur, Mr. Pande, Phiroze Mistri,
Sitting on the ground: Jaswant Ghatge

And thank you for the literally hundreds of birthday greetings that have poured in yesterday and today from Cathedralites from all corners of the globe. I will acknowledge each one individually in the course of this week. I am truly overwhelmed by the number of you that took the time to email me and the many who sent email greetings cards. I especially liked the one sent by Willie and Pushpa Shiri, but all of the cards conveyed to me a feeling of great camaraderie that exists amongst this Seventh Heaven community of Cathedralites. I would like to thank Shabir Ahmedbhoy for wishing me two things I have enjoyed almost all my life - Health and Happiness. In that I especially remember, today, as also the start of each day I am on this planet, our PT Master, the late Mr. Morecroft, who gave me the chance to live a second and full life.