58ers - A special year for Willie

I had this copy of email from 58er Homi Khusrokhan, one of the Governors of the School Board, to Willie Shiri in Toronto - only the relevant part is quoted here:

from Homi Khusrokhan
to William and Pushpa Shiri
cc Jacob & Annikki Matthan
date Nov 25, 2007 7:55 AM
subject RE: 58er Cathedralite please read full message

Dear William,

We had our Founders Day service last week and that jogged my memory to get cracking on organizing next year’s 50’iers. I am meeting Peter Philip, Kamal Gupta and Darshana Boghilal for lunch next Wednesday.

Bye for now, keep well and definitely look forward to seeing you sometime.

(...more but deleted.)

Best regards,

Homi

This was in response to a beautiful email from Willie to Homi:

From: William and Pushpa Shiri
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 10:06 AM
To: Homi

Subject: Re: 58er Cathedralite please read full message

Dear Homi,

Do forgive me for this unpardonable delay replying your letter. It always happens to me that when I get a beautiful letter like yours, I say to myself: this deserves a long reply, not a one-liner, so have to find a long time slot. This long time-slot is often beyond my grasp!

Just about the time I got your mail, many things happened, a waste of time to enumerate, so let me stick to replying you! Incidentally, I was so pleased when John Kurrien wrote to me a long letter that I had to wait till I found time for a long reply, and it finally came ....after 40 days ! Just shows my tardiness!

A while ago, I had mentioned to Jacob Matthan with his tremendous access to all who matter to him through his BLOG, that I had seldom seen the names of any '58ers in his list of Old Boys. You see, that group has been of particular interest to me as the first bunch I taught right through their school years starting from Grade 4 ! It didn't matter what subject.

The school didn't need a physics teacher when I started in '51and I didn't care what I taught, I needed a job! Whatever, you now know why your lot is rather special to me. I seem to remember every one of you. I remember you as you used to be in the lower classes, petite, bright eyes and a ready smile!

You may like to know how my family and I fared after we left CBS and Bombay in 1962. To save typing time, (I still type 4 or 5 words per min., and that rate will never change!) I shall here reprint from my letter of about a week ago to John Kurrien, begging your pardon. Here goes :

Dear John,

Today it is exactly a month and ten days since I got your newsy long letter. I am as a rule, slow with my replies, but believe me, I am never this bad ! It never before took me 40 days to reply a letter ! My sincere apologies, John.

There were a few pressing demands on my time like the annual bugbear of Tax Returns of Pushpa ( my wife) and I, due by this month-end, and also for me, a Seniors' Driving Test (every 2-yrs for those over 80 yrs). Besides, a Cuba visit post-poned many times, had to be done before month end. (Cuba gets too hot in May) I hope I have now convinced you with reasons good enough to ignore my tardiness!

I think it was when you were in Std. 4 in 1951 that Mrs. Rispin, your regular teacher went on leave and I started at CBS as her substitute and when she returned I became a teacher of subjects like gen. science, non-scripture and perhaps a few other non-subjects ! Yours was my first lot of physics at the final level.

My wife Pushpa was also a teacher. Did you know she taught in the Junior School the last few years of our stay in Bombay? We left in 1962 April for Hertford UK, the County-town close to the hamlet John Billington hails from. It was because of John that I got a physics teaching job in the local Grammar School. That was rather unlike my experience at the Cathedral school where I had to wait for years till Mr. Gunnery's arrival when he found out what my subject was!

In England Pushpa became a peripatetic (as the term is) music teacher doing just music in 3 different schools in and around Hertford. We enjoyed life in the UK. Our daughters Nina and Kiron were unique in their schools, being the only non-English kids - thereby earning some popularity of sorts, I suppose! In today's England there must be more black or brown faces than white in many class rooms! In my school in Hertford there was just one boy from India then, and that was David Colaco from CBS who also moved to England the same time.

We moved to Montreal, Quebec in '68 and were there till both Pushpa and I retired (I retired in 87 but P only retired in '90 when we moved to Ontario where both our daughters had settled. We now live in a Condominium apt. in a suburb of Toronto called Mississauga.

I first started getting in touch with my past CBS students about 7 years ago through Nusly Pocha, '60 and then the flood gates opened with Jacob's Seventh Heaven!

I am in touch with two past teachers, both in the US. Will attach their photos for you Homi. I do keep in touch with Mr. Billington in the UK , not frequent, although he did visit us here some years ago. I am not in touch with my British or Canadian past students. CBS is unique, you know. I have had visits here from some past Cathedralites and the most recent two are in the photos attached.

What a terrible news it was, re Budni! We got the news on our return from Havana, and in the dazed state I was in, mostly due to sleep-deprivation, (age certainly has something to do with it !), I did not believe what I was seeing. I had to verify it by phoning my nearest CBS friend and old pupil, Hasnain Chinwala. This tragedy will have stunned all friends and is bound to change at least for sometime, the lives of all old friends of his in Poona who used to have frequent parties and jazz sessions ! (I had strayed from the letter to John. Now I go back, maybe to some repeat!)

This letter will not finish unless I stick to the basics!

We moved to Montreal, Quebec, in '68, after job interviews in London, England, by the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. The warm summers and general dry weather of Montreal , unlike the damp Hertford air would suit, we were told by doctors, both Pushpa and Kiron who were asthma prone. We lived in Monteal till we both took early retirement, I in '86 and Pushpa in '90 and moved to Brampton, a suburb of Toronto. Both our daughters by then were in Ontario, so are now close by here. We have two grand sons 22 and 18.

We moved from Brampton to another suburb, Mississauga in the year 2000 and live in a condo now, on the 23rd Floor. Another month or less and I will be 82, and that was the reason for a move to a low-maintenance home, no back-breaking snow-shoveling!

Yes, clarinet is my new love, since I have stopped all singing in choirs involving night driving which I avoid. I have no clarinet back-ground. It was Pushpa's birthday gift to me for my 80th. I am making some progress, not fast enough, I'm afraid. I am glad I am now in touch with you. Lets keep to two letters a year, what do you say ? You (I notice from your letter Homi,) are a working busy guy, and I am getting slower by the day, oddly, more in mind than body! Two a year will suit us; more frequent, of course, when the spirit moves! Attaching a couple of snaps to make this complete .... implying that your last mail was incomplete ! There were no family photos. Old ones also welcome , to fill the time gap ! (end of J's letter)

Thanks again, Homi for your letter. I feel flattered, being remembered! Also an honour to be in touch with a Cathedral School Governor!

Bill (always)

PS:
(I do not have Willie's picture No. 136 to reproduce here. Jacob)

No. 136 is the very latest pic. of us taken on April 22 in our hotel lobby in Havana.



No 4e with Viney Sethi, visiting from Mumbai, Pushpa, Hasnain Chiwalla (lives 10 min away from me. Both are '59. We are celebrating Jacob Matthan's birthday - don't miss the cake and the solitary candle!!

(This picture is not with me. Jacob)

Are you anywhere in this next School pic.? I am sending this and a couple separately. It may be too much for one mail.



Adding one more, of the Patels and the Rao who visited us some years ago when we lived in another suburb of Toronto, Brampton. Mr.s Rao and Patel were both in the Physics Dept of CBS. Remember them?

I am making up for the late mail by sending these pics….. but you don't have to make yours late just to attach your photos!

What a thrill that a group across the Atlantic celebrates MY birthday and I was there when they called me in Finland to serenade me with "Happy Birthday"! (The truth is that Pushpa had made a cake for Viney's visit and they decided to adopt it as my birthday cake - but that does not matter, does it?)

Is it not great that the 58ers are getting on with organising their reunion. Let us wish them all success.

And I would like to repeat Willie's words "....CBS is unique..."