Guest Blog: John Billington - Classmaster Std. XIA 1959

I requested the classmaster of Standard XIA in 1959, John Billington, to write the Guest Blog to coincide at the time our 59ers are joining together in Khandala/Lonavala on the old Mumbai-Pune Highway this week at our 60th year Reunion.

(You can see  the picture of the unique "Golden Reunion", Directory of 1959ers which was released at the 50th year Reunion in 2009.)

Not only John, from UK, but also our Physics Teacher, William Shiri, and his wife, Pushpa, from Canada, did make it and attend what is now known as the Mother of Reunions! ".

The picture of most of those who attended oir 2009 Golden Reunion has been included in John's Guest Blog.

From our personal correspondence I learnt that  John is still playing his morning game of tennis!

Thank you John for this Guest Blog contribution.

"Jacob has asked me for some recollections, so here goes: 

The Class of 1959 was my second year of teaching at CBS, as I arrived in Bombay in the middle of the monsoon in 1958 just days after receiving my degree at Oxford. I chose India for my first job because from the age of 16 or 17 in England I had been drawn greatly to India for its spiritual heritage. Young people are often interested in the great unanswerable questions (Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why is there so much suffering? etc.) but I was unusual in that I had read Jiddu Krishnamurti while doing my O levels in 1952, and Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi and Christmas Humphrey's Buddhism in the same year – closely followed by the works of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna. So I arrived in India not just to teach but to learn. 
From the start I loved India. In few (if any) other countries can you drop into a roadside cafe and find yourself deeply involved in a serious conversation on matters spiritual. Western males especially shy away from talk about the "inner life", preferring the safety of football or politics as topics for conversation. 

The Indian practice of referring even to casually encountered people as bhai or bahaina (brother/sister) struck me as profoundly wise and right, and indicated a way of thinking about other people very different from Western practice. I gave a talk in London three weeks ago about relations between Tibet and China and found myself taking about our "brothers and sisters in Tibet" and the need to persuade "our Chinese brothers and sisters" of the injustice of their treatment of Tibet. I owe the locution to India. 

I was enormously impressed by the CBS students. Their intelligence, commitment to learning and the inter-communal harmony they exemplified were admirable. 1959 was a good time to be in India for the idealism of a recently-independent country was still untarnished and India led the way for a high-minded grouping of non-aligned countries, steering a path between the communist USSR and the capitalist West. That idealism has long since gone and the world is poorer for it, but it was probably China's betrayal of the Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai catch-phrase and the 1962 border war that hastened its, and Nehru's, demise. 

1959 also saw the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet to India. A notorious left-wing Bombay rag called BLITZ, probably funded by the communist party, lampooned him mercilessly and was vociferously pro- communist. I bought an old Grammar of Colloquial Tibetan from a bookshop near the Prince of Wales (as it then was) Museum and took the train to Darjeeling to find out more. Sixty years later I am still an advocate for Tibetans to have the right to determine their own future. 
Bombay (as I still think of it) was a fascinating city culturally because of its rich ethnic, religious and linguistic mix. I visited all the temples I could get entry to, attended concerts of Indian classical music and dance, and was a fan of Ustad Vilayat Khan and Mrinalini Sarabai, among others. Oh, and I attended a talk by Krishnamurti at the J.J. School of Art. 

I said I was highly impressed by CBS students. Names and years get muddled up but I enjoyed taking a small number of pupils for A level and among them Statira Guzdar and Yasmin Batliwala from the Cathedral Girls' School joined Madan and Hussain from the Boys' side. They were very bright and a pleasure to teach, as were the O level classes. First names now escape me in many cases but Sethi (Ed: Viney), Ashok Kapur, Parasuraman, Jacob Matthan of course, Dabolkhar (Ed: Vinay), Sabnis, Ajgaonkar, Cyrus Guzdar, David Colaco, Trevor Newnes, Choksi (Ed: Armeane), Stevenson (Ed: Abe), Venkat Kurma, Mark Sopher, O'Halloran and Peter Miovic all come readily to mind – as would others if I saw their names or photographs --- but I will certainly have muddled up people's years. (Ed: Names in bold are 59ers)

 Picture of 59ers at St. Thomas Cathedral Church after the 
2009 Founders Day Service on 14th November 2009. 
(Photo Courtesy 59er Hasnain Chinwala)




 A number of your year I did, of course, meet again ten years ago at your Bombay re-union and Peter Miovic is one with whom I have remained in contact and met a year or two later in Wales, and again this year when he very kindly invited me to visit his native Slovenia – a lovely country, iridescently green from its Alps to the sea, and the highlight of my year's travels. With some staff also I remained in contact until they died, including Rider Salmon, James Clarke, Alberto Zavala and Olpherts Gregory; and I am still in touch occasionally by email with Willie Shiri, and regularly receive messages from Mohan Rao. 

( Picture courtesy 64er Rajiv Ved- 2009)

And I meet Pauline Salmon annually when I visit north Wales to see the Welsh Opera. I have always admired her cheerful outlook and in her late eighties she continues to paint and to exhibit with undiminished creativity. Which reminds me of Lady Marie Temple... But I must stop! 

Faces and memories merge with age but are not forgotten – they are all part of life's rich tapestry. But I remember with affection how kind, polite, intelligent and well-behaved were the boys at CBS. That I have returned frequently to India and treat it as my second home is a measure of your hospitality. My Namastes and Salaams to you all! Floreat CBS!

John Billington (CBS 1958-1961)"

Outstanding Alumni: Prof. Ajeet Mathur

In a new series, parallel to "Guest Blogging by Alumni", I have started a new feature which will highlight many of our alumni who have acheived their mark not only in Indian but international spheres.

As a first in this series I have chosen a good friend who has a shared alumni with me both in Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, and also in St.Stephen's College in Delhi University.

Considerably younger to me, our paths crossed when he came to Finland in 1993. We struck up  a friendship  which has grown stronger over the last 26 years. 

You can read his detailed biodata and his huge list of publications, research areas, teaching experience and the numerous awards he has been given on his Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, website. Prof. Ajeet Narain Mathur

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We have worked together on several projects, even writing a joint paper many years ago. In many of his writings he has acknwledged the contributions of both Annikki and myself in shaping some of his ideas. 

In his most recent book, he has given us a great compliment by referencing one of our major writings "Handbook for Survival in Finland" first published in 1994 and updated in 2014. It was the 1994 edition of our book that helped Ajeet to settle down in Finland.

We were especially happy when he wrote a short acknowledgement when he handed over a personal copy of his book for us.

Although this book covers the business opportunities between the two countries, Finland and India, it is much more than that in that his in depth coverage of the socio-economic conditions, political background and the pros and cons in both countries is much better than many other books that I have had the chance to read.

An excellent feature is the listing of the top 500 companies in both Finland and India. A study of these is most revealing in that it shows the typical differences in the structure of these countries.

Those who know Finland will understand why it is among the top countries in the world in several fields as Innovation, Quality of Life, Happiness, Education, Freedom of Speech, Environment, to name just st a few. 

Taken against our last book "The Titanic Calied India" published after our last visit to India in 2014, the stark contrast between these two countries is obvious.

 

When Ajeet was living in Finland, we had regular alumni get-togethers, which were always 100% attendance as we were were then the only two in Finland. :-)

If you are interested in picking up Ajeet's book about Finland and India you can go to these links in either UK or in the US.

Amazon UK Link for "Finland-India Business Opportunities"

Amazon US Link for "Finland-India Business Opportunities"

For your help here are a few reviews of the book which I found:

“ Due to his long and rich experience of working with Finnish and Indian companies and passionate research at IIM Ahmedabad in India , Aalto University, Helsinki and University of Tampere in Finland, Professor Mathur has a very deep knowledge of how to do business in both countries. I think that every company leader who considers starting Finnish-Indian business should read this new book. This valuable new book will help companies entering new markets to flourish by building robust sustainable business relations.”

- Päivi Leiwo, Chairperson Oilon Oy, Lahti, Finland

“This book is a treasure trove of knowledge explaining the business opportunities, policies, cultures, institutions, country trajectories and nuances pertaining to Finland and India. The author has worked in business, government and academia in India and abroad. He has also had a long association with Finland and is able to bring you an insider’s perspective of both countries”

- Ashok Sharma, Ambassador of India

“The author’s deep insider experience in the two countries enables him to make very sharp observations on both sides. This book will definitely help in understanding the cultural differences and in making all interactions and communications smoother. It is also very interesting and helpful to read about the differences in legal structures and where these differences originate from.”

- Iiro Rossi, Managing Director, Holiday Club Resorts, Helsinki

“This book is a delightful and important guide for those who want to do business between Finland and India. It brings you the numerous business opportunities which wait to be availed, and highlights the deep understanding of the author of the culture and institutional environment of both countries. Read this book, learn and be surprised!”

- Niina Nummela, Vice Dean, Professor of International Business, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland

“This book is a reflection of Ajeet’s penchant for deep research on a topic and ability to structure and articulate content. This will be extremely helpful to both academia and practitioners who want to develop Indo-Finnish business relations specifically and international business in general. Sonata is currently engaged with business in Finland”

- Srikar Reddy, Managing Director, Sonata Software Limited, Bangalore

From the two of us, Annikki and myself, we can certainly say that is one of the best books that has come over our table during the last few years, and it is even more of great honour that it has been written by one of our alumni. 

Thanks and well done Ajeet.