A tribute to late 47er Farrokh Mehta

 I am well on the way to organising the 65th Reunion of our Class of 59.

47er Farrokh Mehta (1932-2023)

I was looking for infomation about the many Cathedralites who have over the years had been regularly corresponding with me.

One was 47er Farrokh Mehta.

Although I did not meet Farrokh in my school years, when Annikki and I travelled back to India on board the M. S. Victoria in 1969, on board was another Indian family, Farrokh, his wife, Vijaya, and two small children.

On board there was a chess competition and the final was between a very racist South African, who thought us brown people were inferior, and me. 

Standing behind me was Farrokh who spurred me on to win that battle.

Photos from our 1969 trip on the Lloyd Triestino M. S. Victoria.

Later there was a battle between Farrokh and me in the ship Table Tennis competition. Farrokh was a mile ahead of me and it was tough playing table tennis on a tilting lilting ship.

 Farrokh and my paths crossed a fews years later as he was working with a couple of dear friends of mine, Nargis and late Vinci Wadia of Interpublicity. 

Farrokh was a regular correspondent and would read this blog. 

Farrokh was married to Vijaya, one of the most well known and celebrated stage actresses of Marathi theatre. Farrokh was also well recognised in the field of theatre as is conveyed in these articles.

It was a shock to read that last June (2023) Farrokh, at the age of 91, he had passed away.

And here is another report on the passing of Farrokh.

When reading the reports online I found that his daughter was Anahita Uberoi, who had married the son of one of my dearest friends, late 56er Harminder Uberoi (Ubi), my friend guide and counsellor. Ubi had adopted me, a 59er as an honorary member of the Class of 56 as I helped him organise his class Golden Reunion! Ubi's sister , Harmoihina, had been my classmate in school.

Anahita had married her classmate, Samir, Ubi’s son. Both had been school captains.

I addressed a condolence letter to Anahita and she replied me immediately with a lovely tribute to her father who had passed away peacefully with Anahita at his bedside.

A few moments later I had an email from Farrokh’s son, Deven, who sent me the above photo of his father.

We rejoice in having had the pleasure to know Farrokh. 

We honour Farrokh, remembering him with a smile on his face and the joy of the jazz beat of Charlie Parker in our hearts.

Brinda Somaya - A great interview

 I just sat through this absolutely wonderful interview of Brinda Somaya.

Brinda is just a fabulous and a fantastic alumni colleague.

Many years ago I wrote an article which was a highly controversial one. It was called "Rural Urbanisation 2010". The original was written in 1976!

It harks back to a paper of the same name that Abraham Thomas (then Managing Director of the building group Southern Investments) and I wrote based on his book "The Affluence Machine" and my experience of running a beautiful farm which had belonged to the late Sir C. V. Raman in Kengeri, near Bangalore.

The technology of creating Rural Urbanisation existed 50 years ago and exists in much greater abundance today. We wanted to reverse the migration of the brural population to urban areas and yet create self-generated wealth in the rural urbanised areas.

Brinda talks in this interview about her experience in an earthquake devastated area in Gujarat where the villagers rebuilt their village based on their needs. 

This is exactly what Abraham Thomas wrote in his book and based on my farming exoerience, could see such development in every nook and corner of India without resorting to "Smart Cities" which will result in the same problems we face in Indian cities of today.

Thank you Brinda for being such a wonderful standard bearer for our school and in the world as a leading lady architect.

Brinda Somaya - Award for Excellence

AD100 2024Award for Excellence 

Our own 64er Brinda (née Chinappa) Somaya of Somaya and Kalappa (SNK) Consultants have been awarded the AD100 2024 for their excellence in the renovation of the Cathedralite and John Connon School project at Thomas House in Fort, Mumbai. (Not St. Thomas House but it is named after T. Thomas, who was married to my cousin. Thanks to Shyla Boga Patel for this correction.)

Brinda recently shared with me the above picture of her with her brilliant two children, Nandini Sampat and Vikram.

She also shared the details of the inauguration plaque of Thomas House laid Mr. Solomon Raj Sathia, Chairman Emeritus  Anglo Scottish Education Society.

She shared with me a few more photographs of details the building and its interiors.

A truly fabulous collection of photos which will be treasured by all Cathedralites. 

Every detail is perfect. 

I especially love the flooring which gives a beautiful ambience to the space!

Thank you Brinda for sending me these photographs which will be a delight for all our alumni to bask in your well deserved glory.

Hindu Astrology - Author: Dr. Anthony Stone

This blog entry is in two parts, the first on the book "Hindu Astrology" by my late friend Dr. Anthony Stone (Tony) and the second part of the blog is the inauguration of the Ram Mandir Temple in Ayodhya by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd January 2024.

The first part is being cross-posted on all my major blogs while the second part is only being posted on my main blog - Jacob’s Blog.

Late Dr. Anthony Stone

Tony was my teacher of Mathematics in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and my good friend. His book on Hindu astrology is to be shortly released as a paperback and I wanted to give you a look into the facts behind Indophile, Tony, and our relationship pre the release oif the paperback edition.

I was sent the details of this book by the publisher, another dear friend and alumni of St. Stephen’s College, Professor Prabhu Guptara.  

Tony was the teacher of Mathematics in St. Stephen’s College in 1962-63, my final year. He took over the duties of Principal S. C. Sircar in the Mathematics Department and joined Professors S.R. Nagpaul, S. B. Mathur,  and Ranjit Bhatia (Rhodes Scholar and of Indian Olympic fame) in the college Mathematics Department.

I lost touch with Tony till he turned up on my Kooler Talk Blog in the late 1990s. We established a close  relationship. When his wife Bertha was hospitalised and he had a short holiday in 2000, as he was then caring for Bertha, he decided to visit Annikki and me in Oulu, Finland. He stayed with us for a week and we had wonderful reunion, and discussed many of his projects.

He was well versed in Indian culture and he was working on a few projects, one of which was Hindu Astrology.

He was also working on a special area of mathematical research which coincided with the interest of a Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, friend of mine, Bhupinder Singh Anand (Bhupi).

Bhupi was a couple of years senior to me but stayed on in School to do the 12th standard HSC qualification. He was also from Savage House and in our final year, he was the Head Boy of the school while I was the Savage House Captain.  

Bhupi, the School Captain is sitting third from the left, while I am sitting second from the right.

I did keep in touch with Bhupi as he joined my “Seventh Heaven” Cathedralite Heaven Google Group although he was not technically a 59er. I had great respect for dear Bhupi as he was a sincere individual and a true Cathedralite.

The publisher of this book on Hindu astrology is Professor. Prabhu Guptara, from St. Stephen’s College, junior to me but also a good friend now living in Cambridge in the UK.

Prabhu had done an chapter in the book "Malayali Diaspora" several years ago about the oldest Malayali in Continental Europe (not the UK), which was about me. 

Frank Raj was the editor of "The International Indian till 2017".

Frank Raj (Picture from LinkedIn)

This was later published in his magazine with pictures of us and our family in the Dubai publication “The Indian International” edited by Frank Raj.

In 2014, when for several reason, I was stranded in New Delhi, which is explained in Annikki and my book “The Titanic Called India”, Prabhu put me in touch with Ivan and Silvia Kostka.

Ivan and Dr.Silvia Kostka (Picture from LinkedIN)

I had the pleasure of dining with them and a couple of friends. Just a couple of months after they were harassed by the Hindutava faction because they were practicing Christians devoting their their life to uplifting the OBC Community. They were raided by the Delhi Police in October 2014 for supposedly saying derogatory statements about Goddess Durga. Their publication FORWARD Press was being targeted by the Hindutava faction of Narendra Modi’s BJP/RSS wing claiming that Ivan and Silvia were converting Indians to Christianity.

Here I must make a point that I went to Christian schools in Mysore, Bangalore and Mumbai. In my class in Mumbai we were just 4 Christian’s while the rest of the students were Hindus, Jews, Muslims Parsi, Sindhis and Sikhs, from all parts of the world, not just India. I did not even know or even care, what religion the students in my class were.

60 years later, I am still the fulcrum of keeping the surviving classmates together and there is not one single student who has changed his/her religion. They all subscribe too a secular education which has broadened their attitude to life and there is no discrimination on any grounds whatsoever. 

Christians lead by example of the two principles laid down by Christ. . 

There is only one God (different names: Jehovah, Allah, Brahma). Secondly, we must love our neighbour as ourselves. 

All the other laws are man-made derivatives of these two fundamental principles.

Thefollowing year, I had the good fortune to get an email from Silvia (a noted plastic surgeon) that she and Ivan were likely to transit through Helsinki and they were likely to be delayed in their return trip to India. She was interested in meeting up with me.

I did offer to put them up in one of the apartments that Annikki and I had in Helsinki during their stay but we lost contact after that.

Ivan was the Founding Editor of FORWARD Press and it was likely to be shut down by the intolerant society which had spread its wings under Narendra Modi. Silvia had told me then that the last edition of FORWARD Press was likely to be in March of that year (2015).

However, FORWARD Press has survived and is thriving even today under Anil Varghese who is the current editor-in-chief.

So that is my personal background to the book on Hindu Astrology penned by Tony.

Until a few years ago, interest in astrology was widespread - but thin. 

Now the astrology market is growing by leaps and bounds.

In the US, over the four years to 2019, revenue from the top 10 astrology apps market saw an astonishing  compound growth rate of 72.8 percent per year! In India, ten astrology firms in 2021 raised INR 1300  million -300% the combined amount raised by ALL such start-ups over the previous five years!!

No figures for the UK are available, but here is a BBC report:

 https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210205-why-astrology-is-so-popular-now

Into this burgeoning international demand, Prabhu Guptara’s “Pippa Rann Books” imprint is publishing the paperback version of Tony’s book, Hindu Astrology.

The hardback came out some decades ago, but only in India.

The author, late Tony, was an Oxford PhD in Mathematics who went as a university teacher to India, where he was so intrigued at finding most highly-educated people allowing their lives to be ruled by astrology that he learned Sanskrit for the specific purpose of reading the texts in the original language, and writing an adequate history of Indian astrology as well as evaluation of it. 

Brief information on the book is attached below, in form of the full cover the book.

But of course the field is highly contested!  

The honourable Supreme Court of India proclaimed in 2004 that astrology is a SCIENCE.

On the other hand, Madhavankutty Pillai argued in OPEN magazine (2011) that astrology is a HOAX - 

openthemagazine.com/features/living/the-scientific-case-against-astrology/

In a 2018 article in The Guardian, “I was an astrologer”, Felicity Carter concludes that astrology is a form of ENTERTAINMENT.

And here is a recent article arguing that astrology is a SCAM: Digital ‘Vedic Astrology’: The $40 Billion Scam | Madras Courier

Naturally not with reference to the articles mentioned immediately above but, in general, Tony concludes: “…it is a pity that many critics of astrology argue at a very superficial level. My purpose in this book is to shed some genuine light on the subject.  I hope the book will stimulate serious discussion about astrology.”

Do we need to start more knowledgeable debates and discussions on astrology?

Read the book and come to your own conclusions.

Remembering our loved ones

 Dateline 28th November 2023

(Posted on Jacob's Blog, Seventh Heaven Blog for Cathedralites and Kooler Talk (Web Version) Blog for St. Stephen's College alumni.

Cathedral & John Connon School 59ers have lost many of our ones in the last few years. 

Here is a partial list of those from our 2969class who have passed on. 

(I do not have any information about our lady classmates except dear Farhana. I hope someone will update me on this.)

Ashok Ruia

Bala Parasursman

Dossu Pagdiwalla

Fali Dhondy

Farhana (Kably) Poonawala

Farukh Kanga

Flicky Shroff

Hasnain Chinwala

Indrajit Shah

Jacob Eapen 

Jack Haskell

 Jaswant Ghatge

Kurshed Balsata

Michael Colaco

Murali Balani

Naubir Mohindar

Pradeep Bhakar

Prem Goel

Ramesh Mirchandani

Virat Gidwani

Trevor Newnes

I have deliberately left out from this list, one of our dearest, who was tragically lost  15 years ago, Ashok Kapur.

59erGolden Reunion Directory

Our Mumbai 59ers met as a memoriam to Ashok

At our 2009 Golden  Reunion of 59ers,  Annikki and I dedicated our Reunion Directory to Ashok with these pages:

But besides Ashok, we lost many others during those fateful days, which has been brought to mind by Rajiv Bhatia on his Facebook page.

26/11

Remembering the late - Ajit & Monica Chhabria, Sunil & Reshma Parikh, Sanjay & Rita Agarwal, Rohinton Maloo, Mohit Harjani, Lavina Harjani, Anand Bhatt, Pankaj Shah, Vishnidas-Nilam-Gunjan Narang, Neeti-Uday-Samar-Kang, Rupinder Randhawa, Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Tukaram Omble

I also remember one of my other alumni from St. Stephen’s College with this post from our alumni Facebook page. 

None other than the heroic Ashok Kamte:

Ashish Joshi , the Moderator of our alumni Facebook   page posted this.

LEST WE FORGET

This is what my friend & college senior, Gary (Justice Anupinder Grewal), wrote in the memory of late Ashok Kamte (Gary's batchmate) a brilliant police officer who attained martyrdom on 26/11. Late Kamte was a friend & one year senior to me in the College .

ASHOK KAMTE

I have been attending the annual St. Stephen's College, Reunion very frequently ever since I passed out of college in 1987. However, this year on 14th December, it was drastically different as it turned into memorial service for Ashok Kamte and I was entrusted the painful task of paying tribute to Ashok. 

It was a tragic personal loss as besides being my classmate in college and a friend, I had the privilege of living with Ashok and his family at his mother’s Flat in Hira Mahal on the Amrita Shergill Marg for about year while studying law. 

Ashok had joined us at St. Stephen's College for his Post Graduation after he had Graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. What stood him apart from the rest of the Stephanians was the enormity of his physical stature, which alongwith his quest for academic excellence was a rather unique combination. What surprised many was why is the National Power Lifting Champion pursuing Post Graduation at St. Stephen's. There is no preference for sports persons for admission in M.A. Little did they realize then that Ashok always strove for excellence, whether in the classroom or the playing field. He had single minded commitment to succeed. He was very happy when he was selected to the I.P.S. He used to say that he was meant for action and disliked other civil services for their bureaucratic file work.

While training for the Power Lifting Championship, he would not compromise on his diet. As his mother would not allow him to have more than two eggs, due to its high cholesterol content he would buy a dozen eggs from the market, cook and eat them at his neighbour's house. He had broken three national records in Power Lifting and won half a dozen Gold and Silver Medals. He had also won the Bronze Medal in Junior World Power Lifting Championship. Power Lifting is one of the toughest sport and Ashok would train for hours in complete solitude. Despite his powerful build, he was extremely agile and could sprint quite fast. Besides his love for swimming and squash he would generate amazing pace and bounce while bowling on the rather placid College Cricket pitch at Morigate. He had played an important role in the victory of our team. 

Ashok was proud of the fact that he had the blood of two Martial Races the Maratha’s and the Sikhs. While his father is a retired Colonel settled in Pune, his grand-father was in the Imperial Police. His mother Mrs. Paramjit Kamte,, who now lives in Gulmohar Park is from the well known Bawa Family of Goindwal Sahib and is grand-daughter of Late Bawa Budh Singh of the Indian Service of Engineers. Bawa Budh Singh was the 14th descendent of the Third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Dass. When I called on Mrs. Kamte, she said that though she is proud of the fact that Ashok has become a National Hero yet at times she cannot comprehend that he is no more. He was the only male member in the family whom she could look forward in times of need. He had perhaps inherited his very fair features from his maternal grandmother Mrs.Surinder Bawa (maiden name Violet) an English Lady. His sister, Sharmila, a well known model and a ballet dancer, now runs her famous Dance Academy in Dubai. His wife, Vinita, stays at Pune alongwith his sons, Rahul and Arjun. Besides serving the U.N. Force in Bosnia, Ashok had also trained in Punjab for some time. 

Ashok was known for his high integrity and efficiency which was evident in his earlier stints in Maharashtra especially in Solapur, where he had brought an inflammable communal situation under control within a few hours. I had spoken to Ashok sometime back when as Commissioner of Police, Solapur, was in the news for bringing to book the local M.L.A who was flouting the law for noise pollution. Ashok had personally gone and arrested the M.L.A. from his residence at mid-night after the M.L.A. had earlier roughed up police officials. I had asked him whether he had really beaten up the M.L.A. He replied that if he had done so, the man would not have survived as though he no longer competed in power lifting but maintained regular exercise regime. It was his conscientiousness, patriotism and devotion to duty which made him the target of the terrorist attack at Mumbai. He was the Additional Commissioner, (East) and even though the area around the Cama Hospital(South) did not fall within his jurisdiction, he had reached there as he had undergone specialized training to handle terrorism and hostage situation. He would lead from the front and was not the kind to send subordinates to do risky jobs. He lived for others and had a proactive approach. He made the supreme sacrifice and attained martyrdom in the battle field and made his family, friends and the nation proud. "

Anupinder Grewal

Additional Advocate General, Punjab (Now Judge, Punjab High Court)

Let us each keep a moment’s silence, wherever we are, to honour of all our alumni. Founder’s Day for the schoo was November 1th. That for our college is 7th December. 

May all these dear ones friends 

Rest In Peace.

Controverdy on our Seventh Heaven Google Group

Everybody is entitled  to their own religious and political viewpoint.

Our 59er classmates together in 2009, 50 years after we left school.- Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Sindhi, from around the world reunited for our Golden Reunion..

Several years ago, Annikki and I made it clear that on our Seventh Heaven Google Group for 59ers, religious and political opinions are personal and we would not permit posts that may demean others.

For several years this has been the rule followed by everyone.

With the Israeli/Palestinian conflict there were views expressed on both sides which provoked the other side to react to them and that resulted in threats and counter threats.

The problem  was of my making as I put moderation on auto-pilot which meant the posts violating our principles went through ”unmoderated”.

Annikki and I apologise for this.

I have asked Robert Tyabji, a  co-moderator to follow these rules and he and I will discuss anything we consider bordelline cases.

These rules do mot apply to our blog posts and our opinions. Where relevant, we will be post our views on our approptiate blog, and we have several!

We hope-all concerned will follow these rules we have set down for our Google Group for 59ers.

Looking Back: 37 years of Blogging - Journey of Self-Discovery

Golden Reunion of 59ers, 2009, at late 59er Ashok Kapur's residence in Alibaug, hosted by his wife, Madhu Kapur

I got this email last week from a regular reader of the Seventh Heaven Blog from Italy:

Jacob you have really and truly persevered!

Sunday, April 21, 1996

SH-Issue 1: 960421

April 21, 1996!  

almost 30 years ago! and your ginormous project had most probably started even before, also because unlike me you remember so much from school days and also what followed, even if you were isolated in faraway Finland!

and this is to say, most probably to repeat, that I am fascinated by the enormous amount of data, of facts, of entries and posts you have put together, a little at a time!

and yes! Seventh Heaven was certainly a webpage I read with great interest, particularly when the personal stories of cathedralites and the teachers were posted!

and now here we are ANOTHER school! the Junior Middle and Senior schools were the first, then the little one (probably it was Sunnyside where my youngest sister went) for the younger kids on Malabar hill, and now the IB section!  this is really proof of Cathedral standing through the ages!

check if the name of the new house is SAINT Thomas, or only Thomas... I have a little doubt about that

love Jacob

and a hell of a lot of admiration!  

Keep it up!

Barbara

Barbara is right. It is not St. Thomas House on DN Road, but Kodak House is now Thomas House. I am glad to be corrected. I also love her “Italian” English: :-)

And then  I had this email from a regular reader from Canada:

Dear Jacob

Thank you so much for your writings, your blogs, your photos, your messages. I love reading all you write though I don't say so every time. 

Please keep them coming.and looking forward to your memoirs.

Love and hugs to Annikki and you, Sheila

It is with this encouragement that Annikki and I still keep blogging.

We started to look back at our blogging history. In our Jacob’s blog blogs on general matters, there are almost 1000 blog entries. Our Seventh Heaven blog is exclusive for Cathedralites with almost 500 blog entries.

This blog journey started on 21st of April 1996 where I paid my tribute to 94er Vikram Somaya and 93er Vivek Sikri, who were my inspiration to start my web pages and this blog Seventh Heaven for Cathedralites and then in 2007, my Seventh Heaven Google Group for 59ers.

The blog has now hit 495 posts. My Google Group for 59ers has shared some 12200+ posts and discussions. 

This has been my great interest to put together trivia information about our school.

I thought that as Founder’s Day (14th November 2023) approaches, I would reflect on some of the highlights of the last 27 years of this blog and 16 years of the Google Group for 59ers. (This also includes many editions of Newsy Notes that I have sent out occasionally.)

Before I start this journey, my first stop is to restate my thanks to the Gang of 18 who took me out of severe depression after my heart failure and amputation of my right leg and put me back on the road (sadly not behind the wheel but in my wheelchair) when I received a Christmas Gift in June 2021 of a brand new iPhone and a MacBook Air just as my antique iPhone 4 was dying and my trusted 2011 Mac Mini was on its very last legs.

This Gang of 18, behind my back (and that is very difficult to do), got together across the world (Canada, India, Israel, Malaysia,  Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UK,  US) and got delivered to my doorstep in Oulu the dual gift which rekindled all the bones in my fingers. 

We were back on the road to rehabilitation. Those in  the Gang of 18 were:

Late Hasnain Chinwala (Chinnie) (Canada)

Robert Tyabji (from Malaysia)

Vikram Savara (US)

Adi Cooper (Mumbai)

64er Rustom Dadabhoy (Mumbai)

Elijah Elias (Ooky) with wife, Rivca (Mumbai)

Nihal Kaviratne (Singapore)

Vijay Nayar with his wife, Meera (Delhi )

Captain Vijay Shivdasani with his wife, Suchita (Mumbai)

Mark Sopher (Israel) with my younger daughter, Joanna

Ratan Singara  (Mumbai) with  Annikki and me

Wabhi Zayani, (Saudi Arabia)

'

Prof. Sudhir Anand (UK), 

Ellis Hayeem (US)

Noel Ezekiel with his sister, Fleur (US)

Late Jack Haskell (US)

Viney Sethi with his wife. Purnima (US)

Arvind Thadani (US) with Viney and me (1960).

However, let me start at the beginning.  

I have the Annual Prize Distribution and Speech Day brochures for the years 1949 and 1950 which were sent to me by 1954 Doreen (née Feibusch) Hemlich from the US.

There are lot of familiar names in this list. 

My three oldest readers, 49ers Sheila (née Contractor) Vaney (wife of late 49er Peter Vaney) in Canada, Naval  (and 54er Armaity (née Mody)) Patel, Bengaluru and Yezad Kapadia from Delhi, feature prominently in the prize lists.  

The late 54er Pamelaf Ballantine, School Captain in 1954 and who received the MBE, also features also in the prize lists. (Balsara Prize for English, Scripture and Class Prize, Scripture and Honours Prize).

You will find many names you will recognise in these pages. 

Hope you enjoy perusing them at leisure just as much I have had putting them up.

Sheila got the Anglo Scottish  Education Society Prize and also the prize for the Best Prefect. Naval got the prize for Mathematics for two years as well as the prizes for French, General Knowledge as well as Astronomy.  Yezad got the Baria Medal for School

Captain  as well as the Macdonald Medal for Leadership. 

It is also nice to see such names as Yoku Hamid in these lists.

I get a few of motivating messages and emails from Naval every week. Like me, he is a cricket fan, and so we share a common vice! Glued to our screens when we should be doing something better!

Sheila sends Annikki and me absolutely beautiful handwritten cards and letters that we treasure.

Yezad is a constant virtual companion and his daughter, Ruki,  in Helsinki is an adopted daughter to both Annikki and me.

Naval  and 57er Fleur Ezekiel (our first ever Miss India) and elder sister to 59er Noel, children of Mrs. S.  Ezekiel, a senior teacher in the Girls School, both sent me First Day Covers when the school stamp was released, knowing I was a serious Stamp, Postcard and First Day Cover Collector.

An invaluable  part of my school memorabilia 

First Day Cover of release of our School Stamp in 2010.

I would like to tell you much of my life and episodes in school between 1954 and 1959. However, this is covered fully in my memoirs of this period which will be released in the not too distant future.

But one episode from my school days has to be related here.

 

When we went for a school picnic in 1955 to Vasind River, I drowned in waist deep water due to cramp. I was saved by an ever vigilant PT Master Arthur Morecroft. 

He pulled me out of the water and resuscitated me. I came to life again. 

I remember Mr. Morecroft every day of my life.

When he pulled me out of the river and took me ashore he was holding me upside down from my legs. Viney Sethi called me “Dead Chicken”. 

Hanging in my living room is Annikki’s depiction of this “Dead Chicken” pair.

Annikki’s depiction of Mr. & Mrs. Dead Chicken.

My travels and work since I left school have been exciting. 

In 2009, we had the Mother of all Reunions, the 59er Golden Reunion. Besides over 100  classmates and their spouses who attended, we were fortunate to have Bill and Pushpa Shiri, John Billington and Mr. D’Zousa  attend our reunion. 

John Billington wrote a guest blog for me here.

My interaction with Cathedralites continued when I joined St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. 

Late MP Rahul Bajaj had just finished. But 57er Ashok (Tony) Jaitly and 58er Dr. Peter Philip were there. 

I joined with 59er Sujit Bhattacharya. Although Rahul had left college, he had left a legacy there. Thanks to the support of my fellow Cathedralites, I was elected President of the College Residents in my second year, something that had never happened before and has never happened since.

Several dual alumni members, as Gopikiran Rao and Ravi Nangia were on my list of Seventh Heaven readers. 

I am sure there are others, and I would love for them to contact me.

The greatest tributes that I received for my small contribution to our Cathedral alumni was firstly when in 2009, at the alumni dinner, I was presented with the new version of the school tie designed for the 150 year celebration of Founder’s Day.

The other was when I reached Delhi, 64er Deepak Deshpande held a special meet of Delhi Cathedral School alumni in my honour. and it was graced by the late MP Rahul Bajaj, who would have normally returned for the weekend to Pune. I was so happy to meet my old friends, Ravi, Ashok (Tony) and 1960 School Captain Jyotsna Jaitly. Jyotsna has married my Stephanian year mate, Ambassador HE Siddharth Singh. 49er School Captain Yezad Kapadia, 59er Girls School Captain Harmohina (Rani Uberoi) Malik and 59er Boys School Captain Vijay Nayar were also there to greet us. This group picture tells a thousand words. (Full list of participants is in the link.)

It was a proud moment for both Annikki and me to be so honoured.

 

Over the years, in over 450+ blog entries, from 1996 onwards, I have tried my best to honour my fellow alumni who have achieved so much in their years of professional life and have been a beacon for my life.

But above all are the friendships I have made from Cathedralites from 1941 to the present day.

54er Gracie (nee Hayeem) Lerno

Late 56er Harminder (Ubi) Uberoi

Persons as 54er Rumi Kapadia and Gracie Hayeem, late Harminder (Ubi) Uberoi,  59er Bhupinder Singh Anand, 71er Prof. Ajeet Mathur, are just a few  examples, but there are thousands who have interacted with me over the last 38 years. Gracie and Ubi were constant sources of information for me.

Each one is not just a name but each is a personality from whom I have learnt the value of being a Cathedralite.

As years progress we are growing old and we sadly lose our friends year by year. 

I restate that the reason I started this blog was that when I reconnected to my classmate Bala Parasuraman in 1996, I was really enjoying our many connecting emails. He took leave of me to go for a kidney transplant, never to return.

My pledge that day was to reconnect with all my classmates and alumni so that we can share our live's values together.

 

Whether I have succeeded is in your hands to pass judgement. Annikki and I have tried to do our best.

The Gang of 18 showed me what true friends are made of. 

We have lost two of them recently, with the passing of my constant online companion, Chinnie, (who was my worldwide photographer) and later dear Jack (whose music will live on forever). We also lost Arvind’s wife, Gita. And then dear Bill left us. 

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But it is not just the Gang of 18 that has kept my juices flowing. Three 49ers with their ever presence, Yezad Kapadia, Naval Patel and Sheila (nee Contractor) Vaney, have made life so beautiful. 

54er Gracie Hayeem from California, late Sadhana (née Shah) Madhusadan from Pune and 56ers Primla (née Kapur) Madhok, Joan (nee Rees) Austin, late 57ers Budhni Badhniwalla and TonyJaitly, 64er Rustom Dadabhoy, Deepak Deshpande, Anil Kapur, Kishore Shivdasani and Rajiv Ved, 67er Shobha Jhunjunwalla and Rajiv Bhatia and 69er Barbara  Rossi Monteveichi from Italy, are amongst those with their constant feedback, have rnade sure that I was in touch with the world around me. And from the alumni association Rohet Tolani, Rajiv Bhatia, Viral Doshi and Shyla Boga Patel, have kept me in the loop over the years, making me feel wanted. 

Not to mention dear 64er Brinda (née Chinappa) Somaya in my list eould be criminal. I have several past entries about her and her son Vikram on this blog!

Little Barbara in the school Kindergarten.

When Barbara was a tiny little girl  in the kindergarten, Gracie Hayeem taught her as her nursery teacher. I was able to connect them! And this is their and our wonderful memory!

Barbara’s kindergarten book signed by Gracie Hayeem.

They are still both dear friends. 

Gracie was my absolute rock as she was able to put me in touch with many past as Kim I.

I must thank all the Cathedralites who have taken the trouble to travel to remote near Arctic Finland so we could meet, even if it was only for a few hours! Annikki and I have enjoyed sharing our fellowship with you.

49er Yezad Kapadia, 54er late Sadhana  (nee Shah) Madhusadan, 57er Sunil Sahni, 59ers Elijah (Ooky) Elias, Viney Sethi, Narayanan Acharaya, 64ers Kishore Shivdasani, Brinda Somaya, 71er Prof. Ajeet Mathur, 04er Ashwin Kumar,

Let me be honest: One of my greatest pastimes is just going through my posts on my Seventh Heaven blog as it brings so many wonderful memories to my mind. There have been inputs from so many of you documented here that I could link almost everyone mentioned here to a specific blog entry that I had made. The list is endless. At this old age, it is one of the best pass time hobbies. 

If you have any memories to share, do send it to me.

On this Founder's Day I find  the words of our School Song resound loudly but I, from Oulu, Finland, shout instead "World skies"!

“Play up the School" Let it rip! Let it thunder!

Let it resound to our Orient skies!"