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.

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.

Another Outstanding 59er Cathedralite

The class of 59ers was unique in that all the members of the class have been achievers.
I have pleasure in posting the record of an unique Cathedralite, a 59er David Colaco.

An outstanding boxer and athlete, it will be difficult to find someone with such an impressive record.

I am pleased to be able to post the picture of his Western India Boxing medal.

Besides being a great sportsman, David and his elder brother, the late 58er Michael Colaco, had fantastic soprano voices and sang in the St. Thomas Cathedral Church Choir. (I also squawked in that choir alongside them!)

David's Boxing Record:
First: Junior Flyweight 22nd Apr 1954
First: Junior Flyweight 19th Apr 1955
First: Junior Bantamweight 3rd Apr 1956
First: Junior Bantamweight 29th March 1957
Most Scientific Boxer Prize 29th March 1957
First: Junior Featherweight 18th March 1958
First: Senior Flyweight 24th March 61
Western Indian Box Champion CJ Hall (medal picture)

David's Record in Cross Country and Athletics:
First: Junior Cross Country Jogeswari 19th Jan 1957
Second: Junior 800 metres Brabourne Stadium 23rd Feb 1957
First: Junior Cross Country Jogeswari 19thJan 1958
Second: Junior 800 metres Brabourne Stadium 27th Feb 1958
Sixth: Junior Gymnastics 7th Nov 1957

I hope to post similar info about the other 59ers who have done extremely well in their lives!

Boxing Finals

59er David Colaco and late Dossu Pagdiwalla 

battling a boxing final..

I never reached the finals of any school boxing competition, the best being the semi finals, where my six foot frame was given a hiding by a five foot dynamo called Neelam Lakhaney (also Savage House).

It is very strange, but a few years ago Neelam surfaced on my internet radar but then vanished. Had I been dreaming?

When planning our 50th year reunion, I searched all my mailboxes to find the correspondence that had transpired between us, but I did not trace it.

On the other hand, another Neelam Lakhaney took great offence to how I had addressed our Neelam in one of my blogs and was ready to fly at me over the internet.

But I digress, as I was intending to talk about the Boxing Final's evening.

Those of us who had not made it, got to school early so as to get the best place on the first floor overlooking the boxing ring. The boxing ring was always professionally made up and looked resplendent. I wonder who supervised that. Mr Morecroft?

The air was filled with excitement as we watched our House representatives who had made it to the finals, fight FOR US! It was as if we were in the ring with them, trading blow for blow with the opponent!

The air was always charged with excitement as we watched each fight, shouting for OUR Fighters.

If our guy lost, we were ready to blame the judges. The atmosphere was absolutely electric, right through the evening for a few hours well into the dark. We shouted our throats hoarse.

It was the late night that we enjoyed and it is these evenings that are deeply ingrained in my school days memory!

Your contact is vital

Two Elivises in our class, Vijay and Percy

I have a very important task to reach all Cathedralites world-wide to ask them to rouse their friends to vote for a Cathedralite in the coming election on 16th January.

It is not often I ask for any assistance. Now I do, for my friend.

If you know someone in South Mumbai, please ask them to vote for retd. Captain Vijay Shivdasani, my childhood friend, my school classmate, a good friend till today (like you), totally a man of integrity, a man of decision, and, like me, a man with enormous energy to accomplish things. At 69, he still plays a mean game of tennis, walks tall, and has a schedule which puts me to shame!

I do not ask this lightly. If each of you can rouse 7 voters, just 7, then we will have a viral success that you will be part of with pride in your accomplishment.

Remember that I am 7000 km away but care enough for our CITY to stand up and support one honest candidate.

Please forward to all your friends. 

Call Shivi if you want. Just tell him that I asked you too. He will listen and act on whatever your request.

He is the hand we need up guide our city - Mumbai.

Please note: the Bombay Municipal elections are  to be held on 16th February.

Thanks.

A submission by Vijay and I stand by every word he says:

CAPTAIN VIJAY SHIVDASANI

captainvijayshivdasani@gmail.com; 9833622312

                                A NOTE BEFORE YOU VOTE

 The main reason people do not vote and that there is so much cynicism is because many parties are tainted by rampant corruption, numerous scams and poor performance in governance. You and numerous other thinking voters like you do not find a credible educated candidate of calibre because such people shun politics. For these reasons I have decided to offer myself as an Independent Citizen Candidate – to do the best for Mumbai where I live, for South Colaba where I was born and for Navy Nagar where I spent many years in uniform.

I am a family man, groomed at one of the best schools – Cathedral School, Mumbai, and am alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla. I successfully completed an advanced navy post graduate study at the Royal Military College of Science, UK.

As a serviceman, dedication to my country and men is paramount. The motto, Service Before Self, was deeply ingrained at an early age. It has been uppermost in peace and war. I have had the responsibility to sail and command numerous warships, been the Commander of an operational aircraft carrier, the Operations officer in the 1971 war and Head of the Alma Mater – the Navy’s Signals Establishment, Kochi, where thousands of personnel are trained each year.

Working recently in Mumbai, as head of an NGO, Founder of a Charitable Trust, an active member of the Nariman Point Association and A Ward Federation, I sincerely believe I have the experience, knowledge and educational background to improve the standard of living and lower your taxes by better governance decisions and without corruption.

After retiring from the navy I lived and worked in Hong Kong. It is a modern efficient island city where despite limitations of space, every civic system works – ferries, roads, mass transportation and traffic, drainage, hygiene and healthcare services, municipal education, sanitation and water supply, the rule of law and police, clean green open spaces with low levels of pollution – all these are of a world class standard. This is what I would strive for in Mumbai. This is my Mission.

I am often asked what an independent citizen candidate can achieve. As the saying goes – never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world – indeed it is the only thing that ever has!

So do cast your valuable vote for Corporator for

Vijay Shivdasani - a Captain and Gentleman

Reason for being a top school

I was informed by one of my best and learned readers that his comment about why our school is at the top of the charts was missing. I do not know how that happened.

From Cathedral School, Mumbai

>

However, I reproduce here what 49er Yezad Kapadia wrote:

Quite some time ago. I had clicked on comments  and sent the comments.

Although there are various factors at play, I believe a lot of credit should go to the Founding Fathers for their vision and the sense of purpose with which the School was founded. The value system endowed at that time prevails even now. I guess the same reasoning applies to the the Public Schools in England too.

I have worked for the House of Tatas. Fortune magazine has estimated that the average life span of a corporate entity is 17 years. There are at least three corporates/entities in the Tata stable (Tata Steel, the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Indian Institute of Science) which, after being around for more than 100 years, are world class! I can only attribute this to the vision and the sense of values of the Founder. We all know what a great man he was. Very few know how great!! 

This comment is specially interesting as most of our family companies are also of thatbreed of over or near 100 years. The Malayala manorama is now 123 years old, MRF is over 70 years old and most of the plantation companies as Badra, Devon, Balanoor are in their 80s.

To last just 17 years for a corporate seems a bit astonishing!

What makes it happen?

I was thrilled to read that our alma mater was rated as the best school in India for this year.

Last year, I was a little disapointed when  saw that we were not in the top postion, which was held by a Delhi school.

Our School - by 59er Hasnain Chinwala

I thought to myself - WHY are we No. 1?

Is it the Management, is it the staff, is it the students, or is it the alumni?

If I look back on my life at the school and my times in other schools, we did not have playgrounds, we were cramped in the City Centre, and yet our lives were full of everything.

Our staff, from around the world, those days, were simply of a class well above others.

But then, now comes the rub!

Which has been the best Class EVER in the 150 history of our school.

Having written about this school for the last 15 years, in my mind, there is no doubt.

It is the 59ers, as is embodied in the song written by a 59er Ratan Singara, called "THE CLASS ACT". (Click on the image to see an enlarged version of the song.)

If you look at the 50th Year Golden Reunion organised by our class last year, it is going to be a very hard one to beat.

This picture taken outside the St. Thomas Cathedral on November 14th 2009, shows most of our 50th Year Golden Reunion Group assembled from around the world.

This reflects on how wonderful a class we were and are!

Reflecting on the past, I would say that what made our school exceptional was the combination of the staff and the students. That made our school No. 1, 51 years ago.

Maybe someone could enlighten me as to why our school is still No. 1!

A wonderful evening in Helsinki

49er Yezad Kapadia and Rayo

Annikki and I went to Helsinki to meet a cousin and her husband who came for a holiday in Finland. That is reported on my Jacob's Blog.

During that visit we were invited to the house of Ruki and Devinder Kishore. Devinder is a Direector in Nokia and his wife, Ruki, is the daughter of 49er Yezad Sam Kapadia (known to me in Finland as Yesh).

As Annikki's sister, Anneli, lives near Helsinki, I sort of asked Ruki whether I could bring her along as Annikki was anxious to spend as much time as possible with her sister. She graciously accepted my request.

What an incredible evening it was!

Besides Ruki and Devinder, Yesh and his radiant wife, Rati, were there, as well as Jeroo, their other daughter who lives in New Zealand. Also present were Arjun and Varun, the two sons of Ruki and Devinder. They are so incredible loving kids.

The hosts, Devinder and Ruki, in their gorgeous Helsinki home, dished out a meal which showed of Ruki in the glory as the yrained chef she is. Every dish was made to perfection. And it was topped off with a delicious home made kulfi!

The atmosphere was totally Cathedralite in that a 49er and 59er meeting in a strange land showed how close our Cathedralite families are, even if a decade spans our life style.

Yesh is so remarkably fit and well that he puts me to shame, and I rather pride myself on my physical condition.

Thank you Rati and Yesh - as you showed me what a beautiful family you have around you.

Yezad in Finland

About a week ago, on  hectic day in Oulu, I was all over the place. My phone was on silent or discreet because of meeting after meeting. (Please do remember that my phone number has changed. The new number is + 358 44 9361387)

Yezad, Rati, Ruki and Jero

We had some visitors, but as neither Annikki nor I were at home, so we did not know that they had been. They left a note in our mailbox which, because I was tied up till midnight, I missed.

The next day, I left for Helsinki at 3:30 am.

I decided to give 49er Yezad Kapadia's daughter, Ruki, a call to find out news of the arrival of her mom and dad to Finland.

Ruki answered my call, but she was not in Helsinki, but up north, about 200 km from Oulu near the eastern frontier. She was with her two kids as well as her parents!

She explained how they had been to Oulu the day before and missed us.

I was heartbroken as I was waiting to show all of them my home town of the last 26 years.

That evening I drove back to Oulu and reached about 3 am.

But I was up at the crack of dawn, finished my office work, and took off to Vuokatti, a small holiday resort near Sotkamo and Kajaani, quite a beautiful part of Finland. (Actually, these days we do not have dawn here as it has been our season of the nightless nights!)

It was really wonderful to connect with Yezad. We had lunch together, and then spent quite a few hours chin-wagging, till I finally had to take leave around 5 pm to reach Oulu at 7 in the evening.

I was really sorry that they could not visit and stay with us at Oulu, which had been the original plan.

Annikki and I will go Helsinki on the 9th of August and meet up with them at Ruki's place for dinner on the 11th night.

Yes, it will be Cathedralite Reunion! A 49er and a 59er! Any 69ers likely to join us? Barbara, game?

We talked a lot about our alma mater. The fact that Yezad is 10 years my senior just did not matter as we have so much in common to talk about.

I do wish more of you will make it to this lovely country!

New speakers

Jack Haskell 

I just attached two new speakers to my Mac Mini.

This morning , when I reached worked, I opened my iTunes and clicked on the piece "Nostalgia in Times Square"

It was amazing how quickly I reacted to strains as played by our own 59er Jack Haskell.

Jack has sent me many compositions he has been playing with his friends. There no better way to start a morning at work than listenng to his playing.

It brought back many nostalgia thoughts of when we used to stand outside St. James Court corner on the Marine Drive and Jack would be drumming away on the first floor!

Or the times we went to a restaurant opposite Eros theatre to listen to the Jazz bands playing there.

Or the time when 59er Ooky introduced me to the Voice of America broadcast Jazz Hour, or was it Jazz USA, and the deep voice of the host. I cannot remember his name, but he was around for several years.

That was 50+ years ago, but is seems just like yesterday, thanks to the wonderful music of our Jack!

I felt young again.

November Programme....

For those of you not in the loop, here is the 150 year celebrations and Founders' day programme for this October / November 2010:

22 Oct. 2010: Art Auction by Saffronart followed by dinner at Taj Hotel. A fund-raiser for school expansion.

9/10 Nov. 2010: School play at Tata Theatre

12 Nov 2010: T20 cricket match between Alumni and School

13 Nov 2010: Golf Tournament at Willingdon Club

13 Nov 2010: Celebratory Dinner at Turf Club. Note. A Commemorative stamp will be unveiled as also a coffee-table book launched

14 Nov 2010: Church Service and High Tea followed by Bus Tour of school buildings which will all be illuminated.

It is interesting that a "Coffee Table Book" is going to be launched.

Well, I guess we 59ers have set the standard and raised it so high, they are going to have a job keeping it up there, and at what cost!!

A special person

64er Rajiv Svedberg, a ZMac enthusiast, like me.

I have made lots and lots of friends of all years from our school.

Of the 59ers, Arvind, Noel, Naubir, Ooky, Ramesh, Shivi, Vijay, Viney, and our late Ashok, have been especially close over the last 55 years. More recently, thanks to the internet, Anil, Armeane, Ellis, Jack, Hasnain, Narayan, Percy, Peter, Ratan and Trevor have become very dear friends.

And at our 50th Year Reunion I felt a deep bond develop with all my other classmates.

But even more than these my classmates, there is one person from our school who is absolutely special.

A couple of years ago he called me up from New Delhi and spoke to me at length. We discussed many things. From the very first words, it was as if we had known each other for years.

From then on he has been a constant source of joy, because, not only is he easy going but also delightful company, over the phone and in person.

I really enjoyed my quality time with him when I visited his office while I was in Delhi. He is one of the very few people that I actually took time to visit.

The 64er Reunion in November 2009 / © Rajiv Ved)

A 64er, he has driven that year to become a lively group like our 59ers. He does feel sometimes that all of his classmates are not yet on the same wicket all of the time. But he does have some wonderful classmates, to that I can vouch.

Today is his birthday.

It is just before 10:00 am in New Delhi. In a short while I will ring him to wish him.

He has made my world a delight. We have so many cross connections, that is as if I have known him all my life.

For fear of embarrassing him, I do not intend to name him here, as he knows who he is. All I say with all the deepest sentiment in my heart, is "Happy Birthday, dear friend".

56er Doreen's crow

56er Doreen Heimlich (née Feibusch) sent me this email and picture.

Hi Jacob:

It's been quite a while since I last e-mailed you, although I religiously keep up with your Blogs.

I too, felt your absence when there was no update from March 3rd for about 3 weeks, but since I myself haven't exactly been diligent about writing, I didn't think I should fault you for keeping us in suspense for a couple of weeks.

Thought you'd enjoy this photo I took when some of us '56ers took a tour of what, in our time, was the Boys' School.



I only took the picture, because one of the Old Boys in the group said,

"Look at that crow on the classroom door! Some things never change. Do take a picture."

So I took a picture, and here's the result.

I don't remember who made that request, but if you put this photo on your blog, there should be some Old Boys who'll remember, and get a chuckle out of it.

Spring has arrived, all the trees and bushes are in full bloom, and the pollen is all over the place, causing much grief to allergy sufferers. At least, today, we're finally getting some rain, which should help in washing away all that yellow powder from our cars, and furniture on the terrace.

Glad to hear that you, Annikki and your Mother-in-law are keeping well. The latter seems to have enjoyed her birthday, judging from the photos you posted.

Best regards,

--Doreen

No need to apologise, Doreen. It is an outstanding picture and goes into my "greats".

Wonder whether it is the same critter who used to caw when I was in school. Certainly looks the same.

However, quite impressed with the new Class signs.

Anyone remember how our classes were marked during our times? Or were they ever marked then? Seem to remember a small oval white plaque just above the door on the frame held on with rusty nails!

Isn't she sweet?

I have pleasure in bringing you this photograph of those curly locks that 63er Ian Deane spoke about. I vouch that this baby is just as she sweet was at the time the picture was taken. 54er Gracie Hayeem in San Francisco is going to love this picture of her student and vouch for what I have written!

69er Barbara Rossi - as 63er Ian remembers her!

This was Barbara checking in yesterday from Italy!

here is the Barbara with those curly locks

lucky to be the daughter of those two very special parents who gave her the possibility to be brought up and educated in Bombay, at Cathedral

a life she loved from when she woke up and got ready for the school bus to when she filled her school bag at the end of the day, with text books exercise books pencil box, compass-set (yes Globe!) gym shoes (Bata) etc etc.. in anticipation of the next wonderful day to come

the badge...........hell where on earth have I misplaced it.........this is worse than when the watch was ticking, the bus was arriving, the lift had already been called up to the 6th floor............

hehehe I'll find it I promise!

love, Jacob

have a lovely day, and keep doing your "homework"!

Barbara

I am sure that the omission of punctuation marks was something she did not learn in Cathedral! At least she capitalises MY NAME!!!! Love you too, Barbara. :-)

Another 69er Zahid Parkar submitted this scanned extract from the 1969 School magazine. (Quality of the original was not good, but hope it is readable.)



And Ubi fed me with the info which gives you the reason why I did not even know about CJO's wife!

Hi,

C. J. Olliver married very late. In fact, he only got married after taking over as Principal of St Peter's Mazagon, well after he left Cathedral.

After Bernard Gunnery, Rev. G. Ridding took over as Principal. To the best of my recollection, he did not stay for his full tenure-but I could be mistaken.

CJO left at that point of time.

Kuruvilla Jacob I think came after Ridding.

Ubi

This is not a very good picture of the staff in 1965 where, obviously Rev. Ridding is there as Principal and Ollie is not in the picture!

Last night I had dinner in Oulu with someone from Mumbai, and although not a Cathedralite, knew many Cathedralites. Amol Shah, one of the owners of MJ Pharma, which has bought a Finnish company. He knows 52er Yusuf and 56er Muku Hamied of Cipla, as also 59ers Ashok Kapur, Ooky Elijah Elias and also Vijay Shivdasani! Amol plays a good game of badminton, Ashok says!

Very small world.

When riled the sleeper wakes up

59er Ratan Singara had been virtually ignoring his email, so much so that he was actually off my regular email list.

So I was surprised to receive an email from him which read:

From: Niloufer Singara
Date: 12-Mar-2006 11:01
Subject: RE: Class of 59 rackets ..........where's ratan ???

Dear Percy, Naubir & Jacob...

Here's something that will interest you. Check the face in the bottom row of the left hand corner of the picture. Hahahaha.

Ratan

And here was a great picture that he attached with his email:


Back Row: Viney Sethi, Vijay Nayar, Ashok Kapur, Arvind Thadani,
?., ?., ?., Ralph David
Seated: ?., Ramesh Mirchandani, ?., ?., Ashok Ruia.
Seated (Ground): Ratan Singara, Armeane Choksi, Sudhir Anand, Flicky Shroff

Ratan is the one sitting on the ground on the extreme left. The problem that arises is which year was this picture taken?

First, my apologies to Ratan for doubting that he was in the School Rackets Team. My memory was really jogged by the picture. But, it was not taken in 1959.

Compare it with this picture I had published in my blog entry for 11th November 2005 when I wrote about the Tin and Bottle Tournament:


Back Row: Noel Ezekiel, Percy Mistri, Lam, Vijay Nayar, Ramesh Mirchandani, Armane Choksi, Pundole or Jimmy Captain, Neelam Lakhani.
Seated: ?, Ralph David, Abraham, Nalin Dharia, Zarir Suntook, Ashok Ruia, Ashok Kapur.
Seated (Ground): Sudhir Anand, Roger Cloy, ?.

According to Percy, both the unknowns were in our class, but neither are Ratan. Percy threw up one name - Gokern, but I am unable to jog my damaged brain enough to confirm that.

The real question arises as to which year is the picture submitted by Ratan?

But, I tender my public apology for doubting Ratan's talent and his assertion that he was in the School Rackets Team.

As I did say in the email exchange, Ratan was certainly a keen player. He was one who used to rush down to the school hall with me, during the lunch break, to get a few games during that time. I did not challenge him to get onto the School Top 8, and I did challenge almost everyone on the list!

It is clear that Ratan was not in the 1959 Rackets Team but he was certainly in the School Rackets Team for a year UNKNOWN.

Can anyone solve this riddle?

Here is a recent picture of a few 59ers:


59ers as a Group at the Piloo's (18th) birthday party,
59er Ratan is standing on the far right.
Photo courtesy: Naubir Mohindar

Newsy Notes 003 - My Season's Greetings

Dear Cathedralite friends far and wide,

"Age is of no importance unless you are a cheese"
wrote Billie Burke.

I promised this issue would stew up the nostalgic juices -
I hope I succeed.

This time of the year, in this snow and ice fridge, is
one of great loneliness as the dark nights creep in on us
by 2 in the afternoon. The shortest day ended yesterday
so now we look forward to the ever lengthening albeit
substantially colder days.

My sense of time is all hay-wire. I wake up at about 2:30 am and I am at my computer keyboard hammering away on my forthcoming books. I have been commissioned to write a handbook on a plastics processing technique on which I may have
some little experience. Delivery is as early as March 2003, which means I have to complete about 2000 words every single day for the next six months. Plus my non-fiction novel (following George Bernard Shaw's advice: "If you cannot get rid
of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.") in two languages is required to be made page ready by my publisher by March 2002. That is also a Herculean task.

So you wonderful guys and gals will have to forgive me if I do not update the Seventh Heaven web pages as I would like to. WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO HELP ME WITH THIS?

I am grateful to 57er / 59er Abe Hayeem who sent me the original programmes of three school plays in Mint Condition: The 1954 production of "The King of Sherwood" written by Fred Edmonds with music by Thos Hewitt; the 1955 production of "Aladdin and Out", a comic opera in three acts, again by Fred Edmonds and Thom Hewitt; and the 1956 classic production done jointly with the girls' school of "Ali Ba! Ba! or The Forty Black Sheep". Wouldn't you like to get your hands on these pieces of sheer gold.

It revived many memories for me as I joined school in 1954 and remember the first play very vividly. I auditioned for it but was not successful.

Many names are listed including Bashir Currimjee's two brothers Mustan and Zulfee, Vijoy Nerurker, Sudhir Grover, Nazir Hoosein, Frank Rozario, Clive Ciel, etc., etc. What a wonderful donation from Abe.

I wonder how many of you can recall who acted as Robin Hood? One of the most popular Cathedralites ever, sadly no more.

The "Aladdin and Out" 1955 programme featured my name.

If any of you have read the Seventh Heaven online magazine,I recall in one issue the most embarrassing moment of my life while I acting in that play. Take a look and laugh yourself to oblivion at my expense.

Large as life is my name in the lights as one of the Laundry Students afterwards Court Ladies!! Aubrey Ballantine and Ellis Hayeem were two of my colleagues in this role. Many recipients of this Newsy Notes are listed there.

Wonder if any of you can guess who acted as Aladdin?

It revived memories of John Temple (whose mother was the Art Teacher, a subject at which I was miserable - drawing a straight line with the help of a foot ruler was a work of art for me). MNo wonder I got a fabulous artist as a wife!! Unfortunately all her best works have been appropriated by our daughter and adorn her walls. Annikki (my better half if you had not guessed) has just won - yet again - this year's prize for the best Ginger Bread House cake - a fantastically designed completely edible Finnish Laplander's Wigwam with the Lappish scenery to complement it.

And the Ali Ba! Ba! - recalls such names as Ashok (Tony) Jaitly who is now serving as Chief Secretary in Kashmir (and whose son called up to speak to me from Japan after reading an issue of Seventh Heaven), Ramesh Punwani, Abey Stevenson, Charles, Herbert and  Margaret Vaney - Peter's family entourage.

Guess who acted as Ali Ba! Ba!? This is a difficult one but those with good memories will certainly remember that outstanding performance.

The first person who submits all three names correctly (excluding Abe) will be rewarded with a special Art Glass creation by Alvar Aalto of Finland.

If I have time I will recreate these publications on the Internet in glorious colour. I will attempt it this coming year. It is one of my New Year Resolutions.

Thanks to 59er Farhana, I was put in touch with another lovely 59er, Narsys Irani. She and her husband are doctors in Toronto, Canada, and as Farhana put it - theyhave two brilliant sons. Here was Narsys's
response to my last Newsy Notes. We have a wonderful email relationship going on now as I have with so many of you. Her writing is so poetic.

Dear Jacob ,

Farhana forwarded one of your Cathedralite Newsletters.

I used to be Narsys Irani till 1969 Subsequently through the Institution of Marriage I assumed the married name Narsys Punthakee...and that is who I am to all those who know me. You may have to jog my memory to help me remember who you really are. The only two male
classmates I can remember are Sunil Anand (JM: it was Sudhir Anand), And .....Shivdasani (JM: who could forget the debonair Vijay) from our Physics class.

There was a Parsee math teacher in Cathedral school, Mr. Karkaria (JM: my Additional maths teacher) whose son I met a year ago in Canada while he was visiting from Singapore.

It is good to know you have taken it upon yourself to keep Cathedralites alive in their old identity as Cathedralites. In our various earthly identities,life appears to be diverse and mosaic......and yet underneath all this outward show and drama we are ALL ONE. The waves and the ripples are not at all anything other than the ocean. To Know and experience This Supreme Truth is man's only salvation..........to Peace and Bliss which dwells in his own heart and not in an imaginary place we imagine to be heaven.

Once again, Jacob ,thank you for your input of "sharing in the caring". You have touched our hearts!

Godluck and Godspeed !!

Narsys.

Narsys does not know that I do this for a very selfish reason. To have fun and to recreate the lost brain cells due to my heavy drinking habits which I stopped in toto 20 years ago. Reviving those old memories has helped me restore about 85% of my damaged brain, but then
my 59er classmates always thought I was born with that damaged brain!! :-)

Gracie Hayeem sent me this email and you will understand how close many of our dear friends were to tragedy on September 11th and why I value very dearly this online relationship with each and every one of you:

Jacob,

It sure is good to hear from you again. Missed hearing from you.

We are all fine here in California. But my sister Vilma, brother Ellis and Benjie all live in Manhattan, on the easy side. We have been really dazed by the events on the 11th. It took us a day to get in touch with the family. Vilma watched from a big window with her 6 grade students the actual events unfolding in front of their eyes. They actually saw the planes crash into the buildings. Till today she cannot open her windows. The smell and smoke radiates through. Ellis works one block from the Twin T: and was late getting to work that day. He heard the news and stayed home. Ben also lives a few blocks to the T:T: and watched all from his window. He later on in the day caught much of
the aftermath on film. As a flight attendant myself, it was extremely difficult visualizing the on goings. I have been as I think I mentioned on a medical leave for 3 years now. Sure felt like getting  back.

Gracie

Sister Sophie was not far behind in writing:

Dear Jacob,

Thank you so much for your 'comprehensive' newsletter! Yes, I am a 49er!

And Benjie and Abe Hayeem are my brothers. Brothers Benjie and Ellis live in New York. Vilma (sister) also lives in NY. I live in Simi Valley in California as does my other sister, Gracie. I have been here 45 years!

I have always been in touch with my childhood best friend, Sheila mContractor who was also a 49er, as is Leila Punjabi, Rashida Chinoy, and Siloo Vakeel, who are all still in Bombay. Rumba Sabavala is in
Sri Lanka. I am afraid I do not know their married names. Sheila lives in Vancouver, Canada and is married to Peter Vaney, thus Sheila Vaney. Rita Moodlier lives in Canada too, and I do not know her
married name.

It's great that you are keeping us all in touch in this life, and I applaud all your efforts. Unfortunately I lost touch for many years, but appreciate all contact and news.

Thanks and hope to hear from you again! Right now we are in the midst of the terrorist war and pray that America succeeds in their mission.

Best wishes,

Sophie

After putting Yezad (Yesh) Kapadia in touch with Gracie and then him getting in touch with Sheila, Yesh copied me his message to Sheila Contractor of the reunion of the 49ers which was held in November. He
also mentioned that the 51ers also held their 3 day reunion a few days later. In the meanwhile Peter Vaney did update me on their situation in Canada.

Hello Sheila, 29.11.

We missed you at the class reunion last Sunday. It was a lively affair at Vijay Ram's (also Wilson House, like you) place. He has a lovely flat in El Cid on the 9th floor with a view of the sea from two sides. Leela will give you a detailed account. Silla (Vakil) was also there with her husband. Leela showed me pictures of you and your family. You do not seem to have changed much. Except for the white hair like mine. I should have
been able to recognize you had I met you unawares.

Apart from Murli Jumani, who passed away, and Sarosh Wadia who continues to be in poor health, all who attended last time came this time too. Moti Malani, who was not there last time (Wilson House Captain), also passed away. Chottu Padamsee surprised us by
turning up at the last minute.

I also attended the Church Service which, as usual, was a stirring experience. The School beat the Old Boys in the traditional cricket match. The lunch at the then Girls' School (now the Middle School) was delicious. Somehow or the other, they always prefer to have a
Parsi wedding menu. I can assure you that the food was far superior to what we get to eat at the weddings!!

The class of 51 also had its reunion. It was a very lively affair at the Yacht Club. Live band, dancing and all that. This class was a very mischievous one and the girls used to tease the life out of us very shy boys. For the dance they had invited representatives from other
classes too. They had a three day programme. They had a picnic at the week end cottage of Rasheeda (Rahimtulla), somewhere across the harbour
and a trip to Matheran for a few days. Rashida is married to Yusuf Curmally of Rhythm House.

Do let us know when you are coming to India next. May be we can organise something when you are here.

Yezad.

The 59ers were out in force at the wedding of Ashok Kapur's daughter, AV 3 day extravaganza in Bombay in early December. One of the best invitation cards that I have received.

The most newsy correspondent during the intervening period was none other than Naval Patel. Here are his two inputs:

Dear Jacob, 14 Oct 01

Yezad Kapadia sent to you on 22 Apr comments on your Newsletter, and marked a copy to me, to tap my recollections too. I was away from my regular residence in Mumbai, on a visit with my daughter in
Mysore. Although my e-mail server had been instructed to forward my mails to her system, it did so erratically and none of the correspondence with you reached me there. Instead the wretched bundle of circuits retained every message (even those which I collected in Mysore) in its mailbox. All these then poured on to me when I eventually returned home, which was only on 7 Oct, and reconnected from here. Only then did I see your messages.

As introduction, I too was in the Class of 1949, a classmate of Yezad Kapadia, Benjie Hayeem etc. I was at Bombay University until 1954, then read Chemical Engineering at Loughborough College in
Leicestershire UK. From 1958 to 1990 I was with the ICI Group in India, then with Tata Consulting Engineers until 1998. Now my wife and I have leisure to visit our children at length - our son is with
United Airlines in Chicago - and watch as much cricket on TV as I can keep awake for.

Regarding cricket, I too was in the School 1st XI in 1949, then played for the Cathedral Old Boys as long as I was in Bombay. We entered the Ksnga League for the first time in 1954, in the 'D' Division which was
then the lowest one. We batted first in our opening match, and I had the honour to face the first ball of the Association's competition participation. My opening partner was Yukub Hamied, who as I recall
was familiarly called Yuku. He batted right handed and bowled left, m moderately quick by our experience in those days. Yuku would have passed out of School in '52. Yusuf, I think, was his younger brother.

We won our first two matches outright i.e. a two-innings result within the six hour playing time. The second of these matches actually started only around 1 PM due to a wet ground, yet we won by an innings after an enterprising declaration by our captain Mehli
Lalkaka, followed by brilliant bowling by him and Bobby Choonavala (JM: My last contact with Bobby was in 1994 when he was Chief of Digital
in Singapore for the South Pacific and Asia regions) which devastated the opponents, all out for 14 in mere 40 minutes!

I do not have details of further matches because I sailed for UK {yes, actually by sea in those days, 17 days voyage!} immediately thereafter. I do know that we topped our Division easily and were promoted to 'C' Division. I think we did fairly well there too, in 1955, but perhaps were just short of further promotion. Thereafter I lost touch, but I believe migration of the principal players for studies or jobs depleted the team severely, and they no longer participated in the Kanga League after being demoted to the lowest Division.

Incidentally my wife too is a Cathedralite, she was Armaity Mody at School, a very successful athlete and netball player.

I recall Sophie Hayeem, she was either in our parallel class or just a year junior. Her younger sister Gracie was Armaity's classmate and a very close friend in schooldays. We have had no touch with Gracie
since. I am sure Armaity will be eager to contact her if Sophie can provide the link, so request Sophie to communicate with us directlyplease.

In your "Newsy Notes 008" you list that you are searching for Johnny Jameson - 2. Would that be the Old Boy who has attained the highest cricketing level of anyone of us - he played County cricket for Warwickshire and was the England opening batsman in two Test Matches against India in 1971.

ANother section in your Notes is

"Deceased Class Teachers - A Section

Mr. D. A. Timmins 1954
Mr. W. H. Thompson 1955
Mr. A. Glynne-Howell 1957
Mr. S. Pharaoh 1958"

The dates surely cannot imply the years of their decease, for I recall meeting all of them myself at least until 1960. (JM: They were the years they were MY Class Teachers!!) CJ Olliver was another of our
Masters, very respected and well beloved. Much later he became Headmaster of St. Peters Byculla, and passed away in the second half of the 1980s.

All regards

Naval Patel

And his second in response to my reply:

Dear Jacob,

You deserve gratitude from very many of us, for creating this delightful CAT network. You must quickly have mentioned our interest in Gracie Hayeem's whereabouts to Sophie, for simultaneously with your reply to me we received an eager contact from Gracie herself. Surely we shall keep touch now, computers
permitting - mine is grumbling presently.

Further example of the "small world" - Gracie told us she worked for 20 years with United Airlines; our son works in United Airlines' R&D Group and so we travel only on their flights on visits to and within USA.

So sorry you had disharmony with Gavin D'Costa. He received mails addressed to me due to another manifestation of the incorrect response from mantraonline software while I was with my daughter. To the best that I can check, my mails are now reaching me and no one else, so please do reinstate me on your mailing list.

Is Johnny Jameson really one of the present England cricket selectors? I cannot recall seeing his name mentioned in this context, surely his nomination would have registered specifically with me. His father
Jimmy was not only a Police Inspector, he was one of Bombay's magnificent all-round sportsmen of the 1940s and 50s, rivalling for acclaim as "best" our Cathedralite Leslie Woodcock. Jimmy just
marginally missed inclusion in the Indian Olympic hockey teams of 1948 and 1952, maybe through bias or regional "quotas" according to critics of those days such as Bobby Taleyarkhan. Leslie was the better track
athlete, the two were equal club cricketers.

Brinda Somaiya led the restoration of the Boys' School building. She presented its essence audio-visually to the alumni at the 1998 Founder's Day function. The old stone building in particular has been excellently restored, and beauties that had been hidden from us
are now emphasized. Examples are the wooden buttresses and crown above the main front staircase, and a stained glass panel that stretches across the width of the building adjoining the inside wall
of what was for me the Physics Lab, on the first floor. Apparently this panel had been boarded up "for protection" in 1914 and forgotten about thereafter! All of us must have spent an year in that classroom
unaware of the existence of this beautiful work behind the lockers and wooden partition at the back of the room.

Do you get much news of Indian sports achievements? The latest glory has been our hockey team winning the Junior World Cup, held in Hobart. The junior teams have been repeatedly successful - we won the Under
15 Cricket in 1996 (or was it 1997?) when we defeated Pakistan comprehensively at Lord's, and won the Under 19 Cricket World Cup last year in Sri Lanka when we beat Sri Lanka again most convincingly. Apart from Paes and Bhupathi's tennis doubles triumphs, our other
successes at the top levels are occasional and individual performances, no worthwhile team title since 1985.

Best regards and Diwali Mubarak

Naval Patel

Another correspondent was Rumi Kapadia who set me a travelogue of his recent visit to Kerala:

Hi Folks

I have had a wonderful holiday in Kerala. In a few
moments, I shall be flying back to Bombay.

To start with, I could attend my Cathedral School
Founders' Day Service and see faces from 50 years ago
that I had not seen; then I could attend both the
Engagement and Wedding ceremonies of my classmate Jal Tata's daughter. Call me a (male) chauvinist pig if
you like, but really no one holds weddings like the
Parsees! Then I met Suhas Phadke after 40 years, June
Hillel after perhaps 15 years, and will see Meyer
Hillel in Bombay on my return!

Kerala has really taken off for tourists; true, the
infrastructure could be better. I spent a night in a
treetop house and one in a houseboat on the backwaters - both unique experiences, which I would only want for one night. There is nothing to do after dark andwashing with cold water loses its attraction after 1 day! Both the Spice Village and Coconut Lagoon Heritage resorts are spectacular and well staffed with excellent food - the seafood restaurant at the latter is one of the best I have eaten in and, believe me, I have tried some fabulous places all over the world. I spent 1 night in Cochin.

Today, the most amazing coincidence took place. On my
way back to the airport, we passed through the village
where one of the Kerala doctors I helped to train
lives, and I went to a large hospital that I knew
belonged within the family, got someone to phone him
and he appeared within 5 minutes and today is his 60th
birthday and he was very pleased with my totally
unexpected visit! He is contemplating retirement. I
met his wife and mother and was taken round their
family factory, which is clearly a huge establishment
and there is no doubt that when you are rolling in it
in India, life is great!

I shall be staying with Meherwan Nadirshaw on my
return, before I fly back on 5th December.

Love to everyone

RUMY


Of course all my regular writers - Willie Shiri, Abe Hayeem, Aubrey Ballantine, Kashinath Dandekar, Vijay Shivdasani, Farhana, have been sending me updates. Without their inputs life could be quite miserable - so please, please keep writing, sending me those photographs you find in that old tin box, and
the other memobralia - and who knows, soon we may have a museum of Cathedral School artefacts buried in the frozen Arctic.

And thank you all for the great Christmas cards that you have sent me. These online cards are great as they are so beautiful and alive.

And finally Season's Greetings from both of us here in Santa's backyard. We have been feeding Rudolf to be sure he gets on flight on time this year. Hope he wings these greetings to you before the New Year arrives.

Love from a snow-bound cold -30 C northern city of Oulu in Finland.

Jacob Mathan
Savage House Captain 1959
Oulu, Finland

SH-Issue 010101 - 010128

Dear 59ers and Other Cathedralites,

The relaunch of Seventh Heaven should have been a very joyous event.

But it is tinged with a great deal of sadness as I have the onerous task of reporting the demise of our former Girls' School Captain, personality exceptional, 54er Head Girl Pamela BALLANTINE.

The late Cathedralite 54er Pamela Ballantine
receives the MBE from Queen Elizabeth II

Pamela was School Captain the year I joined school. I remember her performance at the School Athletics. Then I remember her from the Cathedral Church where the whole BALLANTINE family was always well represented. I sang by the side of her brother, Aubrey, who was the one who broke the sad news to me from his abode in Canada. I also remember their sister, Judy, who was considerably younger than us (maybe 2 years), if I recollect correctly.

I give below a couple of the personal messages I received from close school friends of Pamela.

But first I publish an Obituary Notice about Pamela. The details are what Pamela herself gave me by email for Seventh Heaven, just a few weeks before her passing away.

I pay tribute to her by publishing the words of our School Hymn after the notice, as Pamela embodied the words of our School Song.

OBITUARY - PAMELA BALLANTINE

SCHOOL CAPTAIN 1954

Pamela BALLANTINE died of a heart attack on Tue, 9 Jan 2001 at her home in England during the night.

Pamela was School Captain in 1954. She returned to take the Cambridge Higher School Certificate 1955-56. She won a State Scholarship in 1954 but deferred this to go to Bristol University in 1957 to read for an Honours degree in Economics & Government. She also did the Certificate in Education Bristol & Diploma in Social Administration LSE. Pamela worked as Teacher in Charge of Teachers in Social Services Day Centres, London Borough of Newham until retirement and was still working as Senior Child Psychotherapist Redbridge Healthcare Trust. Pamela did voluntary work with Asian Women's Association, she was the Honorary Vice President League of British Muslims, Chair of the Racial Equality Council, Chair of the Police/Community Con Group, Chair of the Racist Incidents Panel, Chair of the Voluntary Sector Network. Pamela was awarded the MBE for services to race equality, London Borough of Redbridge in October 2000.

And may I honour our dear Pamela by recalling the words of our school hymn:

Land of our birth we pledge to Thee
Our love and toil in the years to be;
When we are grown and take our place
As men and women with our race.
Father in Heaven who lovest all,
O help Thy Children when they call;
That they may build from age to age
An undefiled heritage
Teach us the strength that cannot seek
By deed or thought, to hurt the weak;
That, under Thee, we may possess
Men's strength to succour man's distress.
Teach us delight in simple things,
And mirth that has no bitter springs,
Forgiveness free of evil done,
And love to all men 'neath the sun.

I received this message from Pamela's friend from childhood and her classmate right through the years in School, Gracie Hayeem, of the illustrious Hayeem family:

Dear Jacob,

I am in shock to hear the very sad news of our dear Cathedralite whom I was so close to. She was in my class from Kindergarten till we graduated the Senior Cambridge together. She diligently helped me to get through my Senior Cambridge. We worked every day after school together. Many times with Homa Shirazi. I can say if it was not for her help in helping me to cram I may never have made it and passed 2nd grade. All were surprised. Even Mr. Pharaoh tutored me in Math and gave up!

I had just written her for New Year and later in January. about my mum passing away.

She was a dear friend of the Hayeem Family. And was one of the lucky friends I had that she could come over to our house in Bombay any time! My father Mr. Hayeem, may his soul rest in peace, was very strict. But he would have wonderful conversations with her.

She came to visit me in California in the 90's. We spent 2 weeks together. She loved it. When she left I garlanded her with a very special Green hand made "lay". She was so proud of it she wore it for her trip back to London.

She was so dedicated to help humanity any time any where. So brilliant in her mind and ever so humble. A sense of humour enormous. I have many pictures of our class together with Pam. And one was like a Movie Star.

Thank you for the beautiful Memorial for her as it definitely depicts her Bravery. I would like to put our arms around our dear class mate and say "Farewell Pam. We loved and respected you all the way."

There was Zareen Lamb, Jeroo Karanjia, Tooto Lahirri, Karma Dharamsey, Naju Vakeel, Sadhana Shah, Mayer Cursetji. Miriam Gumpert. Mary Balsara, Diana Steggles, Joan Twist, Georgiana Fanngon, Almighty Mody, Nargish Mody, Diana Guzder. Rattan Ramchandani, Arnavaz Guzder, Nalini Pillai, Vijaya Hattiangadi. I cannot remember any more the names. But Sadhana, you perhaps can complete the list. Of course, Doreen Heimlich (nee Feibusch) was also in our class.

The boys in our class were Stephano Episcapo and, of course, Tara Malkani, Anthony Ramsinh, may his soul rest in peace.

Perhaps someone can compile a list of the boys of 54 with Mr Gunnery our head master of the Boys school at that time.

I do hope we can have a class reunion. We spoke many times of it with Pam. So let us do it in her honour. Our deepest sympathy to her family, To her classmates who cared a great deal about her, and to all the many Cathedralites she knew and touched their hearts.

Our deepest sympathy from
Abe, Ellis, Vilma, Sophie and Benjie.

Farewell my friend.

Gracie [Hayeem ] Lerno.

Just a few days before she died, Pamela had sent me an email asking for the email address of her old friend, Sadhana Madhusudan (nee Shah). It was someone she was unable to contact because of her untimely death. I have given below the message sent by Sadhana to Aubrey and Judy (copy Seventh Heaven) after she heard of Pamela's passing away. The contents reflect the character of the person who was rightfully awarded the MBE for a task which, I know from my own personal experience, is thankless and usually the cause of much misery for the person carrying out the job of harmonising life among different ethnic groups.

Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 03:30:03 -0800 (PST)

From: sadhana madhusudan
Subject: Pamela Forever and ever...
To: aubrey.ballantyne@sympatico.ca
Cc: Bentlerno@aol.com

Dear Aubrey, Judy,

News of Pam's passing on left me numbed and quite overcome, to say the least. It was just a week back that I heard from Seventh Heaven, courtesy kind soul Jacob, that Pam was asking for my e-mail address. I felt honoured and excited that at last I would be in touch finally with my Captain and Muse, my old pal and classmate. But fate snatched away that opportunity alas. Or, until I catch up with her again..

We were together from 6th onwards, both Blue House kids, ever ready to go on crusades to help our classmates in every way could, including hilarious entertainment. And we ended up as Capt. and Vice Capt. of Blue House in '54. I was the Vice Capt, but Pam had two very unfortunate happenings, if memory serves me right, when her loving Dad passed away and when she had to have her appendix out. That left me alone to fend for our House on several fronts.

However, knowing that she would be back soon anyway and that we were guys who never gave up, I went ahead practicing with our teams for various competitions etc..

Wilson House, or Blue, was known for coming last in the annual list, but that year, '54, we turned the corner and came out 3rd . beating Orange I think. That was our victory and Pam felt so gratified, we hugged each other with tears streaming down our cheeks...

Later on, we met again when Pam was Suptd. of a Remand Home at Byculla. I visited her office and was overwhelmed to see the great responsibility thrust upon her. She had chosen to focus on very vital human and sociological issues. I felt humbled in her presence, happy that she was striking out on her own in this direction rather than opting for the 9-5 routine jobs that most of us were doing. Then, we lost touch as I left the country.

It was through Nalini Pillai that I first heard of Pam after 30 odd years, then Gracie, Ratan and Miriam. But, we never did meet.

I was looking for her via Seventh Heaven, and she must have come to know of it.

As Keats says...

"Heaven gives it's glimpses to those who have no time to look too close".

Pam's fav song back then was

"Forever and ever, my heart will be true, sweetheart forever, I'll wait for you."

Which, she promptly translated into Hindi

"Hamesha hamesha, hum tumharay vaastay kharra rahaingaa"...

My kids and grandkids were all told Pam's version of Hey diddle diddle. The legacy will go on..And her memory will go on and on..."hamesha".

God rest her superb soul...and remind us what we could do to show our love and respect for Pamela..

Amen..

Sadhana (Shah) Madhusudan
Blue House,
In grief, class of '54.

These were only two of the many messages of grief that I got, but it serves as a lesson to all of us - do not delay getting in touch with your friends of yesteryear. Do not delay putting out your hand of friendship. Live your old memories together. These are the golden memories that the life we have lived makes our life worth remembering. Through our old friendships we show the modern world some of the glimpses of the past and teach some of the values of our life.

Poor Sadhana was just hours away from talking to her old friend when fate saw that not to be. May Pam's soul rest in peace. I have extended sympathies that I received to all of Pam's family through Aubrey.

I have the pleasant task of informing you that the third reunion of the Finnish Cathedralites/ Stephanians alumni was held over Christmas at my residence in Oulu. As usual, we had 100% attendance, with all two of us present.

Ajeet (Prof. Ajeet Mathur) came to Oulu, not just to be with his fellow Cathedralite / Stephanian, but his ulterior motive was to try to get to see the Northern Lights which often are visible in all its swirling blue, red and golden glory at this high latitude.

When, on the third evening, because of heavily overcast snowy skies, we were unable to see the stars, we were both a bit surprised when my better half said, very confidently, that Ajeet would see the Northern Lights the next evening. I have never heard such a forthright and dramatic statement from her in all my life. I was quite taken aback.

Next day, as we watched the skies eagerly, looking to see if there was any break of clouds to see the stars above, we were not very hopeful. But Annikki was merrily keeping her composure and said again that without fail Ajeet would see the Northern Lights.

Come evening, we sat down to dinner. After a nice meal, Ajeet was planning a walk around the frozen town to see whether Annikki's prediction would come true, when, out of the kitchen walked this cake designer with a recreation of the Northern Lights transfixed in a glass cake bowl. The ground made of chocolate butter covered cake, with a beautiful blue gel topping about six inches (150 cm) deep. Annikki had managed to create the entire Northern Lights effect in the jelly above the cake - quivering dark blue with stars and moon included.

Ajeet and I were dumb struck.

Annikki is famous for her unique cake designs. Much of her work is soon to be published in a photographic book form (and maybe also on the internet) but none of us expected her to fulfill a promise using her cake designs.

Ajeet left back for his southerly abode quite satisfied at having seen something infinitely more unique and beautiful than the Northern Lights!!

(You can read about Ajeet's latest research writings about Finnish -India Trade in the current issue of Findians Briefings which has also been released today (28th January 2001.)

And we all had a great laugh!!

Here are the snippets from his alumni reunion report:

* Rauha Annikki, wife of Sushil (Jacob Matthan to some), contributed a special Northern Lights Cake which she designed and made herself and which was a great hit..not a crumb was left as it was polished off by Stephanians/Cathedralites with much appreciation.

* The cake idea arose to make up for the non-appearance of the Aurora Borealis! The year 2000-2001 was forecast to be a spectacular auroral year with spectacular lights around New Moon Day (24-25 Dec) but you know weather forecasters....

* Ajeet Mathur and Jacob Matthan went a-walking through the snow and ice around Oulu past midnight in - 26 C remembering....

I want to draw attention to a book published by an ex-Cathedralite, 64er Brinda Somaya (nee Chinnappa), who has found mention on these pages several times. Shows how active she is with regard to things happening with the school.

With another Cathedralite she has released a book called "Women in Architecture".

Brinda is a fine architect. She has been the architect responsible for remodelling the school. Her son, Vikram, is also a Cathedralite (94er). He was one of the very first to discover my Seventh Heaven magazine online about 5 years ago when I started to put it on the web. He works in the US. Brinda's elder sister, Ranjini Chinappa, also a Cathedralite (62er), lives in The Netherlands.

This month's picture has been submitted by our former Physics teacher, William (Willie) Shiri, who now lives in Canada. Willie is married to also an ex-teacher from the Girls' School, Pushpa.


Cathedral Boys School Saff 1960

My competition is open all students and ex-students of the school but not to staff members of the years 1955 to 1965. The first person who sends me a complete list of the staff members in this photograph (in the correct order identifying them) by email will get a lovely Alvar Aalto Art Glass piece from Finland.

I also want to know which year you think this photograph was taken.

It is interesting because the late Mr. R. G. Salmon is not there but Mr. John Billington is, but yet our Peruvian Geography teacher (Mr. Zavala is still around! It is definitely past 1959!! Is it 1959, 1960 or 1961?

Can any of you spot the late Mr. A. G. Morecroft who saved my life at Vasind in 1955? For that story and how I got my nickname, you should read the first issue of Seventh Heaven!!

So long for now. See you in a month.

Regards

Jacob Matthan
Honorary Editor
Seventh Heaven (Web Version)
Cathedralite 1954 - 1959
School Hockey Goalkeeper - 1958; 1959
School Prefect - 1958; 1959
Savage House Captain - 1959