Always nice to get emails from Ubi

It is always nice to get emails from 56er Ubi as he has so much to teach me and also by being on the spot, his info is so alive! His latest email did however raise some cause for concern about his health:

Dear Jacob,

Apologies for not being punctual.

I have had a bit of a problem with my eyesight and the house is being painted as well at the same time.

I am having my good eye attended to but it will take a few weeks to sort out totally.

The computer seems to give me the most problems!

David Haskell's email is ellen@gezer.org.il

Anil Akhaney, who was originally a 56er, I believe is no more.

Incdentally, Vinod Nayar was 58 and Ashalata Guha (nee Bakhle) was 54 or 55. Not 56.

Saw your write up on the 59 Mini Reunion.

Great.I remember the cricketing feats of Trevor Newnes and how the late A.F.S.T. Talyarkhan used to write glowingly of Trevor's Kanga League exploits. He used to propogate Trevor as a possible India cricketer!

I also remember, so well, that epic 800 metre race at the Brabourne Stadium when Trevor beat a tiring Tara Malkani to the tape!

Tara had never been beaten before that, but in all fairness, 100 and 200 metres were his forte.

The 800 metre race, if I recalll correctly, was an Old Boys' versus The Present race at the annual athletics day.

As soon as I can have my vision corrected, I will write at length on the other issues you have written about.

Regards,

Ubi..

With such correspondents, there is no need for this guy in the Arctic, except the heat generated causes me to emerge from my frozen stupor!

Fleur, do take note of 57er David Haskell's email address.


1958 Cricket Team.

Surprisingly, Trevor was not in this line up! Wonder why? Was it Jimmy and Nalin held sway?

What Ubi says about Trevor is so true. He had a very easy and smooth run up and he could really get some pace on the ball. Trevor and Ooky used to practice together, but Ooky had to put much more effort to generate the same pace. We 59ers had one more great pace bowler, who did play for Maharashtra or Bombay Juniors, I think. He was the late Sudan Sathe. He generated fantastic pace, but was very wayward at times.

Nnalin Dharia also used to whip up some speed but he was strongly built unlike the other three. Jimmy Tata also bowled fast medium, but I recall him hitting the ball out of the ground more than I recall his bowling.


1959 cricketing trio Ashok Kaåpur behind the stumps,
Vijay Nayar with his left arm spin and Trevor Newnes
with his fast medium, at the Mini Reunion of 59ers
in Mumbai Sunday before last!

I cannot remember the pace bowlers in our side prior Ooky, Trevor Jimmy and Nalin. I think 59er Hussain also used to bowl at a fair pace.

I have been waiting for the final of the Twenty20 between India and Pakistan in Johannesburg. By sheer luck I was able to pick up audio commentary here in Finland of the semi-finals. I am hoping the link, which is that of a bookmaker in England serving his clients, will work again today! They said they were likely to come on air only 2 or 3 minutes before the start of the game, if at all! It has come on stream just now! And India got 13 in that first over with a 6 from Pathan.

So far I have been satisfied with the text commentary from CricInfo.com!

I can recall the spin magic of late Kirtee Dungersee, Ernest Haskell and Vijay Nayar. Noel Ezekiel was also good on his day.

Let me have your photos and your thoughts!

My prayers are with you, Ubi, for a speedy recovery, both for your eye and your computer.

Open letter to the Indian President

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog and the Mumbai Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

This just reached me. It is an is an open letter to the President of India submitted through the Governor of Karnataka. It is from Dr. Sajan George, who is the President of the Global Council of Indian Christians.

There are three major reasons that I am publishing this letter on my blogs.

First and foremost is that my grandfather held the post of First Member of the Privy Council of the Mysore Maharajah, a post given to a Christian by a Hindu who valued the individual and his capabilities rather than which ethnic minority the person hailed from.

My grandfather was a person from what is now known as Kerala and was not a Mysorean. But all through the State of Mysore, this Keralite and Christian was known as Mysore Matthan. Even 30 years after his death respect, when I was living in Maddur in Mandya District, was shown to me just because I was his grandson!

Many Matthan's have served the State, Mysore and Karnataka, selflessly and have yet practiced their faith without fear. After retirement they have considered Karnataka as their home. They are sons of the soil of Karnataka.

The second reason I am publishing this letter is that around the middle it draws attention to the controversial action by the Officiating Principal of my alma mater, St, Stephen's College, Delhi, about the admission policy that was introduced this year.

The third reason is that Prof. Ajeet Mathur, a fellow Cathedralite and Stephanian, was in Oulu a couple of weeks ago and gave an interesting talk. He holds the position of Director of the Institute of Applied Manpower Research of the Planning Commission of India. His Research Group is working on the 9% growth that is presently being seen in India and the rapid expansion of educational facilities to meet this need. 30 new Universities, 7 new Indian Institute of Technologies and many hundreds of thousands of educational institutions of every level requires a huge input of highly skilled and talented people of every level.

What message will such actions, as are described in the letter below, become knowledge of people who intend to come to work in India?

Here I am entertaining requests from many tens of Finns wanting to go and work in India and from Finnish companies wanting to find opportunities to establish their operations all over the Indian sub-continent.

What answer will I give them when they ask me about conditions prevailing in India for them to work safely in their jobs or to run their companies?

I shudder to think of the consequences to our National Policy if those who play for short term political gain are allowed to carry on regardless.

To Her Excellency The President of India,
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi

Through the Governor of Karnataka,
Raj Bhavan,
Bangalore

Your Excellency:

We offer our respectful greetings and humble salutations, on behalf of the Christians of India, especially those who have suffered greatly on account of their religious faith. In this regard, we submit the following for your kind and benevolent attention:

We are gravely concerned about the escalating violence being perpetrated against Christians in the state of Karnataka for the past 20 months, and we have evidence to clearly link the same to the change in the government at the state level. In other words, after the BJP came into the coalition, there has been a climate of impunity for any acts of violence that are committed in the name of Hindutva. To place the facts and relevant documentation on record, we herewith submit a detailed report on attacks against Christians in Karnataka between Jan 28th and July 29th 2007 wherein it is clear from the facts that unprovoked attacks by communal elements have occurred inside homes and the places of worship of Christians, as people are praying and worshipping within the privacy of their homes and churches. Later, the police are pressurized to file cases against the victims. The hardest blow to the victims however is the inaction and neglect of our just grievances by the law-and -order machinery and the State. In fact, the police officials in several cases have said that they have received orders from the Dy. Chief Minister and the local (usually BJP MLA)on how to act. Therefore, the widespread attitude (though not universal) is that of treating Christians as second class citizens. We have failed in numerous peaceful efforts to get justice, namely redressal of the violation of our Constitutional and Fundamental freedom of Religion and Conscience. We now approach your kind self in the hope that you who are well known for your secular outlook, will certainly take steps to ensure that justice and the right to constitutional remedies, hitherto denied to the majority of the Christian victims of persecution, will be made available to them in a speedy and time-bound manner.
.
The Christian Rights Rally in Bangalore held on 22nd June 07' was the largest gathering so far of victims of religious persecution by the communal forces in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gujarat to Orissa. Christians in Karnataka are observing Awareness Day on 22nd September 2007 to raise the awareness of the public against Christians in general and in Karnataka in particular and are converging on Bangalore to make their voice heard against the injustice meted out to them and share their experiences and agony and express solidarity with other victims of the extreme distress faced by the Christian community in India. They are joined by a number of persons from all walks of life, various Christian churches and groups including those from other faiths who came together to express solidarity and share their grief and sorrow.

Your Excellency, the Christian community - which continues to be a tiny 2.04% of this nation's population according to the 2001 Census data - has been at the forefront of service to the massive numbers of poor and needy in our country. Our patriotism and commitment to the nation has been tangibly expressed in the form of committed service to the deprived and disadvantaged sections of society in the fields of education, healthcare, and training in vocational services far in excess to our share in the population. A large section of the Christian community, including the cream of our young men and women have dedicated their lives to socially productive activities full-time. Even though they can easily choose to migrate to any country and enjoy a very good quality of life due to their qualifications, they choose to work in Indian running schools, hospitals, orphanages, leprosy rehabilitation centres, nursing schools, counselling centres, colleges which are known for their excellence, etc. Christians are among the largest groups intervening with people living with HIV/AIDS. They work among the poorest of the poor in remotest regions of the country, facing life-threats from the so-called "patriotic" Indians for their work, starting schools, spreading literacy and offering primary health care where state interventions are totally neglected or absent. Their inspiration is the life of Jesus Christ, known for spending his brief and youthful life on this earth in healing the sick, and reaching out to the disabled, the untouchables and the downtrodden those rejected by mainstream society, in preaching the "good news to the poor". His personal example continues to inspire people all over the world and down the ages to express their faith through service to fellow-human beings through a life dedicated to God's will.

Despite this track record of committed service to the Indian people, Christians are constantly referred to by their detractors as foreigners and as people having allegiance to forces outside the country. How long do we need to keep on proving our credentials as full citizens, peace-loving, law-abiding and committed to the advancement of the nation? When India was a nascent state, Christians showed their confidence in the Constitution and their trust in the mainstream by declining reservation in the seats in Parliament. This shows how well the Christian community consider themselves integrated into society. It is sad that the degeneration of the political climate has caused Christians in India to be isolated from the
mainstream by small, noisy, violent groups of communally divisive elements who attempt to damage the pluralism that has been the most abiding characteristic of Indian society for centuries, by bringing pressure on the police and the judicial system. These communal forces raise their voices and weapons against this tiny, dedicated, service-oriented and peace-loving community. They engineer increasingly violent and murderous attacks against not only the Christians themselves but also those whose hope for a better future is kindled by the compassionate service and love shown by these dedicated citizens of India: there are allegations that Christians "convert" those who they serve.

There are attempts to demonise the Christian community through allegations of force, fraud and inducement to convert - through offering services such as education or jobs. Laws aimed at "preventing conversion through force, fraud and inducement" have been passed in several states. But despite several decades of these laws existence, not a single case has ever been successfully prosecuted under these laws. What then is the reason for their existence except to serve as a threat to those who serve the poor? Some of the Christian service institutions in the country have been functioning for over a hundred years, but has the population in the surrounding areas converted enmasse? To the contrary, every year, 8 million students come out of the portals of Christian institutions. Can anyone prove that even 0.001 % of this group has "converted" as a result of indoctrination? Then what is the motivation for these false claims?

We assert that the real reason is that these vested interests and their children, community and class actually welcome and enjoy the services provided by the well-established and older Christian educational and health institutions located in cities and towns. But they do not want availability of these facilities to the poor and disadvantaged in rural and tribal areas. As long as some welfare and charity work is done there is no problem, but when hitherto voiceless and powerless sections of Indian society begin to get education and a socially empowered self-image there is a huge reaction. Witness the outcry against the management of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, for announcing reservations in seats to some of the disadvantaged sections of society, something well within their constitutional rights. The progress of the subaltern groups is not tolerated by those who have enjoyed the fruits of the economic, social and political marginalization of the subaltern groups in India. There is fear that if these groups, hitherto marginalised, become educated and aware, the access of the elites to power, their social and economic status will be eroded. Therefore, they mislead young and gullible sections from the subaltern groups to attack the defenceless Christians, while keeping themselves free of the taint of violence.

In the wake of the recent exposure of these manipulations a violence in the electronic media, who gave publicity to violence against Christian workers, these groups are attempting a damage control exercise. But the nation has now woken up to the grim reality of the extreme, brutal and widespread violence against the Christian community all over the country which has so far been successfully kept from the public by a mostly (though not entirely) complaisant media. Several Christian groups have attempted to highlight these attacks with very little response. However, we must mention that in some cases the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities have responded positively and taken steps to ensure that the matters were enquired into. Justice delivery, however has been slow if not totally absent in most cases.

Also complicit in the "invisibilisation" of these outrages are some lower-level functionaries in the police and judiciary who have often abused their positions to harass and deny Christians their constitutional rights, and support the anti-social and unconstitutional excesses of the Sangh Parivar activists. Even cases of murder of Christian pastors and workers have not been investigated. Due to their own ideological learning towards the communalists most cases the police refuses to file an FIR or take up the matter with any enthusiasm. It goes without saying that these officials would not get away with these actions if it were not for the patronage of politicians allied with the BJP and Sangh organizations.

In view of the above facts, we therefore humbly request your Excellency

1. to call for an independent investigation into the atrocities against the Christian minorities in India, and especially in Karnataka in the recent past, by a specially empowered group in a speedy and time-bound manner. GCIC pledges its support to such an enquiry.


2. To enquire into the reason for the blatant discrimination by the State law-and-order machinery and the judiciary in the matter of incidents against Christians, and their support to the unconstitutional activities and antisocial behavior of persons against the Christians.


3. In cases where undue delay in investigations are established, to fix responsibility at the appropriate level and take punitive administrative and criminal action against those responsible.


4. Baseless reports against the Christians and Christian institutions in the vernacular media have fuelled hate crimes against the Christians in several states, notably Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.


5. Specifically, we want to bring to your notice that there has been a rape of an 8-year old girl, a daughter of an impoverished Dalit worker in Bidar for her religious identity. F.I.R 100/07 in Nenyara Police station Bidar District, Karnataka state, has been registered and we have brought the matter to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women.


6. Finally, Your Excellency, we humbly call upon your kind self to exercise your Constitutional Authority and repeal the 1950 Presidential Ordinance which has denied the Constitutional Rights of Christians of Dalit Descent.
   
   Through this one action, you will create history by righting the historical wrongs against a deprived and oppressed section of Indian Society and earn the immense gratitude of millions.

We remain,

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Sajan George, President, Global Council Of Indian Christians

Let us be clear, it is not the common folk of Karnataka who are following this route, but, as usual, those who are lobbying for power.

I am grateful to John Dayal for drawing my attention to this letter and the issues that it highlights.

Talk with a 57er

A few days ago, as 57er Tony Jaitly had given me the telephone number of 57er Deepak Melwani in London, I had dialed. Unfortunately Deepak was not in. I left a message on the answer phone for him.

This afternoon, Deepak called back. Of course, he did not remember whom I was, but I certainly remembered him. It was a great chat.

Deepak is retired and lives in London. He lost an eye in a squash accident way back in 1987, but he said it had had no serious effect on his life and he was back and about a few days after the event.

He reminded me of his elder brother, Ramesh, who still lives in Mumbai. But then I got a shock when he reminded me of his younger brother, Rajen Melwani, who was in our 59er class, but left in the 6th or 7th standard to go to school in Gwalior. Sadly, Deepak informed me that Rajen had passed away about 15 years ago.

Deepak is very much looking forward to the 57er Reunion. He has had news from Arjun Waney, who lives in the south of France and is doing wonders running a chain of restaurants, mainly Japanese. Deepak is also in touch with Ranjit Mathrani, whose wife runs a chain of restaurants in London.

It looks as if the 57ers could have some great food related events during the reunion.

Deepak's wife is already going to India on the 6th of October. Deepak will follow a few weeks later and will be in Mumbai the whole of November. His daughter manages his email address, so he will get any messages that are sent to him.

It was truly a nostalgic feeling to talk with a 57er after all these years. I do not think he could place me. However, that is not important, as at least I got a good interview of a 57er for my blog!

59er Mini Reunion Report with APOLOGIES

I had sent the web page draft of the 59er Mini Reunion to Ashok Kapur so that he could feed me the holes in my web creation. These holes were mainly related to the names of the ladies present, as all those I know have grown considerably younger and more beautiful, so I was unable to positively identify them. (Jack Haskell recently sent me an email which started: "FLATTERY will get you everywhere!")



If I remember correctly, Palmer House was Cock House in 1959. This picture from the Mini Reunion Collection is of the top trio of Palmerites that drove the House to its top: Ashok Kapur, Trevor Newnes and House Captain Viney Sethi.

Ashok was obviously not available today [I understand he is still working for a living :-) ], and as all "journalists", I had a cut-off time.

So, with sincere apologies to those whom I have not identified or used their Mrs. status, I have posted the Mini Reunion Report which you can reach by clicking on this link:

2007 - 59er Mini Reunion Report

On this Seventh Heaven Blog Page you will find a permanent link on the right under the LINKS. The permanent link has been labeled as "2007 - 59er Mini Reunion Report". As the corrections and additions come in, I will make the corrections on this permanent web page.

Just one question from the pictures: Anil, is that really you? You do not look a day older than when you left school. Are you commercially producing the elixir of youth? If so, do please send me what you have been sharing secretly with Ooky!

Thanks to Ashok and Madhu for their graciousness and a huge"Hip Hip Hurrah" for Shivi for organising this Mini Reunion and to Ashok for rushing me the photographs!

Ignore or reply?

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Mumbai Cathedral School Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog.

Although the bulk of this posting relates to my alma mater, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, the moral and rationale that I talk about here applies to all my alma maters and also to my many readers on my primary blog.

It has been quite a while since the exchange of views on the Kooler Talk Blog about the appointment of Rev. Valson Thambu as Acting Principal of St. Stephen's College and then his radical new Dalit Christian oriented admission policy to the College.

I was greatly honoured when John Dayal, Member of the National Integration Council, Secretary General of the All India Christian Council and President of the All India
Catholic Union, asked me to contribute to a book which would consider the aspect of admission of Dalit Christians to minority educational institutions.

Then came those couple of Anonymous postings in the Comments section of the Kooler Talk Blog which accused me of being a fundamentalist Christian.

That made me sit back for more than a moment and search through my 11 years of writing on the internet to see whether I had ever given cause to be considered as a fundamentalist Christian.

There was a time when I took part in a fundamentalist Hindu web discussion site where I came out strongly against Hindu Fundamentalism and Muslim extremism in the wake of the Gujarat massacre. It left a very bad taste in me to get into a discussion with a set of rabid and illiterate Hindu fundamentalists located all over the world who were foaming at the mouth when challenged about their fundamentalism.

Then there was a time when, thanks to Stephanian Prof. Sreenath Sreenivasan, Professor of Journalism at Columbia university, New York,I was looking in on the South Asian Journalists (SAJA) Discussion Forum where, again, a few well-educated Hindu Fundamentalist "journalists" were putting forward all sorts of arguments to prove "their" theories of the Indus Valley Civilisation to demonise other religious groups in India.

There was no limit to the twisting of the truth, very much as George Bush continues to use his "Christian Fundamentalist" values to kill innocent Afghanis and Iraqis to achieve his ends.

As a result I had decided not to be drawn again into such arguments as they only leave me with wanting to use a new mouthwash!

When I decided to wish Rev. Thambu well on his appointment as the Officiating Principal of St. Stephen's College, I had no idea that I was being drawn into a major controversy which is raging there.

I am 7000 km away from India. I have not visited India since the year 2000. I am not an expert on anything Indian. I have only my nostalgia of a time long gone by and that does not make me competent to even write a line in support or defense of policies of education, religious fundamentalism or any other matter related to what is taking place in India.

After much deliberation with my friends and my main confidante, I felt that I would only be adding fuel to the fire if I wrote about the controversies. After 8 weeks of much thought and prayer, my wife and I decided that we should not be embroiled in a battle of which we knew nothing about.

We have a reputation, which has been stated by many of our regular readers, that we have never done anything or written anything which violated the trust of all the different religious and ethnic groups that read our many blog pages.

When I went through the Indian Press Reports that I get daily, yesterday there was this one in the Times of India "Exclusive quota for backward Christians and Muslims in Tamil Nadu". This is for the second time that DMK Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has sought to provide exclusive reservation for specific castes in the backward classes catagory. In 1989, he had carved out 20 per cent of the 50 per cent reservation for Backward Classes for the Most Backward classes.

This has been Karunanidhi's vote gathering politics.

Rev. Valson Thambu's strategy was to divert the attention from his controversial appointment to a more amenable to improver his public ratings. In that he succeeded admirably by focusing on the concept of social justice.

To continue to stay away from the personal glare, yet another step was undertaken to undo anything controversial that previous Collge Principal had done. Rev. Thambu took steps to end the open ended permission that Principal Anil Wilson had given to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences (CMS), run by the Mathematical Sciences Foundation (MSF), by asking them to move out of the Stephania campus, causing a section of senior teachers at the college to protest.

What is happening in Stephania today is not based on the ideals that I imbibed in the educational institutions that I attended in India.

Principal Anil Wilson was obviously wrong to have made such an agreement with the MSF. The Bishop of North India was wrong to appoint his son onto the Supreme Council of the College. Principal Wilson was wrong to have continued to hold his position as Principal when he went forward as Vice Chancellor of another University. The Supreme Council was wrong to appoint Rev. Thambu as Officiating Principal when they had not resolved the issue with Principal Wilson. Principal Wilson was wrong to publicise his dissent. Rev. Thambu was wrong to start his tenure with moves meant to divert attention away from his appointment. Principal Thambu was wrong to cause the still waters of campus life to be stirred so violently.

And, all this is being done in the name of "education" and "Christ".

To me none of this stands up as promoting "Christian values".

I know there are many senior and outstandingly intellectual and honest alumni, before and of my era, in and around Delhi like B. G. Verghese, Rahul Bajaj, Ashok Jaitly, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Mani Shankar Ayar, Shanker Menon, John Dayal, etc., who have the depth of vision to tackle these issues rather than someone as uneducated as me who is so far away from home base to contribute anything worthwhile to resolving them.

All I can do is to tell my audience of all alma maters that what is happening in St. Stephen's College will happen in all minority institutions when internal and personal politics supersedes the values which we should adhere to.

I do not appreciate anonymous input. One should have the courage of convictions to put a name and identity to what one believes. Have the courage to call a spade a spade. As otherwise the spade is being called a bucket to hold the nightsoil!

Do I approve of the actions of the Bishop of North India, his son, former Principal Anil Wilson, or present Acting Principal Rav. Valson Thambu in what is happening in the college?

The answer, from this distance is - NO.

That is because it is not in keeping with the values which were imbibed by me from all my Indian alma maters - Good Shepherd Convent, Mysore, Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai and St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

These values have nothing to do with any religion. It has to do with Fair Play.

I request the alumni in all these institutions who are nearer to the home bases to get actively involved in the institutions that they love to ensure that what is happening in St. Stephen's College is not repeated elsewhere.

Percy on the move...

59er Percy Mistri and his beautiful wife, Frainy, continue their journey westwards.

Yet again, he has given this eastern territory a miss.

I had this great email from him, which made me feel just wonderful:

Hi Jacob,

I am sending these photographs that were taken yesterday when we visited Jack.


Jack and Percy - their common love - JAZZ.


59ers Jack and Percy with Percy's wife, Frainy.


Jack's wife, Toni, Percy's wife, Frainy with 59er Percy.

We had a very delightful time with Toni and Jack.

And all this thanks to you !!!

Also with due thanks to you we met Ellis and Haya Hyeem...............Sorry no PICTURES THERE .........FROM ME ...................AS I FORGOT TO TAKE MY CAMERA.

We are here in San Mateo for a month and a half, so let me know if there is anybody from our class nearby also in Chicago as we are due to go there too..................I have some work there ................

Hope you guys are well.

All the best

Cheers

Percy

As can be understood, Percy and Frainy met with 59er Ellis Hayeem and his wife, Haya, in New York and then met with 59er Jack Haskell and his wife, Toni, on his trip to US.

We have several other 59ers in the US. Besides Ellis and Jack, Armeane Choksi, Arvind Thadhani, Narayan Acharaya, Noel Ezekiel, Peter Miovic and Vikram Savara, are just a few among the lads out there that come to mind. If you can meet up with Bala's wife, who also may be somewhere in the California region, that would be just great.

I understand there are many of the 59er gals also there.

And if you are proceeding north of the border, you have the chance to meet 59er Hasnain Chinwalla, and through him a lot of our crowd in Toronto including our Physics teacher Willie Shiri and Narsys (née Irani) Punthakee.

Hope you continue to have a great time there just when our 59ers in Mumbai are having a Mini Reunion this Sunday to meet with Trevor Newnes who is on a fleeting visit to the western cities of Mumbai and Pune. the following 59ers are likely to be present at the mini reunion: Adi Cooper, Anil Ruia, Ashok Kapur, Ashok Ruia, Elijah Ooky Elias, Naubir Mohindar, Ratan Singara, Trevor Newnes, Venkat Kurma, Vijay Nayar, Vijay Shivdasani, Vikram Kamdar, Viney Sethi and many of their better halves,

Several Mumbaites are missing at this mini reunion, eg., Percy and Nihal Kaviratne are gallivanting around the world!

I am enjoying all these reunions in absentia, especially as I know all of you have both Annikki and me in your thoughts whenever you meet.

Have a great time, guys and gals, and do let me have those photographs.

Thank you, Goutam

I had a very nice email from a 57er in the US:

Dear Jacob,

Budni was a key facilitator in connecting me (and others) to Cat 57 after 49 years and it is good to your similar, keen interest with your blogsite.

Good luck in your continuing efforts

Goutam Hattiangadi,
Charleston, WV, USA

I remember Goutam quite vividly, but I had always thought his name was spelt as Gautam!

Thanks for the encouragement, Goutam, as it is simple emails like yours which keeps my spirits up and helps me continue my blogging.

Will some 57ers tell their classmate, Dharini (née Bhogilal) Anand, wife of another 57er Bhupinder Singh Anand, that her email INBOX is FULL and bouncing email.



News for 59ers in and near Mumbai. There is a mini reunion this Sunday 16th September to meet up with 59er Trevor Newnes who is due on a short visit to India. The picture above shows that Tevor was Head Boy in 1961!

Get in touch with 59er Vijay Shivdasani for more details if you want to meet up with Trevor. Expect quite a crowd to turn up as Trevor was extremely popular.

(Mr. Vijay Nayar - Have you taken steps to get your name put on this Board?)

Those watching the stock market would have noted the results of YES Bank, in which 59er Ashok Kapur is the non-executive Chairman. This year the bank has shown a good profit of around Rs. 944 million compared with last year of around Rs. 553 million. The stock price is hovering around Rs. 185 - which appears to be still a great buy.

I went to the Indiatimes website, where I have an email account (hardly ever used till now), and I saw they offer a WALLET365 service which seems quite original for making payments in India from any bank account in India. I have not seen such an equivalent service in Finland where I have been using computer banking from 1987 onwards.

I was also happy to note that the cooperating bank for this services is the YES Bank. Anyone willing to guide me on this and its effectivity!

Maybe for the 59ers 50th Year 2009 Reunion (more about this in a few days - so stay tuned) I could possibly make all my Indian payments through this service.

I am really unhappy with the inefficient service offered by Indian Bank where I have had my account since the last 30 years.