Manu Maharani Hotel, Nainital June 3, 2008
10:55 pm
I went to the dictionary, the thesaurus, the
Encarta Encyclopedia and partially into my
own very limited brain to find an adequate
expression to describe 'nostalgia' and was
unable to get anything that could possibly
describe my visit to Sherwood College, my
alma mater, this evening.
50 years !! The Class of 1958 !!
These are not just explanation marked
MacBook Pro key board typed words.
This is a lifetime. A lifetime of incredible
passage of time. Of incredible moments and
events. Events that built you into what you
are today. Your study your profession, your
family and friends, your achievements and
failures, virtually your entire growth as a
human.
But all of that seemed to have been pushed
aside into some corner of my system as I
traveled up the road to Nainital this
morning. With each turn on the steep winding
drive, a page of my three years in School
opened, remained for an excited moment
between my fingers and then slipped away to
the next.
Nainital had become crowded, buildings and
structures usurping the scenic green of the
mountains. The lake looked as though it had
lost a great deal of water and the good old
wooden boats that were plied by eager
oarsmen had been replaced by plastic fun
flotillas. Mankind's modern mode of
transport was everywhere, announcing their
presence arrogantly. There were fewer people
walking and even fewer horses - our only
luxury of times past. The automobile now
drove right up to the school gate and the
presence of a lot more cement was so
evident.
But Sherwood, with all the cosmetic changes
of time, was Sherwood. As I slowly walked up
to the Principals residence 1956 and '57 and
'58 just came right back as though they had
never gone by.
Ushered in graciously by Mr Sandhu and staff
into his quarters I could barely pay
attention to the conversation that
transpired.
This was the very room where the Rev RC
Llewelyn our Principal, whom we sadly lost a
few months back, entertained us over a cup
of cocoa and biscuits if we had done
something exceptional for the school. Played
us old songs on a wind up mechanism. One
that still remains with me and one that I
have never been able to trace in any music
archive went 'Ha..ha..ha..ha..A Flea !' in
its ending refrain.
The caning room, next door - a permanent
feature in our lives then, where the
choicest well oiled canes were stored and
where the mini wheel barrow like obstacle
stood in one corner, whose handles we were
told to bend down and hold so our posteriors
were exposed to the Cambridge Blue Tennis
forehand wallop of the Reverend, cane
replacing racquet, the first wack taking our
breath away with pain and the rest that
followed not making any impression because
the cheeks had been numbed into submission
by then - now, being introduced to me by
present Principal, ironically, as my bedroom
where I could rest during my stay at
Sherwood !!
Out of the office and residence of 'Princi'
and walking down towards Horsman Wing,
Junior School and the long covered passage
we would run up on from the playing field
after the first bell for assembly and dinner
was announced. However did we do it !! At 66
its an ordeal to take even a step !
The Infirmary on the right, yes the very one
I spoke of in earlier blog, up ahead Milman
Hall, the playing field and a pause at the
corner there to just take in the many
sporting highlights - runner up in the high
jump, that amazing relay we won over our
rivals SEM (St Joseph's College), Chris
Borthwick's save in goal during a historic
football draw, Sohan Singh's electric
gymnastics over the horse, PC 'Camel' Mathur
and SS Bajwa 'Baj' winning for our house
Robin Hood - everything so vivid and clear.
And I tear away from there and look left and
there, standing in a group by the railing of
the swimming pool that we had dug with our
own hands, rock by rock and built brick by
brick, stood the Class of 1958 !!
SS Bajwa and Mohan Singh, Jaspal Singh and
Bhargava, SP Singh, Chris Borthwick, Sohan
Singh, Mathai Joseph, John Kurrien, Zafar
Ahmed, KPS Bal, RC Yadav, Chittwal and
Inderjit Khanna.
Time stops !
Nothing is spoken.
Just the smiles and laughter and the
embraces and long endearing hugs, some
spoken words coming through, no one knows
what, it doesn't matter. It's Sherwood 1958
!
The Junior School is performing a concert
tonight and the audiences milling around us
are being shoved by security so we can find
our way into Milmi (school lingo for Milman
Hall). Strange how lingo and attitude return
back to us. We are back to addressing each
other by our pet names - Tich and Baj and
Zaf and Gingi - nothing's changed.
We are grey haired, spectacled, bald and
wrinkled, generously paunched and heavier,
our movements slow and labored, we have our
wives with us and some of us, our sons and
son-in-laws and grandsons, but...
We are the Class of 1958 and we are back in
School !
And later over dinner we huddle together in
one of the new facilities by the Infirmary,
exchanging photo albums, which each one of
us has diligently brought along, of times
past. We laugh and joke at our escapades.
Just us. Sitting by ourselves in the dim
light of the covered badminton courts. And
we decide -
' Hey ! Lets all pool in and do something
for Sherwood. Something that the School
needs, some memorable asset, something fun
that the kids can enjoy, just something..'
And as we disperse we look forward to
tomorrow. To meeting the Princi to discuss
our plan. To have a group photograph in the
front quadrangle; in exactly the same
positions we had stood to have ours done 50
years ago !
And to pay homage to our Principal the late
Rev RC LLewelyn, one of the finest that
Sherwood had, in a commemoration service at
the chapel.
May the Almighty rest his soul and give it
the peace and tranquility it so richly
deserves. Amen !