THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE CLASS OF 1954
23-26 SEP 2004, BCS, SIMLA
50 eventful years have mellowed the Class of 54- a class of 29 boys for the Senior Cambridge. The fairytale reunion coincided with Speech Day from 23-26 Sept 04 in School. Most of the class had left at the age of 16 & returned at the age of 66. This nostalgic trip down memory lane has to be experienced to believe. The camaraderie , exchange of bear hugs , meandering down memory lane, reminiscing the mischief , canning , studying under quilts for the final winter exams, attending the mark reading in the Irwin Hall and the HM announcing “29……, 28….., 27….., these boys have failed ….” & Then the Silence ! Irwin Hall hissed with relief !! Sanawar matches, “bogs”, naked showers etc, chipoo’s tuck shop with “Aloo- tak” & the numerous trips to town to see movies/Aucky & Chelsie girls!! When we had mumps & there was no town leave, it was always a mystery as to how Aucky also acquired mumps.
The school looked splendid , dressed as it were. The School put out a red-carpet treatment and the Class of 54 responded gratefully. The events commenced with a Three Act English Play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennassae William – perhaps the best play in the last 10 years, followed by drinks at the HM’s Lodge. The Class of 54 hosted a dinner thereafter. The Chapel Service next day was outstanding. A special prayer was said for Surinder Singh from the Class 54 who after making all reservation was admitted to a hospital. The school Padre blessed and prayed for 9 of our classmates who are no longer with us. A plaque was erected between the Vestry and Altar in the School Chapel, given at the end of the article. At the High Table Lunch, momentos were presented to the class of 54. The most outstanding event was the NCC parade , Mass P.T. display followed by a Torch light display. Thereafter, the HM hosted a dinner at the Lodge for the visitors. At the dinner, all the Old Boys, specially the class of 54 kept saying “……better than our times….”.
The next day was Speech Day followed by dinner at Clarkes hosted by Toti Aggarwal. On Sunday , the “oldies” were not upto Golf at Naldera , but attended the lunch hosted by Col Dewan at Baldian, Simla-7, along with other OCs of Simla.
We are now planning to meet again 2009-2010 at the age of 70-71 for the Sesquicentennial of the School and the Centenary of the OCA.
Thank you Headmaster & thank you Bishop Cotton!
Those who attended from the class of 54
Paul Tonk, Dr. Sumanjit Singh(Germany), Dr Daljit Singh(England), Col R Dewan, Harkishen Singh, V.K Aggarwal, Brijesh Narain, R Gupta, A.S Gill(Malaysia), Kamaljit Singh, K.B Khanna, Maj. Vijay Singh Mankotia, B.D. Irani(Switzerland).
Those who could not attend due to various reasons after making all reservations
Maj. Balwant Singh, Surinder Singh, Brig H.K Dhawan , Ranjit Puri.
Greetings were sent by
Pratap Sharma( Bombay ), Inderjit Chadda( New Zealand ) , Prabala SJB Rana( Nepal ambassador to UK ).
Other OCs who attended
I S Bath(R 48-55), Andreas Kirschner II(R 46-50)(Germany), Napinder Chahal(C 43-51), Ripudaman(L 48-52), G.S Dhingra(L 1943), K.C Anand(R 48-56), Bharat Inder Singh(C 51-59), Anup Singh(I 54-60), Mr. & Mrs. Advani(S 50-76), Anil & Geeta Sikand( C 47-57) , Peshi S Nat(I 61-71).
Not to Forget
D Singh(Cecil) who turned up for Lunch two weeks after the event at Baldian at Col R Dewan’s Residence, stating that he was not sure which class he was from, having joined 2 classes ahead of us and finished 2 behind !!
Our Contribution
The Class decided to raise funds for the School Museum .
I am also requesting other members of our class to send in whatever they like. Your cheques / bank Draft should be crossed to OCA( India ), payable at Shimla. We are hoping Ranjit Puri may send a matching amount ! So please “Shugh up”! and donate in some measure what we have taken from the school.
“What You Give; You Take Away. What You Save, You Leave Behind !”
We would like to thank Kirschner II , Anup and Kidoo Bath , though not from our class, for participating and donating. We hope the others will also. Thanks also go out to Paul , Kidoo, Mukherjee(I 54-65) for donating a lovely golfing momento and to Anil Dev(my son-in-law) for donating a sleeve of golf balls and Golf-Line magazine to the golfers.
We were honoured by the presence of Mr. and Mrs. A Advani. Thank you!
It was wonderful to be together again, old friends met at their alma mater ; recalled their childhood days, sang the School Song, & once again the world is young!
In Honoured Memory of our Classmates:
R.S Ahluwalia (I)
Kay Cursetjee (R 48-49)
Kanwaljit Singh (L)
Sqn Ldr A S Kullar (I), VrC
Narain J Malkani
Sohinder Singh (I)
Vijay Ratan Sud (C)
Suresh Kumar (I )
K. Lt Col Jatinder Talwar.
May their souls rest in peace.
Erected by the Class of 1954 on their Golden Jubilee Reunion 2004
Col. R. Dewan
R,1947-1954, Staff 1990-2001