Monthly Archives: October 2009

MESSAGE OF THE CLASS OF 1954 – those who attended the Sesquicentennial

MESSAGE OF THE CLASS OF 1954 (THOSE WHO CAME)

 

This is the message from the eleven members of the 1954 class who gathered at Shimla from the four corners of the globe for the sesquicentennial celebrations of Bishop Cotton School.

55 Years Ago, the school equipped us with the qualities of character, courage, resource, honesty and dedication of purpose and sent us out into the world to take our places as citizens of society. After 55 years we have now come back to compare notes on what we did, where we went and to tell our “Alma Mater” that where ever we went we tried to live up to the expectations of this great Institution, the BCS.

These are the individual stories of the boys of the 1954 class who having battled against overwhelming odds to establish their niches in their own spheres and have come to pay homage to their Alma Mater and tell their stories.

Behram Irani: He came all the way from Geneva (Switzerland). He worked his way up in the sphere of Finance against tremendous odds and is now considered in Switzerland as an authority on the subject (Teaching the Swiss in what they are most famous for Finances). 

Sumanjit Singh:  He came from Munich, Germany to tell us about his remarkable story. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and is now with the Audi Auto Plant where he is teaching/assisting the Germans in what they are best at i.e. making cars.

Dr. Daljit Singh:  He is a renowned and highly respected dentist in Hounslow (a suburb of London) and brought with him a fascinating story of how he had worked his way up in a foreign land and established a name and reputation for himself and kept the school flag flying.

Inderjit Singh Chadda:  He came from New Zealand where he is now settled in Christ Church (and apart from his Consultancy in Travel and Tourism; he has also taken up considerable amount of social work). His is a remarkable story of a career as an Airline Pilot (Captain) of Air India and Malaysia Airlines and of his journey to New Zealand where he is now settled.

D Singh (Cecil): A member of the Royal family of Patiala. His is the story of a man who inspired his wife (Smt Amarjit Kaur) to be elected as a Member of the Parliament and become a very prominent and respected person in political circles in Punjab.

Rajju Gupta: He has established himself in his Century old family concern as one of the most well known suppliers of Ceramics bath room fittings in Delhi. He has graciously promised a special discount to old Cottonians hereafter.

 Brijesh Narain: He hails from Delhi and narrated the story of his remarkable career as an Executive and now has set up his own factory in Delhi.

Col Robindra Dewan (Alias Wendy Dewan):  An alumni of the National Defence Academy he was commissioned into the Armoured Corps, where he commanded a Regiment with distinction. At the same time he excelled in Cricket and was selected for the Inter Services Cricket Team. But his most remarkable innings has been after retiring from the Army. He has settled in Shimla and has done yeoman service for the school. Wendy Dewan has been the back bone of the OCA for the past 20 years. We owe it to him for getting us all together for the great celebration.

Ranjit Puri:  In the Class we remember him as the one who got successive double promotions. A sugar baron of renown. His is one of the most respected names in the sugar manufacturing industry in Northern India.

Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia:  A member of one of the erstwhile princely families of Himachal Pradesh. An alumni of the Indian Military Academy where he had the unique distinction of being awarded the coveted “Sword of Honour”. He was commissioned into a Gorkha Regiment and served the Army with distinction. He took premature retirement and took to active politics where he is remembered as one of the most versatile as Minister of Tourism of Himachal Pradesh. He has thereafter done yeoman service to the School.

Brig Harish K Dhawan: He is also an alumni of National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in 1958.  A Post Graduate Engineer, he has also taken active part in the UN Operations in Congo in 1962-63 and Indo Pak Wars in 1965 and 1971. In the Corps of Engineers he took up sailing and was a National Champion in Yachting. He has now settled in Delhi.

Some of the others who could not come were Paul Tonk, Vinnie (Toti) Aggarwal and Jogi Rudra.

The Message which all of us want to convey is that wherever we have gone out in to the world we have tried to live up to the standards set for us by the school; so that people could say, “There goes a Cottonian – a man of courage and character”.

Our message to the school (which put us through our paces) is that

We have come from the four corners of the globe, on this occasion and to say that we thank the school for putting us through our paces so that we could stand on our own feet and take our places as respectable citizens in society and that we have not been found wanting in any manner”.

We have participated with joy in the festivities of this occasion. We all watched with great happiness and satisfaction the high class shows the school had put up, and the meticulous manner in which all the activities were planned. We go back with great sense of satisfaction, knowing that the school is in safe and capable hands.

 In conclusion I would like to borrow an expression which I want to say on my behalf and on behalf of all other classmates who had come that: I was a very lucky man, lucky because I was a Cottonian, not everybody can have such luck

(HK Dhawan)
Brig (Retd)
For and on behalf of Class of 1954

Roshan Lal Vashisht [ex BCS Hindi teacher]

RoshanLal004

Dear OCs

Mr. Roshan Lal taught Hindi at BCS from 1960 to 1985 and was also the warden at Remove for  many years. Now 84, Mr. Roshan Lal is in ill health and is in dire need of financial assistance.

Several OCs have recently been up to the village near Palampur [Himachal Pradesh, India] where he lives and moved him to better housing/accommodation, have got him medical attention, provided him with funds to take care of immediate needs, and have also set up a bank account from where a monthly amount will be disbursed for his needs.

Many OCs have already contributed towards this good cause.  We will list the names and contributions once we have tracked them all.

OCs Karan Sarin and Arun Sawhney have been actively involved in making arrangements at Palampur and mobilizing funds.

NOVEMBER/1/2009 UPDATE:

The Himachal Chapter of the OCA held a meeting at Shimla on 31st October. It was decided that the Himachal Chapter would be leading the initiative on behalf of  the OCA for the welfare of Mr. Roshan Lal.

All OCs  are requested to transfer funds/ pay cheques at par/demand drafts to the a/c of OCA Himachal. Also, they are requested to inform the Himachal Chapter and webmaster@oldcottonians.org regarding the transfers made to this a/c. The details of this a/c are :
 
Account name : Old Cottonian Association ( OCA Himachal).
Account number: 050010100080130
Bank: Axis Bank
Branch : Shimla
Address: GF/FF Durga Cottage, SDA Commercial Complex, Kasumpti, Shimla -171009, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Or, payments can be mailed to:
Dinesh M SUD
47, THE MALL
Shimla 171001
HP INDIA.
+91-9418057500

Nov/2/2009: FURTHER INFO HAS BEEN POSTED HERE

All such remittances should be informed to the following persons by email so that they can track the payments and keep you updated on the usage of your donation:
Arun Sawhney hilltechindia@gmail.com+ Vijay [Kuttu] Singh kvijaysingh@hotmail.com + OCA Webmaster webmaster@oldcottonians.org 

All OCs are requested to help out in donating what ever they can.
All contribution and donations are exempt under section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act 1961.
Thank you.
Sincerely,

THE OLD COTTONIANS ASSOCIATION

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Jaspal Sawhney : Thank you all

Dear OCs

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla – Sesquicentennial Celebrations

I am to thank each one of you, those who came to the celebrations, and those who could not, for contributing to the spirit of the celebrations.

Each function was a tremendous success and well attended. Frankly, none of the organizers could have forecast such a good attendance. The functions could not have succeeded without team work, and I am grateful, personally, and on behalf of OCA to everybody who put in so much time and effort to make the functions memorable. I wish to specially thank the following

  1. Board of Directors & Deep Anand who gave the vision for the functions.
  2. The headmaster along with his staff members, who meticulously charted every minute of the celebrations. The ambiance and the food provided at the dinner on 2nd October was something to dream off. John Whitmarsh Knight, Ms. Prabhudas, Mr. Mathews who put up with my numerous queries and requirements on a daily basis.
  3. Sukhinder Singh & Ajay Thiara who organised the evening at Chandigarh which went on till the wee hours of the morning. The train journey from Kalka to Shimla along with the lunch at Barog which was full of nostalgia. The Punjabi lunch on 3rd October, and, of course, arranging for Adnan Sami to perform for us.
  4. Students of BCS who performed at the musical play which could very easily have received a standing ovation at any theatre on Broadway. The school teams of cricket and football who made us heady with wins against Aitchison College, Lahore. Mrs. Joy Michael for producing the musical play.
  5. Narinder Chauhan, Harish Janartha, DM Sud, Pritinder Singh who provided all the local logistics support and the wonderful setting at the dinner at hotel Peter Holf.
  6. Anupam Thapa for his tireless work to put together the coffee table book which was sold out in the first day itself.
  7. Chandan Ratra who managed and coordinated with all the various players and put together the logistics for the BCS play and the musical evening.
  8. Rajpal Duggal and Ashwini Virk who coordinated the memorabilia as well as the hotel accommodation at Shimla.
  9. K.C.Anand who managed the coup de tat by bringing the headmaster of Aitchson College along with his football and cricket team to play against BCS.
  10. Anil Advani who constantly updated messages on the web so that all participants were aware of the events which would unfold. Wendy Dewan and SS Rai who gave me their inputs in respect of functioning of the OCA
  11. Anil Mehra for giving me his unstinted support on every occasion, whether I was right or I was wrong.
  12. Parmeet Sawhney who managed the PR and the press and ensured coverage of the various events in spite of grave setbacks.

In addition to the above, many many OC’s, staff members, Cottonians contributed, the list of which would go on and on .

Thank you all.

Best Regards,
Jaspal Sawhney