16th Dec 2022
Dear family and friends.
Ron and I found the isolation over the past three years very tough. Especially Ron who felt that three years of his travelling life was taken away. Ron is 93 and a half, and I turned 83 last month. We did take a short cruise from Vancouver to Alaska on Sep14th, hoping the worst was over. We welcomed the trip, but found that things were not the same. Almost everyone was dining alone, so one couldn’t meet new friends. We returned on Sep.26th. The next day Ron went down with Covid, and I followed a few days later. Ron got a mild attack, but I had a high fever for a few days, lost my sense of taste and smell, and was left tired for quite a while. We are both on the mend but unfortunately old age is taking its toll, and Ron has been suffering with spasms in the neck and pains in his thumbs due to calcification and degeneration.
However, isolation also had its blessings: Ron really appreciated the online prayer services conducted by the Rev Tim and his assistants every weekday, a true source of peace and inspiration. Ron was also able to read some excellent books, best of all “The Other Side of Morning” written by Stephen, his first novel which is doing well in the book stores and has garnered some excellent reviews.
We are looking forward to spending Christmas with both our children Stephen and Cheryl, the grandchildren, and great- grandchildren.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish each one of you a very Happy Christmas, and a New year filled with God’s blessings for good health, Peace, and happiness.Ronald and Yvonne, Mum and Dad, Grandpa and Gammy
21st Dec
My dear Mr & Mrs Goss,
My thanks for your mail and your Christmas Greetings. Warmly reciprocate the sentiments and on behalf of us Old Cottonians, my family and I we wish you a very happy Christmas and all the very best of health and happiness in the Coming Year.
I am truly sorry to learn that the Covid virus interrupted so much of your lives with illness and its attendant side effects.
I recall that you are inveterate and long established cruise travellers. The last figure was over 90 cruises or so which is a certainly a number not many of us have the stamina and / or the funds to undertake. Remarkably active for your respective ages and we now begin to discover what the years do to you as 70 year olds. You are well over that number !! You have kept yourselves in excellent shape and I will not attribute that to the genes alone. A well measured active life makes all the difference as so many of us are now discovering. The frequent complaints you encounter from friends these days is knee aches, arthritis, gastro changes, damaged lungs, cardiac ailments and most don’t even know about memory loss until you realise that he is using the wrong name to address you !! I have often been called, “Vinay” instead of ‘Vijay” by nameless old friends !!
I had the pleasure of reading Stephen’s book. It was a pleasure and this writer is gifted. My compliments.
May I please request you to send us some of your latest photographs. Speaking of photographs, Mrs Goss you will probably have overseen the largest number of children for any matron of Linlithgow given the long years you spent there. The number of boys who remember you is particularly large. Incidentally did you know that Kanhaiya Lal fell to an incurable case of syphilis and Jaktu died of a cardiac arrest ?
It will also interest you to know that Linlithgow has been disbanded and children are inducted into School in a higher age category. During the 1950’s boys as young as 4 and 5 years old joined School and were parked at the Linlithgow dormitory under the care of some of the finest matrons who played mother with huge success. They are still remembered with a great deal of affection – and love.
Warm and sincere wishes for a Merry Christmas and a laughter filled and happy 2023. Add another cruise!!
Very sincerely
Vijay
Vijay Khurana
22nd Dec
Dear Vijay
Thanks for sharing the email from Mrs Goss. Teaching, I think, is a noble profession, as the teacher inspires and influences the lives of hundreds of youngsters.
I take this opportunity to wish all OCs and Mrs and Mr Goss, a Very Merry Xmas.
I hope it brings love and cheer to all your families, and spreads goodness all around.
Warm regards from warm Singapore
SM Singh
Curzon 57-64—
Best Regards
SM Singh
Thank you Vijay for sharing Mr.and Mrs. Goss’s email with the warm Christmas greetings.
Many good wishes and greetings for Christmas and the coming year to you ,Mr. and Mrs. Goss
all OC’s current Cottonians , Teachers and staff..May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
traditional Gaelic blessingWarmly
N.K.Akers
My dear Mr & Mrs Goss,
Thank you for your quick reply.
I am taking the liberty of circulating your mail. There is so much about the Goss family in your mail. There is, at the same time, a large body of interested former students who are eager to learn, “Where and what are Mr & Mrs Goss doing these days “ !! Some have already sent you individually addressed greetings for the Season.
You certainly chose one of the colder countries to migrate to but climate has hardly been a deterrent for those choosing Canada. It would appear that it is the preferred choice still and now a more welcoming destination than the United States. All I can say is please keep yourselves warm!!
Jagtu died of a cardiac arrest and this is a well known medical issue with hill folks. I did not know Kidaru and I daresay he is unlikely to be around. Changes take place all the time. Those who journey back to School with a certain feeling of familiarity and even ownership find it hard to assimilate the changes that have occurred. It goes against the grain, as it were, to their entire system. The patronising cry of agony is, “ How dare they do this, it was never the case when I was here!!”
I have not been able to retain any kind of contact with Mr Das Gupta and I fear he may have passed on. He was in a fairly fragile state when I last contacted him which is a long while ago.
Finally, we wish you a lovely and pleasant cruise, free from the mundane daily chores of cooking and cleaning. You deserve the break and you have found an outlet that you are familiar with. Besides, you seem to enjoy it enormously.
I will write to you separately about the wedding.
Once again, good wishes for Christmas and the very best in the Coming Year.
Warm regards
Very sincerely
Vijay
Vijay Khurana
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all .
sudhir kashyap
Merry Christmas mr mrs Goss R S Sodhi
Dear Vijay
Thanks for sharing the email from Mrs Goss. Teaching, I think, is a noble profession, as the teacher inspires and influences the lives of hundreds of youngsters.
I take this opportunity to wish all OCs and Mrs and Mr Goss, a Very Merry Xmas.
I hope it brings love and cheer to all your families, and spreads goodness all around.
Warm regards from warm Singapore
SM Singh
Curzon 57-64—
Best Regards
SM Singh
Tag Archives: NK Akers
Thank you – from Mr. Ronald Goss
Dear O.Cs:
Deepak Thakur, N.K. Akers, Gurrinder Khanna, Arvind Narula, and I am sure I came across Dan Dhanoa somewhere on this page, thank you so much for your greetings. I wish I could have had a big party on my 91st birthday and had all of you there, but this pesky virus made that impossible. However, I had a wonderful birthday; first of all, the day couldn’t have started off any better than it did with that phone call from Delhi from a gentleman by the name of Vijay Khurana; it made my day. The rest of 3rd May, 2020, was spent on the phone talking to so many beautiful people and reading and responding to fifty or more messages. You call that “isolation”? It was very kind and thoughtful of you to remember an old teacher who has now moved into that stage so aptly described by Will Shakespeare thus:
The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.
And Vijay (Khurana) thank you for relaying our conversation of the 3rd so brilliantly. As always, you were so generous in your remarks. Mrs. Goss and I feel so blessed if in any small way we contributed to your success in life. Congratulations to you, one and all, for your remarkable accomplishments as true ambassadors of your school and your families.
Many thanks again. It is a privilege to have know you and had some part in who you are today.
Ronald Goss (BCS 1956-64)
P.S. Gurrinder Khanna, Mrs. Goss was so thrilled to read your message. She loved you boys as your matron.
“REUNIONS”
Came across this poem…. Thought I’d share it..
The heartthrob of the school,
is a man grim and sombre.
That lanky little girl,
is now a weightlifter.
The topper of the class,
is a happy homemaker.
Back bencher of the lot,
is an entrepreneur.
The flamboyant fashionista,
became a dreaded lawyer.
Oft ignored average Joe,
turned a well-known writer.
The one who failed math paper,
is a fashion designer,
And one who often got to stand outside the class, is a respected army officer.
The reunion taught me how,
people came with many layers,
and tell me why should we never,
judge a book by its cover.
Comment: We have seen our fair share of such situations.
Bittu Sahgal become an authority on animal conservation, especially the tiger, though he first started by selling Milton buckets and then entered the printing business!
R S Sodhi became a judge after he could no longer fly planes for the IAF !!
Brandy Gill a corporate honcho who brought Gillette to India (an interesting story there). Tennis, his BCS back ground and his qualifications as a chartered accountant got him there with the aid of a few good women!!
B M Singh, Chairman of the Central Board of Taxes, and his ability to handle people and situations – brilliantly !!
Rajive Sawhney, an ace lawyer he was determined to be. He wanted nothing else and he tore his heart out debating whenever he could. It began early.
CM Kohli, a real estate magnate and smoked every one else out of business !
SM Singh, a brilliant entrepreneur who otherwise was the quietest guy around
N K Akers, a hospitality expert and that affable temperament that fit perfectly. He resides in Cairo and has been there for over 30 years now.
Vinod Pawa, a university professor. Actually that capability would have fit anywhere and done exceptionally well.
Param Inder Singh, vastly successful inventor and entrepreneur in the field medical devices business while he first set out to become an aeronautical engineer
Guljit Kochhar, an expert in the plastic moulding business expanded into plastic products. He currently employs 700 people !! He got into the game only because a programme coordinator suggest he take a trip to see some other parts of the US during a college break !!
Mohit Goyal, became an IT entrepreneur when he flipped a job advertisement page that his father sent him and was attracted to what IBM had to offer on the other side of the sheet !!
Also remember those with warmth and feeling who never really entered life or reached their full potential. Shiv Raj Singh, who died of an anaphylactic shock from an injection straight after school or Ashok Dina Nath in a tragic road accident. May they rest in peace. In a lot of other cases Fate just did not carry them to the destiny that may have awaited them !!
There are so many more. The names listed above are suggestive based on a spontaneous listing and certainly not exhaustive.
Warmly
Vijay [Khurana], BCS class of 1962.