Celebrating the life of Inderjit Singh Bawa
[Inderjit Singh Bawa 07 July 1942 – 24 January 2025]
Final farewell on 27 January 2025
High Tea 4-5pm at 6 Hailey Road, New Delhi.
[Inderjit Singh Bawa 07 July 1942 – 24 January 2025]
Final farewell on 27 January 2025
High Tea 4-5pm at 6 Hailey Road, New Delhi.
Sadly announce the passing on of Inderjit Singh Bawa
24th January 2025
Dear Editor OCA,
It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of my dear husband Behram D. Irani on 24th Dec. 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.He leaves behind his wife Gool, daughter Roneesha, son Kaizad and family.
Behram Irani was at BCS 1950-1954 in Lefroy House.
Harry was the sum of his parts. These parts were many but at the end you had a man of utter simplicity.
That is not the impression he conveyed when I first set my eyes on him in 1954. He was timid, I thought, until you discovered he was intelligent, dedicated and committed with firm views that he held with a fierce passion. He was not a man you defeated easily on any intellectual matter. He was confident and assured. He spoke in a soft manner with ideas that were built with a great deal of clarity of thought. It showed in his academic worth and he was always among the toppers in his class.
Harry was obedient. He was shy. He was devout.
In retrospect, Harry embodied all the fine qualities for the professional position he came to occupy. He was no brawn and he was not the daring kind but his sense of fairness, justice and all that was correct and right were attractive attributes.
Here are some comments about Harry by his friends from the Class of 1962:
“Harry loved his dogs and guns. He used to go hunting in the college. days with his dogs and whosoever wanted to join him. He never shot at a sitting bird. The ones that took off were invariably brought down as he was a crack shot. His dogs were always winning prizes. He inherited these qualities from his father who kept a stuffed tiger in the drawing room in his Sector 10 house. Later he would go clay pigeon shooting” – Yogesh Uberoi
“ I think you must be aware that his forefinger had been partially injured when he was crawling out of the side open drain from the swimming pool. The main door from there was closed. This was in the passage from the HM house to the pool. I was there and we rushed him to the hospital from where he was sent to Rippon. I can’t remember who else was there with me
Somehow we were locked on the swimming pool area, the door to the swimming pool had been closed from outside. we decided to climb on the khud side to get out. The person ahead of Harry slipped & stones were dislodged and they came hurtling down and Harry ‘s forefinger, first digit was cut, and hung by the skin. We took him to hospital & from there he was sent to Rippon hospital ” Ramesh Suthoo
(Comment: minor addition: The swimming pool was locked and this drain hole offered a short cut from the gym side up to the dorms. The entry from the second flat was inaccessible since an event was in progress that morning. Post monsoon a stone from the khud side dislodged itself and came like a sharp knife on Harry’s finger, a slitter like action, which caused the injury)
“Harry loved music and he played the mouthorgan very well . He could play any tune popular in those days” Harmeet Mamik
“A very fine legacy. The embodiment of a gentleman OC. We are all proud to also call him our classmate” Mohit Goyal
“He had a lovely record collection. I often used to visit his house and listen to the lovely music collection. This was when we were at college” RLV Nath
“Harry always conducted himself within the rules of the school and never strayed, a relatively quiet gentleman and one who didn’t take issue with anyone. He was very conscientious in his studies and if I remember correctly always in the top three in academics. All in all a very fine and good human being. Will miss him” NK Mehra
[click pictures for larger view]
After Harry cut his forefinger, and it was never adequately restored because Simla did not have the requisite medical facilities for a surgery that required great skill, his parents came up to Simla. He went home for some months for treatment and recovery. He toyed with the idea of using his left hand instead but managed efficiently with his right hand and the little stub of a forefinger. He was persistent in all he did. I can see him struggling to get past the qualifying line for the marathon, with Mr Advani urging him on from the sidelines, with just a few seconds to go and make it in time !! He never gave up, a trait that was inculcated in him. He consequently recovered from the injury rather well with his confidence restored.
Harry was a pacifist. During the phase in the Cold War and, we were old enough to read about international events, Khrushchev had that year made a frightening speech at the UN culminating with an exhibition of shoe thumping in 1960. It seemed that the world was on the brink of another world war. We were worried. Harry, Guzder (Curzon House) and I decided to write to Khrushchev urging him to show restraint. The three of us earnestly sat in a class room with Harry in the centre and a letter was written. Of course the author, the brainy guy, was Harry. We then ambled up to the letter box that stood behind the Headmaster’s office and deposited our earnest missive to Khrushchev. Two days later, during dinner time, Fred Brown flourished the letter and announced with a smile on his face, “Khrushchev, come and get your letter, the postman cannot deliver it!!” A rather sheepish Harry got up and collected the envelope much to the amusement all around.
Harry’s father seemed like a tall strapping man. He looked taller because he wore a “taller” turban with a “tur” , which is an extension of the usual turban but stands flat upright atop the conventional head gear and flutters about like the feathers atop a peacock’s crown. He, consequently, looked imposing (at that age at any rate to us!!) . The parents would come and affectionately hug their pampered boy and pat their hands over his soft cheeks. On their departure, we would then walk up to Harry and stroke his cheeks, perhaps, as affectionately. It was almost like a petting pool. We laughed but Harry blushed though he never responded to our little amusing venture.!!
Harry was close friends from time to time with most of his class mates particularly from Curzon, Ravi Rikhye, Ramesh Suthoo and the others but towards his final years he spent a great deal of time on the bench outside the Headmaster’s office with Amarvir Singh discussing spiritual matters. Those discussions may have even sharpened his instincts for the ethical and the strong desire to never deviate from the righteous and the right. Ethics mattered a great deal to him and it showed in his professional conduct. Harry was never swayed by any external influence or factor in all the decisions he delivered. He was upright, ramrod straight and not amenable to any inducements or suggestions, never delivering any favour no matter how close the relative or friend the person might be. He was in that sense intractable never wavering from what he considered honest, true and correct.
In a school where Hindi was a subsidiary, even neglected subject, Harry excelled. I recall Mr G Shanker informing us that there were only two boys in School who took dictation in Hindi perfectly never committing even one error, Harry and Amarvir Singh, he announced. Harry never got wrong any word in any dictation placing the right alphabet even for a similar sounding consonant or word. Perfection it was for him. He was conscientious.
This distinguished individual carried all the virtues that your scripture suggests are the qualities of good conduct. Harry fulfilled that bill almost completely though I daresay he was very human and not without his foibles or his faults. However, all that hardly mattered in the balance and he was one of the finest specimens of a good product that Bishop Cotton School saw past its hallowed portals.
Harry made us proud and may he rest in peace. Good bye, Dear Friend.
– Vijay Khurana
Message received from Pawan Kumar Pawa [aka AKOO]:
Extremely devastated to inform the untimely demise of my cousin Avnesh Kumar Pawa in Singapore.
School Prefect Rivaz House.
1970 Batch
He was a very good soul if you could recall him being room mates with Dosco Sweety Bawa & Jaggu in the Spiders Cottage near the School Gate & next to the Advani’s residence.
Our deepest condolences to the Pawa Family, all of Avnesh’s Friends and Loved ones.
The following sad message received via Ms Kennedy – OC’s Coordinator at BCS on October 25th 2024:
“It is with the greatest sadness we announce the passing of Old Cottonian and BCS Governor Mr Deep C Anand today (he died peacefully in his sleep).
Our deepest condolences to his wife Kiran and his entire family, and the many people who loved him around the globe.
A two minute silence was held in his honour this morning at the Sports Day parade, and we will be holding a chapel service at 5pm. It’s a big loss for all of us, may God grant him eternal peace. Rest In Peace Sir.”
Deep Anand was The Driver of so many productive initiatives for the OCA, apart from the business empire he built.
He gave the OCA a life and a momentum that never flagged under his stewardship. It flourished.
He has our abiding gratitude and our thanks
While may he rest in peace, Heaven will be another place with his forceful presence!!
God bless him.
Vijay Khurana
To commemorate the life of our beloved Father
Mr. Jagdeep Singh Bhasin (Father)
Please join us for Kirtan and Antim Ardaas on Friday, 28th June, 2024 at Gurudwara Sahib Patshahi Dasvin, Sector 8 Chandigarh from 12 pm- 1 pm followed by Guru ka Langar
Grief stricken:
Ruhie and Ankit Chaturvedi
Naina and Himmat Jakhar
Abhaysher and Aishwarya Singh Bhasin
Grandchildren
Anaya
Naunidh
I am attaching a few photographs taken from the Antim Ardas Bhog held for Late Iqbal Singh Sehmbey.I attended the Prayer Meet yesterday along with Pankaj Berry, Yashwinder Singh Dhaliwal and Anil Kumar (Victor).RegardsDhiraj BerryMob: 9814060426
Sad news: Iqbal Singh Sehmbey [Jagga] / Ibbetson 1981 batch passed away 10 June 2024
Dear All,
I am not sure how many of you remember Adam Drobot. I have just located him on the net (30) Education | Adam Drobot | LinkedIn
I have downloaded a picture of him from the net. He is an accomplished techy !! His biodata mentions the years at BCS from 1956-1959
Dear Adam,
Yesterday, prior to my mails below, I had written to your corporate address which seemed to have a Adam Drobot as a their CEO on their website. It actually turned out, as I subsequently discovered, to be the you I was attempting to locate !
The correspondence, different colours for better readability, is appended further down in this note.
You, were one of the two Polish boys at BCS during our time, the other being W Kubaseweiz (Curzon, class of 1961), who was a strong swimmer and not the kind you tangled with !!
Accompanying this mail, as attachments, are photographs for Rivaz House for the years from 1956-59 and one for the staff members in 1959 which was the year of our Centenary. You may recognise more than a few of your teachers most of them now gone with the exception of Mr & Mrs Goss !!
I have been able to locate you in all the Rivaz house photographs, except for the house picture for 1959.
1956 –Second row from the top, Seventh from the right,
1957 – Second row from the top, Ninth from the left,
1958 – Second row, behind the seated, Fifth from the left
1959 – Unable to locate Adam
[click for larger view of each photo]
I recall you being initially shy and unsure but like other new boys you soon found your footing and were friendly, even easy going. The Adam, I recall was a good student, always in the top five, with a strong disposition to mathematics and chemistry. You loved painting.
The School Art Master, Mr Sasim DasGupta, once commented on your method of heavy and flat brush strokes being somewhat similar to the technique used by Van Gogh ! That year he sent one of your paintings to an institution in London along with those of other boys whose art he felt stood out. In return these boys received certificates of merit. I do not know the name of the institution but Mr DasGupta encouraged talent all the time.
Mr DasGupta was also the Warden of the Remove dormitory where you spent your initial years at BCS. Mr DasGupta, who moved to Toronto and passed away a few years ago, would ask you to spell “Polish” and mildly teased you that that was the spelling for the shoe “polish”. You would deliver a weak smile with a degree of obvious embarrassment.
A small idiosyncratic habit. You were not a sports person but had this habit of often chewing the collar of your Rivaz house jersey! You did not like the marathon and boxing was never your forte
I have never forgotten but you once mentioned that snails were a speciality and a great delicacy in Poland. I have never had the temerity to verify that assertion and hold that belief most firmly because Adam was always a credible source of information. I obviously never felt desire nor the need to check any further.
The reason why I remember you so well has to do with a little incident and the ensuing moral dilemma
Most of us were limited by the pocket money that we received at the end of the week from the Housemaster. It was 12 annas (75 paise) or Rs 1 & 4 annas (125 paise) depending on the dormitory you belonged to. When we went out of School on town leave, Rs 5 would get you a movie ticket, a plate of finger chips, an ice cream cone, a Coke and a comic or two! That was luxury.
In 1959 in III Form, you and I sat in the last row along the wall that faced the entrance to the class room from the corridor. You sat on the desk in front of me. These were wooden desks, if you recall, with a sloping lid, lifted at the hinge to offer a cavity space for the storage of books with the provision for a lock. The desk was fixed to the seat with a wooden bar at the bottom that connected the desk with the seat. Often the previous occupant had etched his name on the desk with the use of a compass. There was small space on the desk for an ink pot and we all used fountain pens, the ball point had yet to be invented
One day, I observed a piece of paper what seemed like a Rs 10 note, stained with ink, lodged between the wall and the desk. I dragged the paper using my foot ruler since it was closer to your desk. Sure enough it was 10 bucks. You were rarely short of money and I felt it, perhaps, belonged to you. Relatively, you were at that time more cash rich and solvent than most of us. So I asked you if that note was yours. “No, it is not mine,” was the response in your strong heavily accented tone, relieving me, temporarily, of any moral obligation. You are the only one I asked about the note because you were the only likely one who could be its owner in that class room.
I promptly went to the Tuck Shop and deposited that heavily ink stained note (no one else would have taken it!) with Chippu indicating that the credit to my account was now, well, brim-full. For the next few days I enjoyed the best the Tuck Shop had to offer from puris, samosas and chips, all that could satiate an always hungry boy. Days of rapture and contentedness. A few days later, you came up to me and declared that that Rs 10 note did indeed belong to you. I was non plussed and taken aback. Disaster was about to strike. I froze for a few seconds and then sheepishly informed you that the funds stood extinguished. I had fed, pretty well, a soul in great need. To your credit, you said not a word in rebuke nor did you seek a return of the money. Any other twelve year old would have demanded even an ink stained note. I have always recalled your generosity and understanding. I have not forgotten though, in my defence, that I had been honest in my declaration and the lack of knowledge was honest though I did speculate, maybe even knew, you were the original owner. No one else was that solvent those days !!
Apart from you, the only other Catholics at that time were Mr & Mrs Goss and a boy named Benjamin (Lefroy, he won the Junior Reading Prize that year! ) who would have finished with the Class of 1964. This group did, on occasion, attend the Catholic service in town with you always turned out in a light grey, well-tailored suit. You were always well dressed on such occasions but otherwise presentation mattered little.
Adam, you may not remember too many boys from your class during those years at BCS but I reckon you may recall the names of Rishi Rana, the Joshi brothers, Manjit Sibia, all from Rivaz and in your class, and, possibly, Govinder Singh who lived in Delhi at Wellesley Road not far from the Drobot house in Sunder Nagar.
I faintly recall, that you had a sister and your parents on one occasion drove up all the way from Delhi to celebrate his birthday with a lovely cake. A few days prior to that event, the circle of your best friends had increased rather exponentially in anticipation of a party in the making. The School had arranged a special table outside the Dining Hall in the corridor leading up to the Staff Common Room for the occasion. We wished you wished you “Happy Birthday” with a delightful eye on the spread on that table! . We gorged !!
It has been 65 years in all since we last met. So many memories stand revived and I am sure there will be more inputs from those on this mailing list. Adam will have probably more to add !!
Warmly
Vijay
V K Khurana
Incidentally, the large number on this mailing list includes guys from the classes of 1961-63, some from 1964, Mr Goss, a few others who have shown an interest in all things BCS and the Old Cottonian
Adam replied:
VK,
This is a very pleasant surprise. Thank you for reaching out. A lot of the names on the email list and a lot of the faces in the class and staff pictures still look familiar. Your writeup brings back a lot of memories. Life at BCS had its paces and I appreciate your recounting some of the events even though my recollection might be a bit different. If I look at 1956 I find myself in the first row as fifth from left – and definitely not seventh from right in the second row from the back!
When your email reached me, I was frantically preparing talks for a couple of events this coming week. Once I am back from these you should get a much longer reply. Over the years I have managed to visit India on multiple occasions, including a trip to Shimla. On one of the trips I followed Manmohan Singh as a speaker – that was for Telecom India 2009, in New Delhi.
I currently live in Wayne, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. The best email address to reach me is: adam.drobot@gmail.com.
With best regards,
Adam Drobot
Hi Adam,
Truly lovely to hear from you. My thanks.
While, I will check again, the image you sent is certainly not of you. It is one of the Stokes boys. Most of them migrated to the US. Brilliance was in their genes and they went on to do well in different fields including IT, medicine and laser technology!
Will wait to hear from you and, yes, different interpretations may occur of incidents in each one’s mind. After 65 years, brain cell degradation at different levels and such other aspect change the perception or imagination of events completely !
Warmly,
Vijay
Vijay Kumar Stokes, BSc Engg (HONS) Mech (BHU, 1961) and PhD (Princeton, 1963), taught at IIT Kanpur (1964-1978), where he headed the Mechanical Engineering Department (1974-1977) and was the Convener of the Nuclear Engineering and Technology Program (1977-1978). He then worked at the GE Corporate R&D (1978-2002). Besides setting up a world-class, science-based apple orchard at his ancestral home in Ilaqa Kotgarh, for over 25 years he has been documenting the local language, culture, and music and dance.
[Bishop Cotton School – Rivaz 1948~54]
Article attached here via this link: University Issues – Hill Post
Published in the Hill Post as well