BATTLERS AND BLAZERS

 BATTLERS AND BLAZERS

I have seen recent pictures of kids at The Lawrence School, Lovedale and it appears the good battle jackets of our time were pensioned off long ago. When exactly I do not know but I would love to hear from you. Did you have them in your time at School? I am certain they were in use till the 70's but not sure what happened after that. 

Starting from Prepers to the XI Standard of those times (Senior Cambridge/ISC) all the boys wore a battle jacket.

In those days, the "Day Kit "comprised a khaki shirt and tie, khaki shorts, with the ubiquitous battle jacket. Only the Prefects wore khaki trousers as seen in this 1961 picture of Head Boy Ranjit Batra (who sadly passed away recently) with his friends.

From Left to Right: Jai Chacko, Parthasarathy, Peter Gannon, Feroz Ahmed, Head Boy Ranjit Batra, and Kutub Hai. 

We thank V. Nataraj, Class of 1961 for identifying his class mates for us.

 As seen in the picture below, kids, especially younger ones, in Prep School in the 1960s also used the "battler " over sports shorts. 

Rajib Ranjan Sen (SUM 1956) has this charming tribute to The Battler in "The Lawrencian" of July 1955. 

"Boy, I got a new “Battler today For a wonder she was kind enough to spare me one”

This is one of the normal comments when the Lovedale boy finds himself wearing one of these warm, khaki articles of clothing.

The battle-jacket, to a Lawrencian, is a thing to be prized and shown the most respect. After all, how much protection can a flimsy shirt afford against the biting cold, the numerous little obstructions, and a rough-house.

Almost every part of the battle jacket is useful to a Lawrencian. The sleeve, for some freshers, forms a very convenient serviette’ for removing certain unwanted marks and stains around the mouth after meals.

The strip, which covers the button-holes, is converted into a convenient pen-holder.

Then, of course there are the pockets. The two front pockets are merely stand-bys in case the inner one overflows. The inside pocket without any exaggeration can accommodate a few pounds of stuff and still have room for more.

I would like to recall an incident here. One of our masters made a boy display all that was contained in his pocket. Out came a couple of handkerchiefs, a pile of paper, a jigsaw puzzle, some orange peels cut into the shape of teeth and other inanimate objects which all boys like.

If I were reading one of those rip-roaring, wild-west, Hop along Cassidy Comics in the Headmaster’s Language lesson, and if the hHeadmaster entered, the comic would immediately find itself safely tucked away in my battle jacket, where it almost always escapes detection.

The battle jacket is really of great use and help to the Lawrencian, Therefore my dear friends, do not let the rumours spread that we are going to see the last of the battle jackets."

OL P Rajagopalan, ARA 1957, who retired as a Member of the Indian Railways Board, remembers the School uniforms during his time at Lovedale. I must compliment him on his amazing memory. He remembers many details as if the incident took place a few days- and not decades -ago. 

He writes," The details given by  OL Peter Edward Forkgen regarding the School uniforms are quite elaborate . The uniforms had not changed very drastically when I joined the School in February , 1953 . One major change was the replacement of the Peak cap by navy blue berets . The khaki coloured tunics described by Forkgen got replaced by jerkins of the same material . They were referred to as “Battle Jackets “ . There was no option of wearing them only during the “colder weather “ as appeared to have been the practice in Forkgen’s time . As the battle jackets were buttoned at the waist , they came in very handy to bring masala dosas from Ooty Cafe , near Assembly Rooms , to comply with requests . One did not have to carry them in bags etc .

When I joined the School , puttees continued to be part of the school uniform . But they were used differently . In Forkgen’s time , as described by him , they were wound right upto the knees . But when I joined at Lovedale there was a change in that , instead of stockings , we used to have ordinary socks . Over these socks we had to put on what used to be called hosetops. These hosetops were open at the lower ends also .The hosetops used to be worn over the socks and some elastic or string was used to hold them below the knee . The balance of the hosetops would get rolled down and the hosetops would look like stockings . The boots as described by Forkgen were very much a part of the uniform when I joined at Lovedale . The puttees described by Forkgen were , however , less long as they had to be wound only at the top of the boots , more or less at the ankle level . As a beginner , I took a little time to get used to the dressing drill . I found it to be quite an exercise to wake up with the 6 O’clock bugle , complete the morning washing-up , pick up the morning tea and bun after getting into the uniform and then reach the Top Flat for parade by 6.45 . I remember that I used to knot my tie while doubling up to the Top Flat for parade . Thanks to that experience , I have never had any problem getting the tie knot correctly on the first attempt always  .

As Forkgen has mentioned , the boots given as part of our uniform were the standard military boots . One thing I do recall is that horse shoes used to be fixed on the boots . On occasions , while walking back from Ooty after an afternoon movie at the Assembly Rooms , we used to hit our heels on the road to see sparks coming out , more observable when it became somewhat dark . The “spit and polish “ routine described by Forkgen was very common practice even during my time . The cobbler at the School was quite an institution . He had been nicknamed Hitler as he used to sport a Hitler type moustache . Hitler had his domain in a room next to the Boiler Room .

It was in 1955 ( or perhaps in 1954 ) that the old boots were replaced by standard shoes . Along with that change , the puttees also ceased to be part of the uniform ."

Sports was always an important aspect of life at School. Boys felt an immense sense of pride in donning blazers with the School crest. Here's a picture of the School's 1957 Senior Cricket Team, looking natty with blazers and all after winning the Inter School Cricket Tournament that year.

 

Sitting (L to R): Veer Sagar, Murali Mahipal, Neville McLeod, Mr D S Babu, P Narasimhamurthy, Rauf Pasha, and P Rajagopalan.

Standing (L to R) : Papiah Naidu, T Gundan, Paul Joseph, Rene Defries, V S Dhanasekharan and Navneetha Mahipal 

Picture and information courtesy: OL P Rajagopalan ARA 1957. 

You have seen him as a school boy and here he is 65 years later- as enthusiastic as ever about Lovedale and the Old School!! 

But to return to where we started - on Battlers! It had to happen some day with the changing times. The battle jacket -an  integral part of our uniforms and so much a part of memories of School for generations of OLs -was phased out over time. 

Decades after Rajib Sen wrote that article, those rumours appeared to have come true! 

ON TIGERS AT LOVEDALE

 

ON TIGERS AT LOVEDALE

Some months ago, I read an article in The Hindu about tigers being spotted near Ooty. A Professor was quoted in the article as claiming that there could be as many as 40 tigers in the wilds in the Upper Nilgiris.

This article brought back memories of my days in the Prep School at The Lawrence School, Lovedale. Probably towards the end of 1958, a family of tigers decided that the School could quite easily share their thickly forested, vast campus of 750 acres with them! The family comprised a tigress and her two cubs who were no longer babies! For months thereafter there were " sightings" of tigers and tigresses from time to time - leading to hundreds of schoolboy rumours which ranged from the plausible to the absurd.

The tigress was, more often than not, prowling the area near the reservoirs and Big Hill. The roars of the family could be heard clearly in the Prep School which was the closest part of the school from where the tigress had set up her HQ. The School authorities were naturally alarmed. Assistance was sought from the Madras Regimental Centre at Wellington. 

An article in The Lawrencian in October 1958 recounts, " she ( the tigress) was heard by the Vindhya housemaster at about 1.00 am. In his excitement he woke up the boys, and throwing  open the windows, let them hear her grow1 at intervals. This went on for half an hour.          The next night the shikaries went up with no luck, and this has gone on till today. Another cow has been killed, and on that very night the Colonel and party heard a noise in the bushes. Taking careful aim, he fired. Next morning as he went through the bushes, it was discovered that he had shot a monkey.

     Then on a Sunday afternoon the tigress was heard again, roaring its defiance to any intruders who might enter her ground. Within the next few days the tigress got hell, for it was wounded. Now she has become as bold as ever, for yesterday she stopped a bus on a main highway, walked across the road and then walked placidly into the jungle.

     That is the latest news up to date, All I can say is that I wish the hunter the best of luck."

  Naturally for days together the tigers held centre stage in our minds.As time went by, in our minds the tigers became bigger by the day. We boys spoke at length about the tigress and how she could be killed. Amongst the School Staff, many of us Preppers believed the tall, burly Medical Officer,Dr D Shaw was the popular choice to deal with the tigress. We were perhaps influenced by stories of his strength.  Being prone to exaggeration ourselves, we believed the legend that he hit a sixer in the Staff vs Students cricket match which soared all the way from Top Flats to Prep School, bouncing once on the Girls School roof. 

Different options to corner the tigress were advocated including luring her with poisoned meat. One boy remarked rather snidely that there was no need to take that much trouble. Our daily School "grub" (food) should do the trick! 

A boy in Kailas House- then solely for boys in the 5th Standard- was asked what he would do if the tiger chased him at 60 mph 

The boy nonchalantly replied that he would do 70! 

One morning in 1959, there was a palpable buzz of excitement all over Lovedale. The two tiger cubs had been killed but their mother -the tigress -was said to have vanished. We jostled with each other to see them from a distance in the back of an Army truck. The Staff , as can be seen from this photograph, went in far closer- now that the tiger cubs were dead! 

             Picture courtesy: OL Salim Thomas ARA 1963

You can see "KIT" Thomas, our Headmaster in the picture with his wife, Mrs Thomas. Others here are Ms Bhalla, Ms Hensman, Mrs Phillips,and Mrs Shaw. 

One of the boys, Christopher Neale wrote an article:  

" My dear Mother,

              I have some good news for you. There are three tigers in our school. Two have been killed, the other has been wounded and might become a man eater. I hope the boys will be safe.   (The writer of this letter, needless to say, is a girl)." 

Mr K I Thomas, the Headmaster, added a footnote: "Christopher  has a fertile imagination. There is much evidence of it in this article! "

When he spoke as the Chief Guest at Founder's many years later in 1982,  Mr K I Thomas recalled the "man eater" in his inimitable style. He said, " I am also reminded of Ann Tripp, a ten year old girl, the only child who ever interrupted a school assembly. 

On hearing me announce that a man eater had been sighted near the Girls' School she jumped to her feet and exclaimed joyfully, “Thank God, we are not men”.

I have often wondered whether there were more tigers on the prowl in Lovedale in later years. I am of course talking about the Panthera tigris- the wild animal of the four legged variety!