Tuesday, October 25, 2022

THE RED POST BOX

 THE RED POST BOX 

Editor's Note:

"Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company" wrote Lord Byron. For every Lawrencian the weekly letter home and receiving letters from home were events that triggered different emotions. This particularly in bygone days when letters were the only medium of communication and the telephone was used only in dire emergencies! 

The author of today's blog post is Rear Admiral Philipose G. Pynumootil, AVSM, NM, Indian Navy (Retd) SUM 1982, the current Vice President of The Old Lawrencians Association. This is an updated version of an article he wrote a few years ago:-


A Red Post Box hanging forlornly on a wall screaming for a long overdue paint job seems unlikely to kick up a flurry of emotions. It was sad to note that the 'Next Clearance'  timing slot was empty - did this imply that 'snail mail'  was officially dead? I discovered this Post Box during a 3 hour walk around The Lawrence School, Lovedale, my Alma Mater. I once declared all teary eyed at the end of a speech, "Whatever I am today, is because  of The Lawrence School, Lovedale."  To which a collective shout rang out from a bunch of classmates, "You can't blame just one institution".'!!!



The art of letter writing for us began in the tiny classroom in the 4th Grade under the watchful eyes of Mrs V ENOS, English teacher par excellence.  She taught over 4 decades of Lawrencians their Ps and Qs including Arundhati Roy and several other greats in their chosen vocations. Every Monday afternoon was our letter writing session conducted by Mrs Enos. 

A diminutive figure in a dress,  hair perfectly combed, the picture of an English teacher of yore. Each kid suggested a point for inclusion in our missives to our folks.  The points that were selected were written on the blackboard in her amazing handwriting.   Then 30 kids in each section put pen to Inland letter and scrawled all the points. These included the weather, food,  games,  events of the week etc. The last paragraph was left to us for personal stuff... the  "How's my dog / cycle / kid sister?" etc..  She glanced through each letter to ensure it was neat and made sense.  If parents exchanged notes they would have seen that all kids wrote identical letters...  Akin to the painful forwards we receive on each WhatsApp group today.

In the 5th grade you were on our own.  Mrs Enos wasn't there to guide us through our letter writing.  She had taught us well and we went on though 5th grade.. and through our lives thereafter...  Writing good, polite letters through our lives.  There is a bit of Mrs Enos in our writing in each of us wherever we are.....  In fancy boardrooms,   operation theaters,  academic institutions,  the Bridges of Destroyers,  Sukhoi 30 cockpits,  T 90 tanks. She gave us Good and Bad marks for jobs well done and mess ups. Tiny  Blue and Red stars in her register that we craved for and feared respectively.  Swearing called for washing our mouths with soap. Even decades later the taste of Hamam soap is fresh in my mouth!  She gave equal importance to diction,  sentence formation, using the appropriate word etc.   The frantic request of a kid with a full tank , "Can I leave the class?" was answered with a caustic, "You can, but you may not!" 




                                               Mrs Enos at 101. Picture courtesy: Sangeetha Jairam, OL 1987.

 Each of our letters were taken in large bundles and faithfully posted in this tiny red post box below Prep School.  The Pin Code 643003 is etched in our minds from the countless times we wrote it on the reverse side of the blue Inland letters handed to us each week. Many years later I found ALL the letters my elder brother, sister and I wrote home carefully tagged year wise and stored away by our Mom.  

Receiving letters was a huge high in Boarding Schools.  Every couple of days the House Master would come in with a bunch of letters into our dormitory and some 50 of us would crowd around him, praying for our names to be called out as he handed out letters.   Letters seem as archaic and passe as hieroglyphics in King Tuts tomb.  Replaced quite abruptly by the epidemic of instant messaging.  What's app, kik, snap chat, line with their inane lexicon... LOL, OMG,  BRB and whatever.  

Mrs Enos is 101 years old now. She has undoubtedly seen these changes pan out before her  bespectacled eyes.  The joy of receiving a beautiful birthday card far outweighs the 100 msgs on various apps... Mostly forwards /copied lines.  

Goodbye,  Red Post Box. You served us well. Stand there bravely, as you have over the past half century. A silent reminder of the forgotten art of letter writing.  And yes, I promise to give you a fresh coat of paint on my next visit.

                                   Rear Admiral P G Pynumootil,  AVSM, NM, Indian Navy (Retd) 
                                       Picture courtesy: Philipose G Pynumootil, OL 1982. 

Editor's Note:

Admiral Pynumootil, a Seaking pilot, is an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Lovedale and the 67 Course, National Defence Academy. He has commanded INAS 330 and was the commissioning CO of INS Shikra. His surface tenures include command of Nashak, Kirpan and Brahmaputra, besides doing a tenure as Executive Officer, INS Delhi. He has undergone the Staff Course, Higher Air Command Course and the Royal College of Defence Studies course in London where he obtained a MA (International Studies) from Kings College. He was the Flag Officer Naval Aviation & Goa Area at the time of his retirement in April 2022.

Thanks Philipose for your post, and we look forward to more from you. I loved your use of the red post box as a prompt for this charming post! 

I would like to think the "Red Post Box" can trigger many more posts from OLs. Often, it's the little things in life that remain in our memories for years to come. What will provoke the next blog post in some OL somewhere? "Nattukais"? "Boys School Bananas", " Pichis" , "Cem", "Clock Tower", ?? ??

Should any OL wish to contribute a blog post, please write in to : olalovedale@gmail.com with "OLA-Glimpses Blog" in the Subject Line. Don't forget to mention your House and Year of Passing. 

Thursday, October 13, 2022

PANDIT JITENDRA PRATAP - COMPOSER OF THE SCHOOL SONG

 PANDIT JITENDRA PRATAP - COMPOSER OF THE SCHOOL SONG

I hope many of you will check out the latest episode of "Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale. " This YouTube video was released on October 11, 2022. It is one more in the series titled, "Stalwarts of Lovedale" and features Pandit Jitendra Pratap ( 1920-2013). 


Picture of Pandit Jitendra Pratap courtesy Chitra Gouri Lal. 

Our special thanks go out to his daughters Shree Gouri Dhiman (DEO 1963) and Chitra Gouri Lal (DEO 1965). They were most generous in sharing their material on their father based on which we put this episode together. 

You may have caught the strains of the sitar playing in the background in this episode. This was from a performance by Pandit Jitendra Pratap accompanied by his eldest daughter, Shree Gouri Dhiman. 

Pandit Jitendra Pratap's most significant contribution to Lovedale was the School Song which he composed for the School's Centenary Founder's in May 1958. I must confess that in my schooldays I ( and I suspect many others) sang the School Song by rote without really understanding the true meaning. 

I am grateful to Nitya Cherian Matthai, Class of 1977 and our collaborator in "Glimpses" for sending me the School Song- "Saba Se Sundar"  and its English translation by Mr J Asrani who taught English in the School in the 1950s.  

                                      Picture courtesy: Nitya Cherian Matthai - Class of 1977 

" Our School Songs" 

Saba Se Sunder (Hindi)

Saba Se Sundar, Jaga Se Pyaara

Vidya Ka Yeh Dhaam Hamara

Shobha Iski Ati Hi Nyari,

Iski Shaan Nirali Hai.

Nila giri. Yehan Nila Gagan,

Yehan Nila Van. Shital Samiran

Shobha Iski Ati Hi Nyari.

Iski Shaan Nirali Hai.

Iska Naam Amar Karenge,

Iski Shaan Badhayenge,

Bal Buddhi Mein Sarvottam Ho.

Vir Lawrencians Kahayenge.

Haar Na Manege, Hama Haar Na Manenge,

Hama Haar Na Mane, Haar na Mane,

Haar Na Maanenge.

Source: Composed By Shri J. Pratap, Indian Music Teacher

Loveliest, dearest in all the world

Her splendour unique...

Where hills are blue, where sky is blue.

To towering heights the blue gum grew,

The mountain breeze caresses you.

Her glory matchless.

Her splendour unique.

Loveliest, dearest in all the world

Is this our Alma Mater?

Immortal we shall make her name,

From strength to strength we'll bear her fame.

We the brave Lawrencians.

*Never Give In' our motto is

*Never Give In' it'll always be.

Never Give In. we'll never give in.

Never, no never, we'Il never give in."

Translated by Shri J. Asrani

Our  thanks to Air Commodore T T Job, AVSM, VSM, Indian Air Force, (Retd),  NIL 1960, now a sprightly 78 , who took so much pains to record videos for this episode. 

You will remember that he spoke in the episode video about his tryst with Pandit Jitendra Pratap and his Indian Orchestra. That was only one part of the story. Here, he elaborates in greater detail about his interactions with Pandit Jitendra Pratap.

Job was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 1967 after he studied engineering at the REC ( now NIT) Calicut and training at the Air Force Technical College. Probably, the "Never Give In" spirit  helped him do well in the Indian Air Force. He retired as an  Air Commodore in 2001.

                   Picture courtesy: Air Commodore T T Job, AVSM, VSM, Indian Air Force (Retd) 

For his distinguished service of a high order and leadership in commanding important establishments like Base Repair Depots- which serviced top rung fighter aircraft crucial to our defence system amongst others- he was awarded the Vishist Seva Medal and the Ati Vishist Seva Medal by the President of India. 

Clearly, Indian Music's loss was the Indian Air Force's gain! 

I myself was in Pandit Jitendra Pratap's Indian Orchestra and I played ( or tried to play ) the sitar. Decades later, I kick myself at not having made better use of the great opportunities to learn that fabulous instrument under such a talented teacher. But in Junior School, we were young kids not even in the teens and far too playful to be worthy students of Indian classical music. 

After the recent episode, I received a mail from my friend Viju Parameshwar, NIL 1968, Past President of the OLA. Viju wrote: "I just watched the YouTube episode on Pandit Jitendra Pratap. It was most enlightening. I am ashamed to say I never knew what an eminent musician and later music critic he was. We lost out by not having retained him and got more value from his presence. Congratulations on this lovely episode." 

You summed it up so well, Viju. Looking back, perhaps many of us did not realise the true worth of Pandit Jitendra Pratap! He is no more- but the School Song will always remind us of him. 



FAREWELL, DEAR MOIRA!

 FAREWELL, DEAR MOIRA! A little after a month past her 100th birthday, OL Dr Moira Breen Ph.D passed away on January 26, 2024 at  Libertyvil...