THE CRUCIAL YEARS 1947-1949

 THE CRUCIAL YEARS 1947-1949

In the last post, we saw how the future of the School was very uncertain in 1946. With the Independence of India around the corner many students of both British and Eurasian ( as was the term commonly used for Anglo-Indians those days) lineage left to go to the UK, Australia, and even the United States.

 It must be remembered that till 1947 there were no Indian students in the School at all. The first student who was not British or Eurasian, to be admitted to the School was Humayun Dhanrajgir. He is listed in the School Admission Register as being admitted on June 10, 1947. The first Indian girl to join the School was Komala/Kamala Reddy who joined on March 2, 1948 along with Malathi Reddy. 

Three days later, one of our key contributors for Glimpses- Kevin Joseph Phillips, ARA 1956, joined on March 5, 1948. 

 At that time there was considerable opposition in political circles to the continuing of institutions perceived to be elitist English schools. It was widely feared that schools such as Sanawar and Lovedale would be closed down in the new milieu of an independent India. One of the School's distinguished Headmasters, Mr L A Vyas has publicly acknowledged the role of Independent India's first Minister of Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) in the decision to keep the schools going.

In 1948, at a crucial juncture, the fortunes of the School were saved by the recommendations of the Rao Committee -comprising Mr P V R Rao, ICS, Mr J Dayal, Mr M S Sundaram, and Brigadier J H Wilkinson -appointed by the Government of India to "examine the Future Organisation of The Lawrence Military Schools."

They recommended vide their report dated May 31, 1948: "....we are satisfied that there are facilities to run a first class public school in Lovedale...... for any public school to run efficiently and economically it must have at least 300 pupils on its rolls.....many of the current 300 may be expected to be removed from the school shortly.......we feel if a public school open to all without restriction of nationality or creed is available in the Nilgiris it will meet a long felt need.........it is essential that admission to a public school run by the Government should not be confined only to those rich persons who can afford to pay the high fees to the extent of Rs 1200 per annum ..........we recommend therefore that the Government must  accept liability to educate free of cost or at concessional rates at this school, a limited number of children who on merits are capable of benefitting by a public school education but whose parents are unable to afford the necessary expenditure. "  

The Lawrence Schools at Sanawar, Mt Abu, and Lovedale, had different histories and issues at this point in time.  The one at Sanawar had always been directly administered by the Crown while Mt Abu and Lovedale were administered by Trustees who owned considerable assets. The Trustees governed the Schools through the Boards of Governors which had representatives of the Government of India. Funds for the schools by way of grants in aid came from the Ministry of Defence, through Army HQ. 

The Government of India decided that the Schools would be managed by the  Ministry of Education effective May 14, 1949. In Mt Abu, at that time, most of the staff and students had left the School. The Trustees concluded there was no way they could continue to run the School with their limited resources as the grants in aid were a factor of the number of entitled children in each school. The Government of India decided to close the School in 1950. The facilities and campus were then used to house the Police Training College.

In the case of Sanawar, things were much easier. The Ministry of Defence passed on control to the Ministry of Education as the Government owned all the assets including the land. 

Lovedale was a different case as the Trustees owned the buildings and other assets but not the land which always was owned by the Government of India. Consequently, the Government of India held negotiations with the Trustees and took complete charge of the School after agreeing that they would bear the expenses of the entitled children as long as such entitled children remained on the rolls of the school. The expression " entitled" children was used for the orphans of British military personnel, and children of British military personnel who died during service in India.  

An article in "The Lawrencian" in 1950 reported: " The Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors therefore wisely decided to hand over the institution to the Government of India with its assets and liabilities on the condition that the "entitled" children will continue to get the facilities which they were enjoying heretofore. The actual hand over took place on May 14, 1949. The Government of India decided to run the institution as a public school for boys and girls and have also changed the name of the School to "The Lawrence School, Lovedale, (Nilgiris)" 

It was decided that children of military personnel would make up 40 % of the student body.

Dr Suraj Bhan, MA (Lond), Dip in Edn, Ph.D (Edin) was appointed the first Indian Principal of the School. In 1949 he succeeded Major A V Richardson - the last British Principal - who resigned. 

As 1949 came to a close, it was clear that the worst was over. The Lawrence School, Lovedale - like the old buildings on its grounds- had successfully weathered the storm. 

PROLOGUE & INTRODUCTION TO "GLIMPSES"

 PROLOGUE & INTRODUCTION TO "GLIMPSES...." ( Published in May 2017) 

The Gods have been kind. It’s a perfect day in May 2016 and the visitors who have thronged to the Nilgiri Hills for the 158th Founder’s Day of The Lawrence School, Lovedale bask in the mild sunshine. They breathe in the clean mountain air with the unforgettable scent of the eucalyptus and the pines. Covering a small fraction of the sprawling 750 acres, perhaps the largest space available to any school in India, the red-brick main School buildings stand as firm as they did when they were first erected in 1869. Soaring 130 feet into the air, the iconic clock tower looks majestic in the background of clear azure blue skies. The green lawns are impeccable and the flowers, yellow, red and blue, add to the feast of colour.

A young gentleman takes in the scene. He is as excited as only a proud parent coming up for Founder’s for the first time can be. He smiles at the grizzled old man wearing the School tie. He simply has to share his excitement with someone, “My first time here for Founder’s. Kids joined the school this year. Lovely place. Long history, over 150 years I am told. Was it always like this, I wonder?”

“There have been many changes over the years but the soul of the school remains the same,” replies the older man.

“Do you come here often?” asks the parent politely. The parent does not know that the man he is talking to has been part of Lovedale lore for long.

“I have been here for the better part of my life,” replies the 82 year old Denzil Prince. “I started here as a snotty kid way back in 1944 and was the Head Boy in 1954.”

“How interesting! An honour for me to meet someone like you. The parade this morning was most impressive. I especially enjoyed the bands playing so beautifully. Do you sometimes remember your school days?”

“Oh, yes, I do!  Since you spoke of the band, I was the bandmaster here for nearly twenty years. After a few stints elsewhere, I am now back in Lovedale, the place I love more than any other in the world. Word went around the Old Lawrencian community, 'The Prince of Lovedale' is back where he belongs!” Prince says with a laugh.

Seizing what he saw was a great opportunity, the eager parent asks, “My boy is 11 years old and new here. What would you advise him to do? I am so keen he should be happy here and shine in his future career.”

Prince tells him with a half-smile playing on his face, “Tell him not to sing the School Song by rote but to imbibe its true spirit.”

Seeing the perplexed expression on his listener’s face, Prince keeps aside his rich baritone and recites softly,

“At the dawn of life’s endeavor

With our hopes held high we stand

In our childhood’s home which ever Spreads wide her bounteous hand

Here a glorious inspiration From our founder we’ll surely win

And with strong determination

Play the game and “Never Give In”

“That’s it. Ask him to absorb the glorious traditions of his alma mater. Ask him, as is expected of every Lawrencian, to play the game and 'Never Give In'”.

As is well known The Lawrence School, Lovedale was founded in 1858 in memory of Major-General Sir Henry Lawrence, KCB, (1806-1857). 

Our endeavour, an informal history of the School, we believe differs significantly from other books about the School. We find it inexplicable though that no book was written about the School, not even in the heydays of the British Raj. 

It was only in 1983, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the School that travel writers Hugh and Colleen Gantzer, not OLs themselves but parents of an OL wrote, “Never Give In." This slim volume was based on extracts from the school archives and the school magazine, "The Lawrencian." 

 A few years later, in 1988, another book was published and a very different one at that. Max Cocker (Class of ‘39) wrote “Lovedale: The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, South India: A Personal Account”.  This was wholly based on his personal reminiscences, during his period at Lovedale from 1931-1939.

To commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of the School, in 2008, Ashok John Koshy, (Class of '67), an internationally renowned photographer, was commissioned to develop a coffee table book on the School.

In 2013, Nitya Cherian Matthai, (Class of '77) (and more about him later) with his collaborator on the Lawrence School Staff, Mr. Thomas George, got privately published a colourful book on the School titled, “At the Dawn..."

We are not aware of any other publication. 

Nitya Matthai's association with the School is unique. After nine years in School, (Class of '77) he did MA and returned to his alma mater in 1983 to teach History & Social Sciences for the next 33 years. He was also the School Archivist which placed him in the best position to research material for a book about the School. 

This project has been a long time in the making. During Founder's 2010, Wing Commander Joseph Thomas, VM, IAF (Retd) (Class of ’57) and Beena Belliappa, nee Elizabeth Tharakan (Class of '70, and a former Secretary of the OLA) came to know that Nitya was working on a book about the school along with Mr Thomas George, who taught English in the School. They felt the OLA should pursue this project to reach a wider audience. 

In 2014, Prem Rao, Class of '67 decided to write a book on the history of the School based on reminiscences of OLs. He wanted this to be ready by 2017. He started a Facebook Group called, " Glimpses of a Glorious Past" as the first step towards this initiative. 

Joseph and Beena, invited Prem to meet with Nitya in May 2015 to discuss the "School Book Project" after which Nitya and Thomas sent across the material they had put together to  Prem. The team then obtained contributions from OLs and their family members, apart from Prem's extensive research on published material, to produce this book. 

 How is this book different from the others on the School? 

1) It is based on archived material supplemented by reminiscences of a number of Old Lawrencians (or simply OLs as they are generally called)  from across the world. We trace historical events that took place over the decades supplemented by anecdotes and period photographs.

We have tried all through the book, to the extent we could, to enable you the reader to see The School through the eyes of those who experienced “Lovedale”, as the School is often simply called, as students, staff and parents. This is neither an authoritative tome on the school nor is it a picture filled coffee table book. “The picture alone, without the written word leaves half the story untold,” said James Lafferty the American TV actor, director and producer.  

2) This book is not designed to be read at one go. Indeed, it should not! In an age where everyone is strapped for time, it is for the OL to dip into and read a few pages from time to time at their convenience. We trust it will arouse in them a sense of nostalgia and pride for their alma mater.

3) Our approach of posting this on the website of the Old Lawrencians Association enables you to read it on-line whenever you want to do so, wherever you are in the world. This approach is more current and lends itself to the contents being modified in the future in a highly cost effective manner.

We are indebted to Nitya Cherian Matthai, an Old Lawrencian himself and a former teacher and Archivist at the School, and Thomas George, of the School’s Dept. of English for sharing their material which forms the foundation of this informal history. This material is made up of extracts from the School Archives and from the School Magazine, “The Lawrencian”.

 We are grateful to the authorities of The Lawrence School, Lovedale and, in particular to the Headmistress, Ms. Sangita Chima,  for supporting this venture and permitting us to use material from the School Archives and The Lawrencian.

Also to Rukhmini Reddy Krishnan, (Class of ’61) President of the Old Lawrencians Association for her push to enable this project to see the light of day. 

To Wing Commander Joseph Thomas (Class of '57) for dreaming of this project and making it come true. 

To Prem Rao (Class of ’67) for editing the mountains of material and giving shape to the story.

(For the statistically inclined, "Glimpses " in all three Volumes has about 216,252 words in 808 pages! Book 1 is in 91 pages with 27444 words; Book 2 in 212 pages with 57262 words; and Book 3 in 505 pages with 131, 546 words!!) 

They could not have asked for anything more to celebrate their 60^th and 50^th anniversary of leaving School during Founder's 2017.

Last but not the least, we are grateful to Old Lawrencians from across the world, cutting across different generations for their support.  OLs who made significant contributions are Moira Breen (Class of ’39), Norman Minus ( in Lovedale from 1936-42: through his daughter, Sharman ), Peter Forkgen (Class of ’46), and Kevin Phillips ( Class of ’56) 

We live today in 2017 in a world vastly different from that of 1858. While many things have changed beyond description we would like to think that some things have, in essence, remained the same.

The spirit of Lovedale and being an Old Lawrencian, is one amongst them.

An earlier reference to our Founder, Major- General Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence, KCB and the School Motto, “Never Give In” provides us with the most appropriate way to begin our story….

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Updated Notes:

1. Since the book was aimed to be published in 2017, the Prologue was set in Founder's 2016 

2. Mrs Beena Belliappa is currently the Vice President of the Old Lawrencians Association 

3. Our world of 2021 as this is updated is so very different even from the one of 2017 because of the COVID 19 pandemic. But the spirit of being OLs remains stronger than before.