SPOTLIGHT: SAAZ AGGARWAL, CLASS OF 1977

SPOTLIGHT: SAAZ AGGARWAL, CLASS OF 1977 

Starting with this blog post, we begin a series titled, "Spotlight" where we focus on Old Lawrencians who are in the news! 

The first OL to be in our spotlight is Saaz Aggarwal of the Class of 1977. 

The XI Bangalore Literature Festival held on December 3 and 4, 2022 featured a galaxy of authors who spoke about their work. I was happy to see Saaz amongst them. In her session she  spoke about her latest book, "Losing Home, Finding Home" a moving account of people displaced from Sindh, following the Partition of India and thereafter. 

Conversing with her was another OL, the renowned  business journalist Senthil Chengalvarayan, Class of 1981. He was the founding editor of CNBC TV 18 and Editor in Chief of Network 18's Business news room. 

 I met Saaz for the first time in 2012, when Mathew Anthony, Class of 1965, brought a few of us OL authors together in the first OL Book Reading at Founders. 

From left to right: OL authors, N.D. Badrinath, 1974, Prem Rao, 1967, Saaz Aggarwal 1977 and Lakshmanan Solayappan, 1982 with Mr. Someswara Rao who co-ordinated the event on behalf of School. 

We recently shot off a few questions to Saaz about School and her times there. 

1. When were you at School? From 1971 to 1977. Which House were you in? Pankaj

2. Was there any particular reason your parents/you chose Lovedale?

Yes - my father was a tea planter so we had to be in a boarding school. And we were lucky that our parents wanted to send us - my brother, Ravi Savur, 1980 and me  - to the best school in India 😊 
3. What are your main memories of life at School:  Use 5 words that come to mind … (not sentences)

homesick

tuck

Founders

CT (*cheap thrill)

scrounging (*looking for food in the kitchen after mealtime – not like we were deprived, just always hungry!)

 

4. Which member of the staff, if any, had a strong influence on you, and why? 
Ma Baloo, that's Mrs CY Balakrishnan, Pankaj Housemistress and Maths teacher. I wrote an obituary for her when she died, and putting it together all those years later gave me a sense of how many different ways she had influenced me … 

There were also others like our headmaster LA Vyas and our librarian Mr V Mohanraj whom I am so grateful to for encouraging me to write and convincing me that I was a writer!

5. Are you in touch with your old school friends? Whom have you known for the longest period? What do you like best about this association? 
Very much in touch. 

The longest period .... Rachel Varugis (Chakola), Chitra Rajan (Gopinath) ... they were already in school when I joined, and were in my house ... 

Senthil and Abhirami Sinniah were younger but our parents were close friends and we knew them practically since they were born, long before we joined schools ... 

Also all my classmates ... 

 

 

Standing: M.S. Anitha, Kanchana Chandy (Sunderarajan), Rachel Varugis (Chakola), Solai Alagappan, Claire Pereira, Latha K.K. (Sabikhi)

Sitting: Jyothi Sumukadas (Gopalan), Nita Chopra (Joshi), Chitra Rajan (Gopinath), Semanti Sinha Ray (Mehra), Pamela Sarin (Bakshani), Saaz Savur (Aggarwal)

And many from other batches, some really dear friends (like Mathew Anthony and Niloufer Kapadia both 1965, Dayal Mirchandani 1970 and others) whom I never knew in school …

Apart from the feeling of comfort in being connected to people whom you have 'always' known, there's also a strong sense of belonging together because of the shared experience ... nobody else can really understand that peculiar space we once inhabited!

6. What are some learnings from School that have helped you later in your life?

- The ability to quickly adapt outside one's comfort zone without a fuss ...

- The 3-minute bath - a truly priceless asset, ah how I wish my kids had been to boarding school too ...

- Never Give In!

7.  Is there any incident that you will remember for ever? 

Hahaha, many, but here’s one. This Science experiment photo was on the notice board and someone added a moustache to my face. 

The others in the Physics lab are: Uma Maheshwaran, Joseph Michael, Ashok Kumar, Claire Pereira, Nita Chopra (Joshi),  Saaz Savur (Aggarwal)  Pamela Sarin (Bakshani) 

I don’t know how I got this copy, perhaps I pinched it to save myself embarrassment! Or maybe I asked Mr Balaram, our Physics teacher who also ran the Photo Lab, for it. (Writing this, it occurs to me that when my photo was defaced he could have just taken it off the notice board himself but didn’t.)

But then, Mr Balaram was the one who had entered the annals of School's history by slapping me! I was reading a Barbara Cartland, holding it under the desk and trying to multitask – absorb Physics principles while also absorbed in the romance. Balaram called me to the front of the class, made me hold the book up, and let loose. As far as I know, it was the first time in School’s history that a male teacher had raised a hand on a girl student, hopefully it was the last. In our time, corporal punishment still had a place in education. 

8. What are the writing/other projects that you are currently working on?

- I'm presently working hard to promote my new book, Losing Home, Finding Home!

- Also working on a family history project 

- Planning to start a podcast along with one of my contributors to Sindhi Tapestry

- During lockdown, I did some 'lockdown' art and one series incorporated keys ... someone saw it and commissioned me to work on a keys installation for a mainstream lock-and-key company ... I'm in the process of figuring out what size it should be, what media to use, and so on.

 

Are there any links you would like to share with our OL audience which elaborate on your writing /work?

https://www.saazaggarwal.com/

https://thesongbirdonmyshoulder.blogspot.com/

https://sindhstories.wordpress.com/

http://blackandwhitefountain.com/

 

Thank you, Saaz for speaking with us and for providing the accompanying photographs! 

 

 

 

 

MR.I D N SAHI, ICS- FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS: A TRIBUTE

 MR.I D N SAHI, ICS- FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS: A TRIBUTE

It's been our endeavour in the OLA Glimpses Team to seek out contributions about the School and people associated with it from beyond our small group of contributors.

I was therefore delighted to hear from Mr Sushil Sahi, who writes about his father the late Mr I D N Sahi, ICS. The pictures used were also sent by him.  

Mr Sahi, a distinguished Civil Servant was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of our School from 1972 to 1974 -when he was the Secretary, Ministry of Education of the Government of India.

 Mr Indra Deva Narain Sahi  was born on 27th September, 1916.  He joined the ICS in 1940 as Sub Collector, Tinnevelly in erstwhile Madras Presidency. In 1947, he was sent back to his home state, Uttar Pradesh, and posted to Saharanpur. After serving in various capacities, his final posting was as Secretary, Ministry of Education,( later known as HRD Ministry), from 1972 - 1974. On his retirement, Mr Sahi settled down in "Sunnybank" his home in Lovedale. He passed away on 20th November, 1986.

Sushil Sahi writes, " He had given a formal and legal identity to The Lawrence School, Lovedale, by saving the vibrant 750 acre estate for the School.  The formal identity of the School is Nature, which continues to attract OLs back to Lovedale, and helps to make the children future ready in this time of climate change, habitat loss and biodiversity destruction.  The detail of the interaction within the regional and Central Govts for the legal identity of the School is given below

The Land Ceiling Act of 15th February, 1970, applied to agricultural and religious land.  Amar Farms was established by/ and in memory of Lt. Gen Dev, who had long standing connections with the School.  About the year 1972 or 1973, then TN Govt. Collector of Nilgiris decided that 750 acres belonging to The Lawrence School, Lovedale was far in excess of the 30 acres permitted under above law

If I am not mistaken, bull dozers appeared in the premises of Prep School to bring down the building.  According to the 30 acre rule, this fell outside the limit of 30 acres, apart from other areas of the School grounds

Mr Vyas, the Headmaster, rushed to Delhi to meet Mr Sahi, to seek his help in preserving the land for the School.  Mr Sahi then had quite a few meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Defence and Law Ministry.  It was imperative to preserve the heritage and all the land belonging to the School.  At the end of these deliberations, a solution was found - The Ministry of Defence would own the entire estate and would lease the land of 750 acres with the School buildings to the Education Ministry ( now HRD Ministry ) at the rate of Re.1/- per annum.  The lease is to run for 99 years.  This procedure then saved the land from being taken over by the TN Govt

Once, during the tenure of Mr Vyas as Headmaster another problem had arisen. This was the time of Sri Lankan Tamils seeking refuge in India.  They came in large numbers.  Many of them travelled to the Nilgiris to seek shelter.  The District Administration decided that Lawrence School land, toward Dhobi Ghat would be an ideal place to relocate all refugees coming to the Nilgiris from Sri Lanka.  Understandably, Mr Vyas was most concerned about the safety of the children, mainly and of course School property.  He had to again seek the help of the Ministry of Defence, as also the District Administration to resettle the Sri Lankan refugees elsewhere. They were finally shifted in Valley View, Lovedale.

I do hope you will incorporate this write up in the ebook.  As I mentioned, the Chairman was the serving Education Secretary in my Father's time.  This made it possible to obtain the good offices of the other Ministries in finalising the legal identity of The Lawrence School. Lovedale. "

         Mr I D N Sahi as the Chief Guest, Founder's Parade, 1970s

Sushil Sahi studied briefly in Lovedale from 1974 to 1976 then went to the Doon School where he did his ISC. He has taught in many Schools including The Lawrence Schools at Lovedale, and Sanawar. He was the Principal of the Riverside Public School in Kotagiri. 

By a happy co-incidence, Father's Day was celebrated last month. I would like to think this is a small yet meaningful tribute by a son to his illustrious father! 

Like Sushil Sahi, if you wish to send in a piece relating to The Lawrence School, Lovedale and people associated with it, please do contact us at: olalovedale@gmail.com with the subject line: "For Consideration: Contribution to Glimpses"

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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. 

Book 3- 1958 to 2008: "Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale"

 

Book 3- 1958 to 2008: "Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale"

The School celebrated the Centenary Year in 1958. By now it was being recognized as being one of the leading public schools in India. 

In Book 3, the last of three volumes, we cover the 50 years from 1958 to 2008. 

Here's the link to Book 3 in pdf mode. 

Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw takes the salute. Headmaster L A Vyas looks on.