Old Martinians
Labore et Constantia
In the Gold Medals cate
gory, curiously two of them went to two boys with the same surname, Paul! The Best Sportsman went to Donald Linnit, the chap who read the second lesson. The Good Conduct was bagged by a Hastings boy. And guess what? Mallya, the Chief Guest was the Hasting House Capt in his time and while he did not get the Good Conduct Medal, he told us in his address that Ganjee who won it, gave it to him during a Reality Show based on Vijay Mallya since Ganjee felt Mallya deserved it! That, Mallya said, shows the great La Martiniere spirit.
gory, curiously two of them went to two boys with the same surname, Paul! The Best Sportsman went to Donald Linnit, the chap who read the second lesson. The Good Conduct was bagged by a Hastings boy. And guess what? Mallya, the Chief Guest was the Hasting House Capt in his time and while he did not get the Good Conduct Medal, he told us in his address that Ganjee who won it, gave it to him during a Reality Show based on Vijay Mallya since Ganjee felt Mallya deserved it! That, Mallya said, shows the great La Martiniere spirit.
In his Address that followed, Vijay Mallya reminisced his days in the school and how the spirit of competition he had developed on the playing grounds gave him the ‘dare’ which is known for. In short, his speech replicated Duke of Wellington’s famous words - Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton . He exhorted all to develop self-confidence and the
capability to think out of the box. Those who would know of Vijay Mallaya life history would know that he is but a maverick and that was the refrain of his address. It appeared that he was talking extempore and that was nothing surprising since he is said to be a good debater in this time. It is always good to have an old boy as the Chief Guest since he can vibe with the School and the experiences narrated are gems to the present crop.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Revd Howard and he thanked one and all.
The Service concluded with the School Song and the National Anthem and both were sung lustily and with great sincerity.
After the Service, it was great to meet George Kuruvilla, who had joined the Indian Air Force and is now flying for Pawan Hans and Sanjoy ‘Sunshine’ Datta’s brother, who was a tea planter and now writes children’s story books – another Ruskin Bond in the making! I also met Major Rajesh Mishra, who is the Head of Vijay Mallya’s security. He was a Cadet of mine in the National Defence Academy. The world indeed is small!
An interesting thing I observed was that there were no laced up shoes amongst the visitors and the old boys. Is it because it is awfully difficult to tie laces if a massive beer and chicken fat belly comes in the way or is it because the creaky bones protest if one is too long in the bent position? Think that over! Time to go for some free hand exercises and a brisk walk for most, for, the days to be a Usain Bolt has long gone past! Even Vincent Jacob, Michael Blanchette, Gordon Cropp or Barry Ford cannot live their old days, can they?
The Dinner was at the Girls School Millennium Hall which is fully air-conditioned. This time it was a very orderly affair and placards for seating for varied groups were neatly placed.
Vijay Mallya and his staff had to leave immediately after the Toast to the Founder since he has to rush to Mumbai where he was hosting a dinner. It was good of him to make a detour to his Alma Mater at Kolkata for this great occasion.
The Dinner was a good change. There
was no gravy that could be spilled on the coat by some hungry folks dying to wolf down the fare, as it happened to me on an earlier occasion and made me a couple of hundreds poorer in dry cleaning bills. There was chicken soup, a real good Russian salad, roast chicken, fish fry, a vegetable salad, and potato finger chips, and for desserts it was vanilla ice cream and fruit cake. Good thinking Mr Principal and Mr Vice Principal! We, however, missed the Music Teacher’s Goan wine for she is gone and now is happily married in Goa. I would not say the wine given for the Toast was matured vinegar, but then I have a penchant for sweet red wine. And I was never on the Invitee List of the cheese and wine chatterati and glitterati class. So, what would I know about wines!
The ‘tuck in’ was great and the guests and the old boys did take their time to leisurely munch away. One could see the starved look on the teacher’s face and the angry growls emanating from their bellies, for after all, they get to eat after we leave! If only we understood how hard they had worked for us to make our day and that the deserved to be serve the Dinner first instead of us!
A last word about the school boys. Over the weekend, I got to see them ‘in action’ in their classrooms and elsewhere. They are a noisy lot, but they are not a bad sort either. And, even though I saw some without their teachers around, I daresay I saw any prankster or stink bombers! Reformation seems to have enveloped them! Good apples, they were!
Report presented by Brig Saibal Raychaudhri
capability to think out of the box. Those who would know of Vijay Mallaya life history would know that he is but a maverick and that was the refrain of his address. It appeared that he was talking extempore and that was nothing surprising since he is said to be a good debater in this time. It is always good to have an old boy as the Chief Guest since he can vibe with the School and the experiences narrated are gems to the present crop.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Revd Howard and he thanked one and all.
The Service concluded with the School Song and the National Anthem and both were sung lustily and with great sincerity.
After the Service, it was great to meet George Kuruvilla, who had joined the Indian Air Force and is now flying for Pawan Hans and Sanjoy ‘Sunshine’ Datta’s brother, who was a tea planter and now writes children’s story books – another Ruskin Bond in the making! I also met Major Rajesh Mishra, who is the Head of Vijay Mallya’s security. He was a Cadet of mine in the National Defence Academy. The world indeed is small!
An interesting thing I observed was that there were no laced up shoes amongst the visitors and the old boys. Is it because it is awfully difficult to tie laces if a massive beer and chicken fat belly comes in the way or is it because the creaky bones protest if one is too long in the bent position? Think that over! Time to go for some free hand exercises and a brisk walk for most, for, the days to be a Usain Bolt has long gone past! Even Vincent Jacob, Michael Blanchette, Gordon Cropp or Barry Ford cannot live their old days, can they?
The Dinner was at the Girls School Millennium Hall which is fully air-
The Dinner was a good change. There
was no gravy that could be spilled on the coat by some hungry folks dying to wolf down the fare, as it happened to me on an earlier occasion and made me a couple of hundreds poorer in dry cleaning bills. There was chicken soup, a real good Russian salad, roast chicken, fish fry, a vegetable salad, and potato finger chips, and for desserts it was vanilla ice cream and fruit cake. Good thinking Mr Principal and Mr Vice Principal! We, however, missed the Music Teacher’s Goan wine for she is gone and now is happily married in Goa. I would not say the wine given for the Toast was matured vinegar, but then I have a penchant for sweet red wine. And I was never on the Invitee List of the cheese and wine chatterati and glitterati class. So, what would I know about wines! The ‘tuck in’ was great and the guests and the old boys did take their time to leisurely munch away. One could see the starved look on the teacher’s face and the angry growls emanating from their bellies, for after all, they get to eat after we leave! If only we understood how hard they had worked for us to make our day and that the deserved to be serve the Dinner first instead of us!
A last word about the school boys. Over the weekend, I got to see them ‘in action’ in their classrooms and elsewhere. They are a noisy lot, but they are not a bad sort either. And, even though I saw some without their teachers around, I daresay I saw any prankster or stink bombers! Reformation seems to have enveloped them! Good apples, they were!
Report presented by Brig Saibal Raychaudhri
Vice principal Mr Francis
