Air Force Central School

Rohini (Singha) Sunderam

2010-03-26T16:57:00.004-04:00

After all these years it feels as though life immediately after school was a whirlwind. But back then I remember waiting to grow up, waiting to grow older, hoping for it all to end. And it all seemed so interminable. I did a BA (Honours) in English Literature from Miranda House College, Delhi University. During which time I realised I had started a life-long romance with words. I’d flirted with them even before I joined AFCS. The affair led me to my line of work and I ended up becoming an advertising copywriter. A profession which, as Jerry Della Femina (a one-time advertising great) once said was, “the most fun you can have with your clothes on”. And I guess it was working in the profession that gradually helped me lose that dreadful shyness that dogged me all through school and used to make me blush every time anyone so much as looked in my direction.
Professionally I’ve had a blast. I started out in a small agency on Asaf Ali Road in Delhi called LPE Aiyars, a little under a year later, I joined Clarion McCann (Part of McCann Erickson) which was close to Connaught Place in a little lane up behind the Regal Cinema – back then, I think it was off Hanuman Road. After two years with them, I left to join Shilpi Advertising (part of the Sarabhai Group) in Bombay. It was there at a friend’s house party that I met Kalyan who worked with what was then the Mercantile Bank – now HSBC.

We got married in March of 1975, I continued to work until our son was born in 1978 and then decided to freelance. Towards the end of ’79 Kalyan was posted to Calcutta (Kolkata) and our daughter was born there in 1980. In 1982, we left India for Bahrain where we stayed for eleven years and then emigrated to Canada – Halifax NS. Here we put down roots for another ten years before returning to Bahrain in 2003. And we are still here.

Memories These had lain dormant until this AFCS group started up. What I recall are like dreams: fragmented and wisp-like. First day in school, Class VI: It’s time for the mid-morning break, I go towards Dalip to ask him where the mid-day snacks are to be served. He gives me one of his infamous scowls so I go hungry. The next day, I think it was, a tall girl named Bubbly Singh took me under her wing and showed me where to go and I think Manju Abbott after that – Bubbly left at the end of the sixth class.

Our class was across from the library but I don’t recall any of the sixth class teachers except Mrs Soni. She scared the bejesus out of me with her shrill voice. I remember Miss Idnani and her delightful stories, in class seven and making friends with Shalini Shukla – who knew our family from their pre-partition Punjab days; Kanwal (Chhatwal), Aikta (Kohli), Kokila (Zutshi) and Sarojini Ganju, who was also shy, Geeta Sehgal somehow doesn’t enter my memory banks until Class VIII, don’t know why. I recall being praised by Mrs. Ojha for an essay I’d written and wanting to fall through a crack in the floor and feeling devastated when she said she was going to Canada. In class nine, there was another essay I’d written which Kanwal Chhatwal read out for me because my throat was frozen shut with embarrassment. Miss Taneja and her taunts, because I’d been featured in an Illustrated Weekly ‘teen’ article in which I said I ‘hated Home Science’. When she asked me what I’d do when I had a baby and wanted to embroider a pretty bib for it, I said I’d add lace. It was around class nine that I became close to Kanwal and shared poetry and dreams of becoming a doctor with her. Of sitting on the rise near the nullah on a winter afternoon, the breeze catching that little wisp of her hair and pulling it across her face. Strangely, I don’t remember any of the plays, except one. I was in Shakti House and perhaps we were in Class X when we decided to do some of the soliloquies from Shakespeare and I did Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene. I do remember having to read stuff at the morning assemblies and at one point I’d been asked to do it so often that in retaliation I read out the life of H.W. Longfellow that I’d got off the back of a classic comic! It was long and boring, so I hoped no one would ask me again. Don’t remember if the ruse worked! I remember Vijay Bharti (Shankar) and Vrajesh Lal putting a toad in my desk to scare me, but I didn’t give them the pleasure. I just lifted it out with my exercise book and set it down on the floor and it hopped off and startled Kavery instead, I think, who let out the desired scream! There are so many others, being punished as a class and made to run around the playing field, not being able to get the ball over the net in Netball, the fact that roasted peanuts from the “redi-walla” tasted also of rebellion. And the aching knowledge at our school farewells – both the one we gave to the Class of ’64 and the one we received - that we would not walk this way again. And yet today, thanks to the Internet, we turn the pages back and remember fifteen once more.

Geetha Menon (nee Narayan)

2010-02-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

We moved to the Cochin Naval Base as my father was sent to Vietnam as the Naval rep to the UN peace commission…..my mother and I were accommodated there and I joined the Naval High School…the only English medium school where English was spoken and was the medium of instruction. The school was new and didn’t offer a central exam…so went to Lawrence school, Lovedale in the Nilgiris and did the O levels there.

Completed my BA in English at Stella Maris, Madras…was in a hostel for the first time and had to grow up fast…!!! Food was awful but had great classmates …the tam bram girls were amazing, comparing Miltons work to Sanskrit literature…I didn’t dare open my mouth about my totally hopeless years of Sanskrit at AFCS…!!!

Continued my studies in Cochin at St Teresas College…took a masters in Sociology.

Taught the undergraduates for a year at St Teresas and then changed jobs as I hated corrections ( we had to correct the papers in order to “ know” the students better..and the students were there passing time before they were married off….1971 AD ..!! )

Changed jobs and joined Air India in Madras…Reservation/sales /marketing…..

Got married in 1975 to Ramesh Menon ( author …product of Columbus/ Xaviers / Stephens) and moved to Delhi…continued with AI and had a son and daughter in ’80 and 82…Vijay and Rekha…

Being a transferable job, moved to Hong Kong, Bangalore, Indonesia, Trivandrum, Bombay, Japan , Hong Kong and back to Bangalore. Great experiences in all these places.

Vijay is with Google in Chicago where he graduated from the Chicago U and Rekha is with the UNHCR in Thailand (mae sariang) after having studied law at Sheffield (bachelors) and Nottingham (masters).

Have now undertaken an assignment with an institute in Cochin ( part time) and the education project here in Bangalore..

Phew….havent taken stock of all this for years now….!!!

Vijaya Muthanna (formerly CP Vijaya)

2010-02-20T08:39:00.003-05:00

Vijaya Muthanna with grandson Haim

Resides in Bangalore. Married to Brigadier Muthanna (Retd)
Anjan, congratulations on attaining grandparenthood. I've two grandkids aged 5 and 3 in Melbourne, where my son works. From teenagers to grans we have cruised on fastforward,rolling the years back effortlessly. It is amazing how easy it is to connect. & recall school days.

Suri, I remember you as a benchmate in the IXth, & how you tested the sharpness of a pencil on my unsuspecting arm before a Physics class. Come to think of it, I should have thumped you on the head with the Physics text, putting it to some good use. But all I did was squeal!! Bala, I last met you in Chennai with wife & daughter. Have you relocated to Sydney?
Pammi, your experience back home in Punjab is the stuff of daily life in Coorg as well, Ours too is an Agricultural community and dealing with petty officialdom is a pain. Do tell us about your daughters political career in the US.

Nishi, what a painful & horrendous experience you have been thru. Just watching it on TV was bad enough. You'll be surprised to know I was in Uttarakhand last June with a group of trekkers. We trekked from Darchula to the Panchachuli glacier, camping for the nights at Urthing, Nungling & Saun. Are you close to these places?

It was a stupendous trek Five of us in the group were aged 3 score & more. We climbed to the glacier snout at 11,500ft. More recently I trekked from Munnar (Kerala) to Kodaikanal (Tamil nadu). Believe it or not we walked 32 Kms on an abandoned forest route on the 2nd day. In all 40 odd kms.
Amitav I too would love to get news of Lali Sen, Googly
(Harloveleen) Paul, Prasan Patnaik - (M Rafi of the class) and Saroj Lal - oh! such a gifted arti
Rudy I would have sent some pics if I had the know how. I'll wait till my son comes home next.

Pavan, occassionally we used to walk back home from school together. You were in Teen Murti Lane & we at TM road. How is your sis Praveen?

Suren Abhyankar

2009-12-04T19:18:00.004-05:00

Suren & Shubada Abhyankar

Memories

a memorable thing i remember is that when we were in 9th our class b section was doing chem pracs and miss idnani(sweet and gentle always) was the class teacher.a surd boy called manjit singh (anyone remember him)n me were fooling around and i had poured a beaker of water on him and was being chased between the tables.when he finally caught up he took a beaker in which there was some colorless liquid n poured it over my head.after a few seconds i started howling because it was hydrocloric acid.mrs idnani who had left the class for some time came back and put some alkali on my head.i sported a bald patch on my head for a good month.does anyone remember me with a bandage around my head for a few days. i was in the jyoti when the first four houses got made (kirti,shakti,pragati and jyoti) in our 7the class.in the n 9th when the shanti and jagruti house got added i shifted to shanti. another incident that made my day was during shanti house play practice in which i was playing the part of mr quill(forget the name of the play)in one scene i had to take the girl in the play in my arms and plant a kiss on her hand.one day during rehersal (which was under miss idnani's supervision)the girl in the scene who was a class junior was not there and miss idnani told rohini(dalip's lovely sister) to stand in.i was on cloud nine for a few days after that. does anyone remember ranjit rikh and surjit harmon,the lovely anita bedi and her younger bro who played excellent mouth organ or rajbir gill who used to sing elvis numbers.he had a younger sis called simran a class junior and a bro who was junior still.or cp tewari the school capt for a long time,prem bhatia,pranab lahiri.or the exitement when four of our school mates(tarun lahiri,amar das,hitti bhat and bamashah) ran away from school and were caught after they stole a car in mumbai and brought back to the school by the police.they were all boarded out by princi.there was sweety seth a classmate of my elder brother rajendra(he was in the foreign service till he retired and is now in pune/mumbai). among the others i ran into: mr newton and miss idnani(now mrs shivdasani) in mid eighties.newton was the principal of a school in mumbai in which my wife shubhada was teaching.miss idnani was also teaching there.mr ragbir singh who was the vice principal tafs i met in the ninetes when i was posted in delhi.deepak sarin when he was managing the japanese restaurant in the oberoi at nariman pt in mumbai.vijay garg(now vijay kumar) who was in tha eme and posted in delhi in the nineties.i met ajay das in secundrabad club when i went there in mid seventies.he was an employee of the club and it appeared to me had not done so well.he is a worthy candidate for us to all help if someone knows his whereabouts now. as u all remember i left for nda in 63 after 10th class along with dalip singha.he unfortuantely was felled by a freak punch in the novices boxing bout and almost lost his life.am sorry to hear abt his present condition.after serving in the navy till 97 i retired n am presently keeping the home fires burning by sailing with the merchant marine as a master mariner on contract basis.i married shubhada in 76 n hv a son(also in the merchant navy but is in washington usa in between his contracts as his wife works there)and and a daughter who is married and in london.presently am between contracts so am home for a month or so.

Kamal N Puri

2009-12-04T13:48:00.008-05:00

Here is a Twitter-like summary of what has happened since 1964

Finished HS schooling from Hindi High School, Calcutta.
Finished Mech Engg from BITS, Pilani in '70.
Joined Shaw Wallace & Co. in Cal as a Management trainee .... initially posted in Cal.
Transfered to Hyd. in '73 in the distillery cum winery
Got married to Neeru, a Delhi girl in '74.....graduate of Lady Irwin college, Delhi
Had my first daughter Suruchi in '75
Had my second daughter Ritika in '77 & thus became a member of the 2 D club ( two daughters )
Gradually transfered to various locations...Pondicherry, Madras, Calcutta, back to hyd, Bombay etc.
During these shifts headed Beer companies in addition to Distilleries, headed Manufacturing Liquor, Beer, Quality, Commercial, Trade Marks etc.
My daughter Suruchi did masters in physchology, she married Vineet Nanda in 2000 has a daughter Sameera & a son Vidur.
My younger daughter Ritika did MBA from Phoenix,Aizona, she married Jayant Bhargava in 2005, has a son Suvir.
I resigned as SVP from shaw wallace in 2001.
Took up an assignment in Ghana, West Africa as a MD of co. called Dynatech Industries which i set up from scratch.
It was various metallic roofing sheets manufacturing for local domestic market in Ghana & exported non ferrous scrap to India.
We lived in Africa for 7 years & are now back in Delhi.

During all these years only met Suren - 2/3 times & Dalip once-he came to Pilani !!

Dalip Singha

2009-12-04T11:39:00.007-05:00

Reside in Gurgaon

I left the school like many others to join the NDA. Due to an unfortunate accident I had to withdraw from the NDA. I was Vice Principal of the WelcomGroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, in Manipal India which offers a bachelors’ degree in hotel management at the MAHE University. I was 60 years old, and 60 years, in any man’s life is a milestone. After a stroke it’s a few kilometers up or down, from that milestone, depending on which way you are headed.

I was struck by a stroke on 4th December 2006. I have a blog site: http://dlp.wordpress.com/. This narrative is an attempt to relate the feelings and thoughts of a victim of a stroke both during and after a stroke, with the idea and intent of serving as a guide to people who may suffer from a similar fate. It goes without saying, as a narrative it is entirely subjective and does not purport to be totally accurate in terms of facts and medical realities and thus should not be taken literally.

As a result of the stroke my left side was paralysed. I lost the use of my left arm and leg and my speech is also affected, which I believe is a common occurrence, post stroke.
At the physical and emotional level this meant I was completely immobile and cut off from my human environment due to the inability to communicate. I was marooned on an island called “self”.

Many of you have visited me and and Mridula and I enjoy these visits. Please try to drop in.

Rajesh Lal

2009-10-19T13:45:00.012-04:00

Spouse: Married Sushama Deshpande in 1975. Two bachelor degrees, one in Fine Arts. Too many ‘oil on canvas’ at home!!
Home: Tele 011-26855817, lalrajesh@hotmail.com
Work: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi, Rae Bareli, UP, India, lal.igrua@gmail.com

Memories
I joined in VIth class. Miss Idnani was our class teacher. She also taught us English. It was a very nervous entry into a school that had a very good reputation, or so my dad told me then. I seemed to have realized that being in the background would suit me just fine. Amongst the teachers in the ensuing years, who can forget all those mentioned in your mails. BL Sharma with his ‘heat lost=heat gained’; I could never fathom the complexities of physics, and of chemistry equations, the algebra equations etc. but one thing I proudly remember, I never ever got a scolding, much less a slap from our esteemed Sanskrit teacher! And that could happen because my dad had done masters in Sanskrit from Allahabad university (he is an archaeologist and a 'Padma Bhushan') and I was determined not to get slapped, given the ‘asset’ that I had. So did my home work with his help and went a step ahead and went through my next day’s lesson. Boy, but wasn’t I apprehensive each class!

I remember making a swan for the carpentry class that was to be affixed to a base for a table lamp. I thought the swan had come up brilliantly. I then found a nice one cm pipe 10” long for the wire to pass and drilled a hole through the swan, and the swan cracked through the middle. Fail, announced our teacher!

I remember all the ‘hudaks’, foremost amongst them was Anjan. We were benchmates for some time. There was a class test and Anjan asked me what could be the answer to a particular question. I replied something, to which his reply was: I think I shall stand against the motion. The bounder was right! I remember Rudy, Bala, Uday, Ashok, and their cricket. Rudy, didn’t we meet in Balu’s house in JaI Vayu Vihar almost a decade back. I and my younger brother Vrajesh, 1965 batch, were in constant touch with Vijay. Last I met him when he came for my daughter’s wedding. My brother Class of 1965 is in Los Angeles for the past 30 years, and owns a women’s and kid's wear company called ‘Wrapper USA’. He won IIT Kanpur's 'Best Entrepreneur of the Year 2008' award. An absolutely great guy.

I also remember all the pretty girls, too timid to talk but never missed an occasion to steal a glance. I remember Rohini, Abha, Pammi (she was good to contact me when she picked up my name from the alumni list), Saroj, Rupinder, Aruna Singh. Saroj and I were in Satya Marg, I in 127, she in 115 or 117, Vijay Ganjoo was in 105. Does anyone remember Prasanna Patnaik. He was in 134. Vinod Bhushan Goel was in Vinay Marg. Saroj had a cousin named Sushil Kumar, also in our class.
Met Pavan, Naga in NDA reunion. While in Delhi, was in touch with Amitava, we had some social evenings together over the years. Have been in constant touch with Deepak Sarin. He is an exceptional professional, for all of you who don’t know. He has been at the top management of world class hotels, now is a consultant to buyers and sellers of hotels, buying land and constructing hotels, renovating etc. Deepak, speak up!! Met with Adarsh Seth in Delhi, too.

Family

Children: Two daughters, Nirupama and Anjali. Niru, 32, has been working in Oakland in SF Bay Area with Spectrum Centre that has seven schools looking after special children since 2003. She has two masters, one in English Literature from J&M College, New Delhi and the other in Psychology from Temple Univ, Philadelphia. She has preferred to remain single. Anjali, 29, too, has two masters, one in Urban and Rural Community Development from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the other in Women and Gender Studies from University of Texas, Austin. Between the two degrees she worked in villages and slums. Was involved in Right to Information campaigns before it became a law. She is in Austin with her husband, Shiv Nair, who is with Dell. I am proud of these two!
What did I do?

Briefly, joined NDA with 31st course. Was commissioned as a fighter pilot in Jun ‘68. Flew 12 missions in 1971 war, it was scary! Converted to Mig 21 in ’73. Did my flying instructor’s course in 1975, achieved Cat A, did the test pilot’s course in 1979. Spent two years abroad as flying instructor on deputation, commanded a Mig 21 squadron, commanded two Air Force Stations, and am a graduate of the National Defence College. Held several staff appointments at Air Headquarters and was with Min of Defence as Technical Advisor (Indian Air Force) for all capital procurement of the IAF. Retired from IAF in 2006 as Air Vice Marshal after 38 years of service at the age of 58 yrs. Some scenes of Air Force still linger:
-flight testing Mig 21 to an altitude of 21 kms/70,000’ and seeing the grey earth, not much can be seen though darkness seems to take over. My engine stalled one day at 70,000’ and I came down like a ton of bricks till 40,000’ where I restarted.
- flying a photo mission over Himalayas at Mach3, 3600 kms per hour, a km a second, in a Mig 25.
- being sent for a solitary confinement for over 80hrs, a medical test for astrounaut’s selection.
- getting airborne after sunset to see the sunset again!
- getting airborne before sunrise to see the changing colours of Nanda Devi at sunrise.

What was that song in Sound of Music: ‘These are some of my favourite little things’!
In Nov 2006, I accepted a flying instructor post at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademi, Raebareli, UP. The academy trains pilots for civil aviation, majorly Air India and Indian Airlines. Having joined, I decided to go for Commercial Pilot’s Licence. I had to study to clear DGCA papers, appear for flying tests, which I did, and at the age of 59 ½, got that licence. Steadily worked up be a DGCA examiner on four types of ac as of date. Today I am the Chief Pilot and have a 60 hour work week.

Parminder ("Pammi") Dhillon (nee Bajwa)

2009-09-25T09:42:00.006-04:00

House:
Email: pkdhillon@aol.com

Memories
I remember the three parts of the school distinctly. The classrooms, the playing fields and the dorms for the boarders. The dining room where we ate and the stage on the other end where we performed plays and had cultural activities. I remember the plays where my Sikh class mates (boys) with long hair dressed up as girls in their house plays!

I remember the dining room where we ate lunch, the little mealy bugs in the rice, I complained once to the bearer, he said” non-veg hai. Kha lo, koi harz nahin hai”. I remember the field where we had assembly every morning, where we recited our National Anthem, where our socks, hair and nails were checked, those guilty of misbehaving in line were put in front of the assembly and had to become “Murgas”. Those who did not have the right style of socks were punished, given a warning and after three warnings sent home to get the right socks or stockings.

I remember fields where we played and cheered the teams playing cricket. When I first joined the school, I remember three or four boarders ran away from school one night. They were off to Bombay to become actors! With the Air Force police close behind them, they were caught at the Bombay Railway station and brought back to school. They became famous overnight!

I do remember the tragic death of the young Choudhary boy; he must have been 2-3 years old. It was a sad day, the mother was beside herself. People talked in hushed voices. I have always been afraid of letting little kids near swimming pools, especially if they do not know how to swim. I made sure my children learnt how to swim when they were young. My grandchildren started their swimming lessons at age of 6 months.

I rode the blue school bus, Mica was the driver. We lived in Wellesley Road mess. As we got closer to school we passed by the Race course, horses would be walking in their corrals, some of them groomed by their groomers. Everyone looked very busy.

During the bus rides we shared a lot of gossip. I remember the time when a young woman was found dead, hanging in an officers room, not sure if it was in an officers mess or20a house. It was a scandal that lingered on for a long time. I had never heard the word ‘rape’ before then. As some of our seniors were discussing the gory details of the case, some of us juniors had our ears all perked up to figure out what they were talking about. It took us a while to figure out what had happened. Matters of passion have strange endings!

We would talk about which male teacher was paying special attention to a female teacher. There was one pair in particular; I would not want to name them. During exams both of them would stroll between the rows, watching over the students. On the way up we could see them, when they got to the back of the class he would try to pull her close to himself.

We would be tempted to look back, but would dare not. The ones sitting in the last rows would look from the corners of their eyes share a sly smile with the one sitting next to them and then look down.

Some of us may remember Miss Soni, she would constantly yell at us. The boys would throw paper planes in the class when she was not looking.

I remember the time when a couple of boarders from our class got a wind of the Physics exam paper. The paper was not shared with everyone, but many knew about it. However, I think the teacher must have found out about it and re-set the paper. So, the next day all those with the same ans wers were caught red handed. I think they had to face Mr. Ranjan!

I remember the time when one boarder forged the signatures of Mr. B.L.Sharma; some of these guys had made new practical books for physics, just in time for the external examiner to check them before the exams. All these neatly finished books were all signed with forged signatures of Mr. B.L. Sharma the night before the practical exam.

I remember the time when one of our class mates was bold enough to keep an opened Chemistry book on his lap during exams. He would slide a little back to look at the pages and them move back up when the teacher had walked past him. Suddenly, the teacher turned back, came to the desk and said” Stand up”, the book fell down. I know who this was but, again, I will not take any names!

I remember the class pranks when our braids, Saroj Lal’s and mine were tied down to the chair and when we got up, had a bad jerk to our heads.

I remember Mr. T.P Singh’s Biology classes, the endless number of frogs we had to dissect before exams.

I remember Mr. Moti Lal Sharma’s music classes; I played the sitar in the school orchestra. I remember Miss Idnani, Miss Taneja-needlework, Mr. Bhupinder Singh-English, K. Ranvir Singh-Math, Mr. Varshney, Mr. Vyas, Mr. Newton, Mr. Saluja, Miss Gupta, and Mr. Ranjan. I am sure I am forgetting some.

I remember the time we went to see the exhibition where the Russians were handing out little lapel pins of the Sputnik, and one American stall giving us goat milk and hot dogs.
I remember the time when some of the boys would be listening to Cricket commentaries on their little crystal transistor sets during class.

I remember the time when we got a plane ride on an Indian Airlines plane from Safdarjung airport. I think I have picture of all of us, waving our tickets. When I find it I will scan it and share it.

Saroj Lal would sit and doodle all over her note book, some of us would pass notes to each other.

How naïve we were to think that the teacher did not know what we were up to. I think we had some great teacher who over looked some of our childish pranks.

I remember Mr. Hardev Singh Shergill, our Geography teacher, who left to go off to Canada. He asked us to write letters to imaginary pen pals that he would send off to a school in the US. I got a letter back from a girl in Massachusetts. Her name was June King Davison. I stayed in touch with her, she sent me election materials during the election of John F. Kennedy, and she was Catholic and so excited to see a Catholic win. We have stayed in touch. I visited her in Old Say brook, when I first moved to the US. She was married to Leo Damore, he had written a book on Edward Kennedy’s scandal =E 2 The senatorial privilege, the cover up at Chappaquiddick” I met Leo in Old Say brook in 1972, he had worked with Krishna Menon at the UN. He said” Krishna Menon was one tough person to work for. Later Leo committed suicide; I got a black announcement card of his death from my pen pal June.

I still stay in touch with June, she taught school, has one son and has now moved to Wilmington NC. All this started at AFCS! I met Hardev Singh Shergill in California a few years ago. He has changed, as all of us have too. He lost his young son in a car accident some years ago.

I remember the day when my H igher Secondary result came out in the paper. I still have the cutting from June 6, 1964! It has yellowed but quite legible. If any of my class fellows need it I will be glad to attach a scanned copy.

I told my dad I want to prepare to go to Medical school. After all, I had dissected enough frogs in Mr. T.P. Singh’s class. My dad shot down the idea; he said he had sworn when he passed out of medical school that no child of his would ever go to Medical school.

So I was packed off to Lady Irwin College to learn the intricacies to become a housewife! I think they should change the course name from home science to Domestic Engineering! I have been a domestic engineer for 41 years, and I have raised two kids.

I visited the Race Course Road Campus of AFCS some years ago, it looked a little different with all the shops of Santushti. Somehow, it looked very small compared to what it looked when we were much younger.

Geeta Jaisim (Somasekhra)

2009-09-22T13:37:00.004-04:00

House - Jyothi
Married Name if Changed & Spouse - Geeta Jaisim
E-Mail Address - geetajaisim@yahoo.co.in

Memories

Unfortunately I was there only for 2 years, and while there are lots of pleasant small memories there is no big one. But I do remember the school song we sang at assembly. Thinking back on the opening words in later years, I felt the words were extremely apt: Especially considering where we all are today. I reproduce them below - do correct me if Im wrong:

"Iss Vidyalaya Ki Chaaya Mein
Hum thoor thoor Sey aathey Hain
Agyan, Thimir ko Thyag Yahan
Ujiyala Leykar Jaathe Hain"

What are you doing?

Worked in Banks, Industry, IT, and finally in a Chamber of Commerce. Now with an NGO.
Jaisim is an Architect with his own practice. Our daughter Ashwini is a Psychologist , but just now she is a fulltime mother. Want to try and give back to society. As for get togethers: Whatever works - have small get-togethers at any city where there are a few of us.

Pavan Nair

2009-09-19T17:10:00.010-04:00

House: Jyoti
E-Mail: pavannair1@gmail.com
Buzz: http://www.jagrutiseva.com/

Thats me on the extreme right marrying off my daughter with the lucky boy who is V S Gurumani's son. So here is an AFCS1964 match!
Memories

I remember acting in a play, 'The Bishop's Candlesticks' in which a senior girl Manju Singh was the bishop. Manju was quite tall and hefty. I was the convict. Karkare who was I think in Manju's class tells me, 'Dont try anything funny, she is too big for you'!! I think we were in Class 8. I also acted in another play, 'The prince who was a piper' with Beena, a very pretty girl who was I think junior to us. Unfortunately she was stricken with cancer many years ago. BTW some of you may not know that Parminder is a cancer survivor. And going strong I might say. Hey you guys got it all wrong about Vyas and Miss Sharma. It was Vyas and Miss Pathak. We were on a family holiday to Dalhousie once and we ran across them in an eating place. Vyas came and met my parents. Mallika, I think it was 'Ritu Raj Basant - - - ' I remember Satyanarayan with the long hair and boozy eyes who sang it very well on a stage constructed at the edge of the hockey field. Where is Geeta Narayan? Rudy I remember your thick nibbed pen and the furious speed with which you would write in exams.Anyone remember Joginder Singh the english teacher. Kapoorni passed on. My sister Praveen who is in Noida used to meet her quite regularly till she died. Poor Miss Quatra got the full splash from Pushpinder Singh's pen on her new coat. This was in the class next to princeys office. Well thats enough for now.
What are you Doing Now?
Am in Pune and live in the army colony with my two dogs. Both daughters married and in the US. The younger one to Gurumani's son! (see picture). Like Ashok Karnik, I am a seasoned widower now. I lost Shyama suddenly in 97. Was serving in the Indian Army then. She was an entrepreneur, so I decided to take her mantle and put in my papers.
Ran a placement consultancy from home for about ten years and then decided to hang up my boots finally. I am now involved with an NGO in a purely advisory capacity. I have been writing for some time now on several social and defence issues. My last article on the war in Siachen was published in the Economic and Political Weekly in March.
Am a part of several groups on water conservation and peace in South Asia. I quite enjoy my solitude and read quite a bit. Had a great time in the army. Commanded the regiment I had served in as a young officer. Saw action in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kashmir. They sent me to Antarctica twice. The first time as a volunteer! We constructed Dakshin Gangotri, the first Indian base in 60 days. Ashok and I have been meeting quite regularly over the years. We normally have lunch at the turf club which is a very nice place to sit around and chat. I got to know Ashok's wife Neela quite well after Shyama had died but unfortunately she got cancer soon afterwards. Its been a good journey all in all.
Family
I have two daughters. One is in the US. The younger one is married within the AFCS 1964 Family! To VS Gurmani's son. The picture shows the happy couple and the happy in-laws.
Get-Togethers

Nice to get together with a social conscience.

Uday Heble

2009-09-19T16:50:00.009-04:00

House - Pragati
Status: Married
E-mail mailto:E-mailudayheble@gmail.com or udayheble@vectorprojectsindia.com

Memories

arrogant B'stds Modern school in the inter school cricket semi's & combating Harcourt Butler for 5 days in the finals, in spite of them cheating with over age players (by 4 years, ex, ramesh saxena, 19 / 20 yrs, who was being considered for a test place.) I scored 50's in both innings.....self & Karnik...bowling 50 + overs each...that was something man.....I even missed attending my eldest brother Col (retd) Anil Heble's passing out parade at NDA.....sad

All along an office related equipment / systems / automation guy, currently Regional head Kolkata & Gujarat for Vector Projects India Pvt Ltd, a 300 crore pan India, Middle east & Malaysia company for turnkey design & execution of corporate office interiors, modular furniture etc.....was abroad at middle east, Germany, UK & Japan between ' 78 & ' 90.

Family
Wife Leena, an out sourced professional for Bharat Petroleum products, daughter Namrata, 26, mass communications professional living at Auckland, New Zealand since 4 years, son Siddharth, 23, marketing professional at Brisbane + Melbourne, Australia, son Gautam, 14, 10th std IB at Podar World school, Mumbai.

From 1957 to 1960 we stayed at Nagpur, where I discovered the great Cliff Richard and The Shadows. I started my own collection from 1958, with 'move it' & 'living doll'. We had a beautiful Grundig radiogram to play the music & listen to cricket commentary of test matches played in India, as well as at Australia & England.

Our community is known as Saraswat Brahman and originally we belong to Kashmir. The community migrated to north Karnataka. Each family head settled down in a particular place, which then took the name of the family. I have a family tree charted out which shows the hierarchy from the first Heble who settled down at village Heble in the year 1750. Our community is the fish eating Brahmin who have been intellectuals, teachers, artists(including actors), writers, knowledge people,(Software persons, ex., Nandan Nilekani) and sports persons (my father, Laxman Subarao Heble represented India at Hockey and just missed the Berlin Olympics when a week before leaving on the ship he broke his left knee during a practice match.How sad he would have shaken hands with the villain Hitler).

Some eminent persons from my community.

Nandan Nilekani, The film director Guru dutt(he hid his family name, Padukone, Gurudutt is his first name which he split), Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad, Bhimsen Joshi(Bharat Ratna), Prakash Padukone and now his daughter Dipika, Kumar Gandharva( A genius who at the age of only 11, taught classical ragas to my mother & her 4 sisters at Dharwar... amazing), Kishori Amonkar and Gangubai Hangal. All these famous people are from Dharwar.

We have a population of only 27,000 !!. Akin to the Parsi community.

Must mention about elder brother Vinay, ' 62 batch, who was a hunter / MIG / mirage fighter pilot in IAF, ' 67 - ' 78...fought ' 71 war with " lightening squadron " along side previous naval chief Adml Arun Prakash.... , bombed Peshawar twice.....was " Mentioned in Despatches "...
Unfortunately passed away on 4th Aug ' 79...in the Avro air crash bet Pune & Mumbai...

Passion

About to embark on writing a book......seriously guys .......

From the age of 14 I have been a collecter / accumulator of music in the form of vinyl records, (78 RPM's were of bakelite), cassetes & now CD's. Obviously the interest was generated by my mother, who had her own collection from the '40's consisting mainly of Hindustani classical ragas, bhajans(Bhimsen Joshi, Asha Bhosle,to name a few)....she did not like Lata Mangeshkar...neither did we all, too shrill. Also because Asha was an OP Nayyar favourite, the entire family bonded on his music. I first heard his music of his first big hit, Aar Paar in 1954 when we were staying at a small mining town in East Africa, called Murka, 300 miles from Nairobi, actually where the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro ended. I learned the English language there, as taught by a British teacher, Mrs Howe at the age of 6. Before this we had lived at Madagasgar, where I was born. I conversed in French there.

Get Togethers

Lets all meet end of 2010 before it is "too late" . Sorry to be morbid, folks!

Kodavayur Krishnan ("Kris") Balakrishnan

2009-09-18T14:46:00.019-04:00

House- Jyoti - was House Captain till I left half way through Year 12 for NDA.

Spouse- Jayshree Balakrishnan

Email - krisbalakrishnan@hotmail.com

Memories

Mr. Paul our Fine Arts teacher had tea making facilities in his arts lab! I remember that sad day when we lost Mr Mukherjee(Leather Works). Both were excellent souls and were very good to us. Paul was tall, well built and a bit baldish. Mukherjee sported a well trimmed moushtache...looked more like an Army Officer! Some of us took part in the annual British Council Library painting competition for school kids(age groupwise). It used to be held somewhere near India Gate/Sapru House/Modern School. I was thrilled when my painting was displayed in the exhibition that followed at the British Council Library...it was about man landing on the moon(that was one of my dreams then!). I spoke about the Cape Canaveral Space Launch during one of the school morning Assembly sessions! I had 'mugged' it up the previous night and just rattled it out in the morning in one continuous flow !! Remember those Walt Disney cartoons at Sapru House every Sunday morning 11am show? Mickey Mouse, Mighty Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy..... Mallika- we boys were more a fan of Desparate Dan and Dennis the Menace....boys will be boys! Myself and Hubles used to visit Khan Mkt and Jorbagh Mkt in search of comics. There was a guy called Jimmy (Gulati I think!) in our class- very short, speedy and a playful character! Anybody remember him? He used to live in Sujan Singh Park(opposite Ambassador Hotel). He left our school a few years earlier than 1964. What about marbles during the school interval! Anjan was a crack shot in marbles. Surjit introduced those huge 1 ton marbles one fine day and wrapped up the series(much to Anjan's consternation!). The 'Sodial' and 'Kharbuja' were our favourites/prized posessions. Puddy tat, Tanker, Tava, Rudy, Dalip, Injun, Pony, Ashok, Hubles, Kamal(Puri) and myself....we were all addicted to the game! Your day was made if you came back home with a booty of a few extra marbles! That's all we as kids asked for...not demanding at all! We all had a secret collection of marbles at home...some cracked, some chipped and some brand new..different colours and sizes.....just like the Red Indians collected scalps during the Wild West days! Alas, I had to give up my collection when I joined NDA- god knows where they went. Sorry to talk shop girls! We did have our stint with the 'gulli-danda' but that can wait for another time!

Where Have you Been and What are you Doing

Telecommunications Engineering- Indian Army Signals/Telstra Sydney/RailCorp Signals New South Wales, Australia। Whilst in the Army, Captained an Army Hockey Team in Jullundur, Punjab which included a number of World Cup Winning Heroes and Olympians. In effect for 3 years all I was doing was playing field hockey and touring the entire country as a full paid army officer! Shivaji Pawar, Leslie Fernandez(both of 1975 fame) and MP Ganesh(Captained Indian Team) were all from my team! Lot of stories to tell when we get-together next year! Retirement- have'nt thought about it yet. Intend to work atleast for another 5 to 10 years(or till I drop dead at work!). As long as I am enjoying my work that is!

Family

Still together! That itself is a big achievement these days! Daughter went to a private school in Sydney(like our Indian Public Schools System!) and was the 'dux' (topper) in her HSC. She received a scholarship in Uni of NSW and went to Uni of Soborne, Paris for a year as an exchange student. Speaks fluent French. Currently working as a Lawyer with the Copyright Council of Australia in Sydney(Intellectual Property-IP). She plays Clarinet for the Australian Ballet Orchestra and also has her own Chamber Music Group in Sydney. She also played for various Musicals(eg West Side Story, City of Angels etc). She is a paid/professional musician. Wife Jayshree is a Manager with the Federal Department of Immigration, Australia and looks after a business unit in the department.

Passion for Golden Years

Just hang around with family and friends and enjoy their company. Just be a sparee for a change and just eat, drink and be merry! Perhaps travel a bit more(if my legs are not too wobbly by then!). Just chill out before 'konking' off! TAFS

Ideas for Get-togethers

Suggest one each every year at New Delhi, Pune and Bangalore conveniently spaced out during different months of the year. No compulsions and if one cannot make it, there is always the next venue/year! Perhaps even one in USA and Australia! Locals to make the arrangements and each to pays his/her own. It should be over a full day or two, so that we can spend sufficient quality time with each other. Simplicity is another major Principle of War. So keep it simple!

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Rudy Shankar

2009-09-18T13:50:00.024-04:00

Ljubjlana, Slovenia

Memories

I have the most carefree memories and of course think that I was in the middle of movers and shakers in later life. I was very competitive in work, play and other things but at least in high school I was a runt of a guy. Yes, I grew 7” the summer after I left HS but that was too late to get the gorgeous gals of AFCS interested. I remember the teachers, and in retrospect, thank them for being so dedicated to their students. Barring a few—some who were sadistic—the teachers were all held in high esteem. I loved all the classes. My love for the sciences no doubt came from Mr. B.L. Sharma (Boggleboose). And my love for people no doubt came from the all great extracurricular and sports activities. Today that kind of curriculum is quite rare, if not expensive. I remember the thrashing in water polo, shaking Ambassador John Galbraith’s hand (he is 6’ 7”) while he visited with the cricket team, the sheer terror in Varshney’s Sanskrit class, the chalk flights and the inevitable caning that followed, the wonderful boys and girls. Speaking of caning: surely Bala, Anjan and Pushpinder were in the front line and I think thats why they had the girls swooning for them :-).

Unlike my three other brothers (Balu, Krishna and Snitchie)—and we are all graduates of AFCS--- I did not follow them into military service. Having all of us in HS together had its special and sometimes terrible moments: Balu was the mischievous guy, got caned a lot and was held as accessory to the “crime” when three boys ran away to Bombay. I think my poor mother would have been traumatized far beyond what she had to endure if I also went into armed services with them already serving in various wars. BTW: I was selected to be for the 32nd NDA course. But decided to go to IIT.
What are you doing now?
I came to the U.S. after graduating from IIT Delhi (Ashok Karnik was a mate) in 1969. The job situation in India was very bad and, yes, I was one of the migrating animals in the "brain" drain herd. With heavy foreign exchange restrictions, we were allowed only $21 in cash! I went broke the first day I landed and if not for a kind cop who gave me a ride to my destination that day in 1969, $5 for a couple of hot meals and a place to spend the night I would have probably been very disillusioned about my adopted country. I worked in odd jobs—waiting on tables, driving a school bus, security attendant at a criminally insane asylum, selling vacuum cleaners ("See how the water in the can captures the dust"!)—and worked full time for a high tech company in Washington DC while earning my graduate degree. After a long career with different corporations—AMF, Honeywell, and the electric power industry—and getting married in 1974, raising two children, finishing an MBA under an Executive Program and having the good fortune of visiting many countries, I started my own company in 2007 in the electric power industry. This has been fun, reminding me that humility and customer service always comes first. More recently I opened an office in India to service the burgeoning growth in energy usage and the need for renewable options even as consumerism starts to rise dramatically in India. As the saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life and I try to live with that motto. I have always believed in dreams and so I get to be a flaming evangelist for people to follow their dreams.
Family
My family consists of wife and two children. Ann has been my partner for over 35 years and many ways complements me. We have had the good fortune to meet so many wonderful people, go to wonderful places. Our daughter, Rani Theresa, is a nurse midwife in New York city. Our son, Vijay Francis, is a tennis pro here in Charlotte. He is 6’ 4” tall and gives me vicarious pleasure when I walk with him and I imagine the girls are staring at this old codger. Of course he thinks his Dad his dreaming! The collage on the left shows my family and one guy from AFCS that I have kept up with: Ashok Karnik. We were together at IITD and shows back in 1993 in New Delhi as well as a decade later when he visited with me in Charlotte in 2003. Speaking of Ashok: in our post AFCS life when our IIT cricket team visited IMA in Dehra Dun we were served the most wonderful breakfast by white-gloved attendants. Well they left a plate of bacon and Ashok and I thought it was for us and not for the entire team. We polished it off. He was nicknamed "Hog" after that. For some reason my nickname had something to do with a small anatomy member. Not sure why.
Passion for the Golden Years

I want to give back to India: the wonderful education I received in high school and later at IIT Delhi. Classmates at AFCS are memorable. You have all pleasantly surprised me with the inner resolve and the will to give back. Some, many, of us have undergone life's usual obstacles thrown to us-- some routine, some overwhelming; I want to learn and follow from my classmates. I, we, did not imagine that India would be on the world stage in a way that would have been unthinkable back in the 1960s. I think I can make a difference in improving the electric power situation in India and want to devote my energies in that direction.

Suggestions for Get-Togethers and Newsletters

As much as get-togethers are great it is so difficult to organize with people spread across the globe. My suggestion is that each of us put together a summary of something exciting in their lives—two paras with pictures-- and I will volunteer to put together a periodic AFCS 1964 Newsletter.

Anjan Muhury

2009-09-18T12:31:00.005-04:00

House Kirti (1962), Shanti (House Prefect)
Spouse Gitu
Email: anjanmuhury@hotmail.com
Office: jayshearing@aol.com
Buzz: See What they are saying about Jay's Hearing Aid

Memories
Of course I was the naughtiest guy in the school, continued that way through NDA, and the Air Force. So there's a wealth of memories. One day, if I have Alzheimers, I will be able to write a book on it all ! One real memory, one that I still use to empower adults and children is this :
Until the 8th standard, my overall academic position in class was 32/33 out of 36. Then I decided to join the academic gang of Ashok , Rudy, Tava, Bala and Bansal and listen to them. Surprising enough, I topped 9th class (B) after experiencing brainwave interactions from you wonderful guys. Varshney's best words I ever heard were " Anjan, mithai bantna parega !!" I still did not understand what he meant, until the Assembly Hall get together, when it was announced. I vividly remember Rohini's beautiful smile !! Made me feel like a hero !

What are you doing now?
I started my career as a fighter pilot. I flew Gnats, Hunters and Jaguars. I was an A-2 flight instructor. I had two air crashes in the Air Force. I was a flight commander of an elite jaguar squadron, ready to take on a command, when I found that the squadron war plans were wrongly tasked, and wrongly calculated. I took up the matter with the Station Cdr, who had been responsible for the errors. His reply was , "Muhury, there is going to be no war with Pakistan, let it be." I said NO ! It meant that we would have lost 8 airplanes on the first day of the war. A lot of heads would roll if I spilt the beans, including the AOC in C of Western Command.

They pulled me out of active flying and decided to post me to NCC Madras . I decided to resign my commission and leave the country forever. I came to the U.S.A with almost no money, did my airline pilots licensing, but bad luck struck again as I could not obtain the H-1 visa that was given to airplane pilots those days. So I had to settle for minimum wage ($4 per hour), flying damaged airplanes. My wife and I roughed it out for almost 9 years! I switched professions as soon as we got our Green Cards. I became a Hearing Aid Specialist, and am doing well now. I do not intend to retire. My dad, a doctor was in private practice till he died at age 72, which means that genetically I will also follow the same trend. My hobbies are recreational flying, and golf. I will take my wife flying to Lauglin, NV, tomorrow.

Family

Two younger brothers—Pallab & Sandeep—attended AFCS. My family consists of three children, Gitu's son Shravan, who is an investment banker in London. My two daughters (Deeya) is an electrical engineer with Intel in San Jose. The younger daughter (Eliane) is settled in Delhi and is an attorney. We expect to be grandparents in Feb of 2010, in London.

Passion for the Golden Years

Stay healthy with gym work, and golf ! Continue being an inspiration to both the older and the younger generation. To live and die in America.When I was three years old, my parents were having a dinner party in AF Station , Poona. My younger brother and I were paraded around the uncles and aunties. One uncle stopped me and asked " why are you not smiling?" I replied " I am born in the wrong country!" When I left India in 1987, my Dad reminded me of this incident and said, "Son, you are going home to America."

Suggestions for Keeping in Touch

Let’s find time once a year to PARTY